Social Democratic Party (Etruria)

Social Democratic Party Partito Socialdemocratico Socijaldemokratska Partija Socialdemokratska Stranka
Abbreviation	SD
Leader	Chiara Mastromarino (Outgoing)
Deputy Leader	Martino Panarello
Federal Coordinator	Serena Romaniello
President	Nera Stipičević
Founded	May 2, 1902 (1902-05-02) (As PLD) November 11, 1946 (1946-11-11) (As PDL) April 10, 1980 (1980-04-10) (As SD)
Headquarters	Casa Milo, Via Miloš Vidović, San Alessandro, Dinara, Etruria
Newspaper	Campione Rosso
Think tank	Etrurian Institute for Social Progress
Student wing	Social Democratic Students
Youth wing	Progressive Youth
Women's wing	Women of the Rose
Labour wing	CSE
Grass-roots organisation	Etrurian Socialist Rally
Membership (2020)	456,111
Ideology	Social democracy Democratic socialism Pro-Eucleanism Etrurian unionism
Political position	Centre-left
Continental affiliation	Socialist Alternative for Euclea
International affiliation	International Socialist Forum
Colours	Pink
Anthem	Bella Ciao
Chamber of Representatives	164 / 600
State Council	20 / 290
State Assemblies	2 / 15
Website
sd.org.et
Political parties

The Social Democratic Party (Vespasian: Partito Socialdemocratico; Novalian: Socijaldemokratska partija; Carinthian: Socialdemokratska Stranka), mostly known by the abbreviation SD, is a centre-left social democratic political party in Etruria. It is the second largest party in Etruria by federal representation.

The SD was formed in 1902 as the Democratic Labour Party, a splinter movement from the Etrurian Section of the Workers International, who reject SEIL’s militantism and willingness to rely on strike action for political purposes. The party would win a handful of seats from its inception until 1925, when it won a majority of SEIL’s seats, after the party had been banned the year prior. The PLD would be a member of the Great War-era national unity government. The PLD along with all other parties were abolished after the Legionary Reaction and would go underground during the Greater Solarian Republic period.

Following the end of the Solarian War and the establishment of the Etrurian Third Republic, the PDL was resurrected as the Democratic Workers Party. The party would serve as coalition partners under Aurelio Marco Argente with the liberal Democratic Action from 1948 to 1950, before entering government as the senior coalition party under Gabriele Rumor and Niccolo Pazzi from 1950 to 1954. The PDL would be forced into opposition against a right-wing coalition until 1958, when Gabriele Viviano led the party into a landslide victory and formed a coalition with the Sotirian Democratic Libertas. The PDL-Libertas coalition would be overthrown in a the bloodless 1960 Etrurian coup d’état and banned once again.

The PDL’s leaders would emerge during the Military Junta period (1960-1984) as the senior leaders of the pro-democracy movement. Many of its members were tortured, disappeared or killed during the Junta, but would under Miloš Vidović go on to negotiate the end of the Junta and win a landslide in the first elections of the current Fourth Republic with a landslide, as the Social Democratic Party. Vidović as President would serve until 1989 when he resigned to serve as Secretary-General of the Community of Nations. He was succeeded by Vincenzo Biava who led a government until 1994. The SD returned to government in 2002 under Vinko Begović where they instituted a series of neoliberal reforms and an overhaul of the country’s pension system. The SD was defeated in 2009 and would be relegated to opposition until 2013, when they entered into coalition with the Federalist Party. The Blue-Pink coalition under Emiliano Reali would hold the EC membership referendum in 2016 but suffer a serious defeat due to the Miraviglia Scandal, which inflicted heavy damage on the party’s image. The SD would suffer its worst defeat in 2016, followed by further losses in 2018.

The SD holds pro-EC stances and is a member of the Socialist Alternative for Euclea and the International Socialist Forum. Its current leader is Chiara Mastromarino, who has served since 2019.

