Sotirian Democrats (Azmara)

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President	Aansgaar Jonsun
Founded	April 22, 1945 (1945-04-22)
Ideology	Sotirian democracy Social conservatism Pro-Eucleanism
Political position	Centre-right
International affiliation	Euclean Democrat Union
Landsmot	12 / 75
Folksmot	16 / 150
Province Presidents	1 / 8
Political parties

The Sotirian Democrats, also called Sotirian Democracy, are a Sotirian democratic political party in Azmara. The party is a member of the Euclean Democrat Union network in the Euclean Community, and has 28 members of the Alþing, with twelve in the upper house and sixteen in the lower house.

The party was founded in 1945 as a moderate party of the right supporting further Euclean integration and would gain its first representation in the election later that year. Forming an alliance with Gold Flame and the Farmers' Party, the party would enter government in 1954 with leader Helmut Freidrikssun becoming Thingspeaker, ending the 21-year rule of the Workers' Party. The party would form multiple centre-right coalitions with Gold Flame over the next three decades, yet after 15-year gap from power would return in 2005 under centrist coalitions with The Radicals and later the Workers' Party.

The party most recently served in government between 2014 and 2017 in coalition with Gold Flame and The Radicals, where current leader Aansgaar Jonsun served as Foreign Minister and Deputy Thingspeaker, yet the government was defeated in 2017 and the party suffered further losses in the 2020 election.

Ideology and electorate

Ideology

The Sotirian Democrats have continually identified their namesake Sotirian democracy as their key ideology and have cited Jorś Wilhjâlmssun, the third President of Azmara who served from 1873 to 1879, as one of their key inspirations, citing his principles of sphere sovereignty and subsidiarity as fundamental to its approach.

The party has traditionally advocated for a centrist course on economics, with the party supporting a social market economy and supporting tripartite negotiations between trade unions, businesses and the government as a basis for the economy and for programs of social insurance to alleviate traditional social problems such as sickness and poverty. While historically taking an anti-socialist stance, the party has been critical of aspects of free-market capitalism, with the party opposing monopolies and advocating in support of small and medium enterprises.

On social issues, the party has traditionally advocated for conservative attitudes, being a supporter of the concepts of family values and a consistent life ethic in its social policy. To this end, the party voted against the 2004 legalisation of same-sex marriage and the 1995 legalisation of first-trimester abortion, yet in the 2005 election leader Stefan Aansgaarsun said he "would not push for the repeal" of either piece of legislation. The party however continues to advocate for tax breaks for married couples and is opposed to euthanasia, stem cell research and the death penalty while supporting contraception and sex education in an attempt to reduce the number of abortions.

The party has also been argued to have elements of agrarianism to its ideology and has traditionally supported subsidies to Azmara's agricultural industry. Many members have also made environmentalism a key focus in recent years, citing stewardship theology, with members such as Vice-President of Westmaark Henrik Jorśsun advocating for green conservatism.

In foreign affairs, the party is traditionally supportive of increased Euclean integration, with the party traditionally supporting the Euclean Community and ECDTO as a "democratic bloc" opposed to MASSOR and Samorspi.

The party has taken on a populist tone under the leadership of Aansgaar Jonsun, with the party having advocated for tough policies on immigration and law and order and opposing the 2019 Devolution Act which gave increased power to the provincial governments of Haadland and Hytklif. However, this policy has been controversial in the party, with former leader Stefan Aansgaarsun describing the policies as a "dangerous game" and an emerging humanist faction emerging placing an emphasis on elements of the party's program such as stewardship, the consistent life ethic and Euclean integration.

Electorate

The party has traditionally drawn its support from rural parts of Azmara, with it traditionally being most successful in the largely agricultural provinces of Nordberg and Hytklif and in the similarly agrarian northern half of Westmaark. Its support base is traditionally considered lower middle class, with many small business owners and self-employed people being amongst its ranks and the party is traditionally friendly with the Federation of Small Businesses and the Azmaran Agricultural Association, organisations which seek to represent small business owners and farmers respectively.

The party's support has traditionally correlated with church attendance, with a 2017 survey of self-identified Westmarckians finding them to be the leading party among those who said they attended Church of Azmara services "weekly", while possessing an above-average share among those who said "monthly" and a below-average share amongst those who reported attending "only for Nativity and Pascha", "only for special occasions" or "never". Its support also weakly correlates with age, with the 55-64 and 65+ demographics being more supportive of the party than younger demographics