Political party

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*[[Socialist]] Party (left-wing to center-left)
 
*[[Socialist]] Party (left-wing to center-left)
 
*Union for a Popular Movement (conservative, currently has the presidency)
 
*Union for a Popular Movement (conservative, currently has the presidency)
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_National_Front National Front] (Racist, ultra-conservative, Islamophobic. Now the third largest party.)
+
*[[WP:French_National_Front | National Front]] (Racist, ultra-conservative, Islamophobic. Now the third largest party.)
 
*Left-wing Front (includes Communist Party)
 
*Left-wing Front (includes Communist Party)
 
*New Anticapitalist Party (far left)
 
*New Anticapitalist Party (far left)

Revision as of 16:44, 9 February 2012

It doesn't stop at the water's edge:

Politics

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A political party is an organization dedicated to gaining political power for both the party and its members.

A typical political party will endorse a "platform", which represents their stands on various issues of the day. Depending on the party, and the issue, adherence to every point of these platforms is not necessarily required. Often what is more important in governing situations among larger parties is what is called "party discipline", where members are expected to vote a certain way on certain bills, however close or distant the issue at hand is to the actual platform.

So-called "catchall" parties will usually have very long, intricate, and watered-down platforms that reflect their large base of member voters. Smaller parties, which often form in reaction to a single issue or small group of issues being neglected (in their opinion) on the political stage, will often have short, concise platforms.

Contents

Party systems

National party systems differ considerably in the number and relative strength of their parties. This is mostly due to two factors: the severity of social fault lines ("cleavages") in a society, be they ethnic, economic or religious; and the voting system a country employs. Highly pluralistic societies and proportional voting systems tend to increase the number of parties, while uniform societies with majoritarian elections usually have fewer of them. At the most basic level, the party systems are classified as one-, two- or multiparty systems. A one-party-system doesn't necessarily mean that the state in question is authoritarian and doesn't allow competition - maybe one party is just so awesome that nobody else wants to vote for another (the Swedish Social Democrats used to dominate the system in this manner, for example). Two-party systems tend to be most closely associated with majoritarian first-past-the-post election systems, as in the United States.[1] Sometimes, these systems do allow other parties to rise, like the British Liberal Democrats, but the aftermath of the 2010 election was the first occasion on which their existence had an actual impact on government formation. Finally, multiparty systems with many smaller parties tend to occur in countries with many deep social divisions (Belgium) or very low entry hurdles (Israel). Studying and comparing party systems is a major branch of political science, and there is a multitude of studies that explore these relationships in more detail.[2][3]


Party systems around the world

Americas

Canada

Main article: Political parties of Canada

The parties having seats in the parliament:

  • Liberal Party (Centre-left)
  • Conservative Party (Conservative. Duh)
  • Bloc Québécois (Separatist)
  • New Democratic Party (More Left than the Liberal party)

The party who goes on TV to debate the other leaders without any seats:

United States

  • Democratic Party (Moderate conservative)
  • Republican Party (Extreme conservative/reactionary)
  • Green Party (Liberal - environmentalist, pro-consumer rights)
  • Libertarian Party (Right wing with a side of drugs and sex)
  • Reform Party (Moderate conservative with a side of nuts)
  • Constitution Party (Extreme right wing, loony theocratic fascists)
  • American Nazi Party (Batshit insane racists)
  • American Communist Party (What it says on the tin, although have become more moderate in recent years)
  • Federalist Party (Promoted many conservative positions, including the rule of law under the Constitution, republican government, peaceful change through elections, judicial supremacy, stable national finances, credible and active diplomacy, and protection of wealth.[4])

Oceania

Australia

New Zealand

  • Labour (Centre-Left)
  • National (Centre-Right)
  • Greens (Left to Far-Left)
  • Progressives (Left)
  • Act (Right)
  • New Zealand First (Centrist [5] anti-immigration)
  • Legalise Marijuana Party (Stoned)
  • Maori Party (Maori Rights)[6]

Europe - or something like that

France

  • Democratic Movement (centrist)
  • Green Party (left-wing, environmentalist)
  • New Center (center to center-right)
  • Socialist Party (left-wing to center-left)
  • Union for a Popular Movement (conservative, currently has the presidency)
  • National Front (Racist, ultra-conservative, Islamophobic. Now the third largest party.)
  • Left-wing Front (includes Communist Party)
  • New Anticapitalist Party (far left)
  • Pirate Party (minor - but very popular with poor 20 and 30 somethings who need to download stuff).

Germany

Main article: Political Parties of Germany
  • Christian Democratic Union (centrist, has chancellery)
  • Christian Social Union (center-right, in union with the CDU only exists in Bavaria)
  • Free Democrats (libertarian, classical liberalism, neoliberlism)
  • Green Party (centrist, environmentalist)
  • Social Democrats (centrist - or not... or still... we will wait for their decision.)
  • The Left (right-wing. Just kidding, it's what the label says.)

Since the two biggest parties have both moved to the center over the last decade, the space there is getting rather crowded, and people find it increasingly hard to figure out the differences. On the plus side, ideological differences have mostly vanished, and policies are rather stable across administrations. On the negative side, ideological differences have mostly vanished, and policies are rather stable across administrations.