Organisation

The SD operates a federated structure to mirror that of the Etrurian state. It operates an umbrella federal level, followed by state branches which are subordinated by local branches. The state and local branches enjoy significant autonomy from the federal level, especially in candidate selection and electoral strategy. The party also operates a unique body called the Etrurian Conference of Syndicates, which is used to maintain the party’s relationship with affiliated trade unions. The party’s decision making is officially divided between three distinct entities; the Central Party Executive (Esecutivo Centrale del Partito), The Social Democratic Conference (Conferenza Socialdemocratica) and the Etrurian Conference of Syndicates (Conferenza Etruriana dei Sindacati). The Central Party Executive is comprised of the party leader, deputy leader, federal coordinator, leaders of the state branches and delegates elected by the ECS and SDC. The CPE is tasked with setting the overall strategic direction of the party and policy development. The SDC is formally the supreme decision-making body and involves party-members proposing and voting on policy suggestions and the party leadership. The ESC is the annual meeting of SD affiliated trade unions, where they discuss issues relating to worker’s rights and labour issues.

The state branches of the party enjoy high degrees of autonomy, with their leaders and chairperson elected by state-members. The state branches are charged with managing their finances, candidate selection and enforcement of the party charter’s rules and regulations. However, since 2019, the degree of autonomy on policy development has increased, though during times of federal elections the state branches are mandated to campaign on the policy agenda set by the CPE. The state branches’ relationship with the federal level is managed by the Federal Coordinator, an CPE-sitting officer appointed by the party president.

Membership

The SD operates a tiered system of party membership, comprised of Party Members (fee paying), Associate Members (members of affiliated trade unions) and Supporters (non-fee paying members, this includes members of the Social Democratic Students). Party Members and Supporters are organised along their local level branches, which are subordinate to the State Branches.

As of December 2018, prior to the 2019 leadership election, the SD recorded 308,600 full members, 211,494 associate members and 100,890 supporters, for a total of 620,984 members, the largest in Etruria and southern Euclea at the time, this had fallen from a total of 899,509 in 2016. As of December 2020, the SD recorded 300,333 full members, 102,530 associate members and 90,123 supporters, for a total of 495,986 members. This marked an increase from 2019’s figure of 411,397 and secured the SD as the second largest party in Etruria after the Tribune Movement and in Southern Euclea. At its height in 1990, the party boasted over 1.5 million members, but witnessed a steady decline since.

Ideology

The ideological platform of the party has differed with each iteration during its existence. From its inception in 1902 through to 1938, the party aligned more with the Sotirian Left, but also with a powerful and influential democratic socialist wing. During the Third Republic period as the Democratic Workers’ Party, the party was dominated by the Sotirian Left and social democratic factions. The latter’s domination was so firm that the party was pulled leftward by the rise of the democratic socialist United Socialist Workers Party.

The SD in its modern and current form, finds its common roots in the pro-democracy movement during the military dictatorship (1960-1984), the Grand Compromise and writing the 1984 constitution. These common roots led to the SD’s overly Sotirian Left alignment, the violence pursued by factions further to left during the Military Dictatorship has resulted in hard-left groups struggling within Etruria’s political arena. During the Vidović and Biava governments (1984-1994), the party followed a strictly social democratic agenda, however, following its defeat to the centre-right in 1994, the party transitioned to a new political identity. During its time in opposition (1994-2002), the party moved rightward, embracing neoliberalism and communitarianism, which it brought to government under Begović (2002-2009). Despite being defeated by the centre-right in 2009, it remained steady in its ideological position, which was further emboldened during its grand coalition with the Federalist Party (2013-2016).

Since the 1994 defeat, there has been a consistent debate over whether the SD is actually a social-democratic party. Ronaldo Petacci noted that the party has “since 1994, adopted a recognisable centrist-pragmatism, in an effort to widen its appeal to middle-class and working-class voters, by seemingly shunning redistributive ends.” Critics have claimed the SD purposefully avoids any defining ideological position for the sake of power, with Gabriele Maria Aquino observing, “the SD has the hallmarks of a social-democratic party, but none of the guts, soul or heart of one.” Today, the party’s primary “political foundations” are social cohesion, social liberalism, social integration, progressivism, pro-Eucleanism and green issues.