Concept in Definition ABC

The word we are analyzing is used with some frequency in the political analysis of some countries, especially Italy and Spain. It is intended to give a surprise when a non-hegemonic and minority political group aspires to become the winner of an election. If this claim were to become a reality, the sorpasso would have been made effective.

It must be taken into account that both in Spain and in Italy the electoral victory usually occurs between a majority party (in Spain it would be the Popular Party or the Partido Socialist Spanish worker and in Italy the winner traditional has been the Democracy Christian). Thus, when a different party becomes a serious contender for victory, one speaks of a sorpasso (in Italian sorpasso could be translated as overtaking or overcoming).

The historical origin of the term

In the 1970s the Christian Democrats had ruled Italy for decades and the Italian Communist Party remained in opposition systematically. In 1976 people began to speak of surprise at the possibility that the Italian communists would be the winners in the elections, a circumstance that finally did not occur. Since then, the concept of sorpasso has been used to refer to all those elections in which there is the possibility that a minority party will reach power.

Although the origin of the word comes from the politics Italian, it is very likely that the true origin is in the movie theater Italian. In 1962 the film "Il Sorpasso" was released and in it the protagonist is a driver who in a risky way overtakes other drivers.

The first time the term was used in Spain was in the days prior to the 1996 elections

At that time Izquierda Unida had the aspiration to overcome the PSOE as a leftist alternative and to encourage their voters, the leaders of the United Left used the idea of ​​sorpasso. With this concept, a message electoral: although it may not seem like it, it is possible to win the elections, that is, we can overtake the favorite. Finally the strategy the 1996 sorpasso in Spain failed and the PSOE was not surpassed by Izquierda Unida.

In the general elections of December 2015 and its repetition of June 2016, talk of sorpasso was once again. On this occasion, the candidate for overtaking has been Podemos, but again the desire for victory did not become a reality.

Photos: Fotolia - Gstudio