Russian Federation

Note: every one of these lies as to its location on the political spectrum

  • United Russia- "Center" Actually populist. Putin and Medvedev are members of this one. Actually Putin is the Chairmin. Largest party.
  • Communist Party- Yep. They are still around. Some members openly revere Stalin. 2nd largest party.
  • Liberal Democratic Party of Russia- Surprise! These are the equivalent of the Republican party! 3rd Largest party.
  • A Just Russia- Claims to be conservative, actually is Russia's token left-wing party, as the Socialist and Green Parties merged into it. Sadly it is the smallest "major" party.

Sweden

  • Swedish Social Democratic Party (Social democratic)
  • Moderate Party (Liberal conservatives. What a paradox.)
  • Green Party (Enviromentalist)
  • Liberal People's Party (A lefty party for the farmers and workers.)
  • Centre Party (A center-left party with a semi-enviromentalist agenda.)
  • Sweden Democrats (Nationalist conservatives.)
  • Pirate Party (Let's go torrent!)
  • Christian Democrats (Socially conservative)
  • Left Party (Like their name. They are feminists and activists. They advocate socialism, as if Sweden isn't socialist already.)

Switzerland

  • Swiss People's Party (nationalist)
  • Social Democratic Party (center-left)
  • Christian Democratic People's Party (center-right)
  • Free Democratic Party (libertarian)
  • The Greens (center-left, environmentalist)
  • The Green Liberals (a strange eco-libertarian blend)

United Kingdom

Main article: Political parties of the United Kingdom
  • Labour Party (Classically liberal, slightly center/conservative)
  • Conservative Party (Wishes it was conservative)
  • Liberal Democrats (Centre or liberal if you're a yank)
  • Scottish National Party (SNP for short, campaigns for independence for Scotland, and has no connection with the British National Party)
  • British Nazi National Party (very similar to the American Nazi Party, except slightly more subtle about it)
  • UK Independence Party (also known as Diet BNP - or BNP Lite if you don't get the reference first time)
  • Green (Environmentalist)
  • Monster Raving Loony Party (with the slogan "vote for insanity, you know it makes sense")
  • Tea Party (Wait, wasn't that in the US?)

Asia

Japan

  • Liberal Democratic Party (Hold on to your hats: conservative, they ruled for almost 54 years! Continuisly! You know, except those 11 months in 1993 and 1994)
  • Democratic Party of Japan (centre-left, in power since 2009)
  • New Komeito Party (buddhism-inspired conservatives and centrists)
  • Your Party (What's on the tin! No just kidding, another conservative party)
  • Japanese Communist Party (democratic libertarian-socialists - also pacifists, they kept the name, though)
  • Social Democratic Party (exactly what's on the tin)
  • People's New Party (conservative, populist, nationalist - they have a nice logo, though)
  • Sunrise Party of Japan (nationalist, right wing)
  • New Renaissance Party (conservative - yes, the irony hurts!)

North Korea

  • Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland (All these parties are loyal to the regime)
    • Workers' Party of Korea (Wins all elections, represents all workers. Oh right, everyone is employed by the government.)
    • Korean Social Democratic Party
    • Chondoist Chongu Party

South Korea

  • Grand National Party (the party name in Korean is a play on words, it can mean "Korean National" and also "Great National" - oh, yeah, they are conservative)
  • Democratic Party (liberals, social democrats)
  • Liberty Forward Party (right-wing, liberal conservatives, built around Lee Hoi-chang)
  • Future Hope Alliance (liberal conservatives, support party for Park Geun-hye, daughter of Park Chung-hee)
  • Democratic Labor Party (nationalist, left-wing, democratic socialists)
  • Creative Korea Party (centrism, centre-left)
  • New Progressive Party (centre-left)

China

  • The Communist Party (Wins all elections, represents all workers. Sure.)

Erm... "elsewhere"

  • In Antartica:
    • The Snow and Ice Party (Supports incremental change at a glacial pace.)
  • On the Moon:
    • The Vacuum Party (Supports cleaning up all that dust, and pronto!)
    • The Gravity Party (Supports long jumpers and golfers in attempts to beat Earth records.)
    • The Secessionists (Supports leaving Earth orbit and applying for planethood status.)

Footnotes

  1. This fact is usually described as Duverger's Law.
  2. Rae, Douglas (1967): The Political Consequences of Electoral Law, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1967.
  3. Grofman, Bernard and Lijphart, Arend (eds.): Electoral Laws and their Political Consequences, New York: Agathon Press, 2003.
  4. Patrick Allitt, The Conservatives (2009) p 26
  5. New Zealand First is hard to place on the spectrum as they have policies that do not fit either tag very well. In the past they have formed governments with both Labour and National; strong anti-immigration, anti-foreign ownership and high superannuation are the cornerstones of its policy
  6. There was considerable debate when this party was formed as to whether it was racist to have a party that only represented one ethnic group, but given New Zealand's MMP system of government, coupled with the specifically Maori seats, this representation should end up being roughly proportional and they'll end up working with other parties that support whatever they want at that point in time, just like everyone else
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