Political parties in Ibica

Political parties in Ibica are dominated by two major parties. Since the 1850s, they have been the Conservative Party and the Progressive Party, This two-party system is based on laws, party rules and custom. Various small minor parties come and go and occasionally win major offices at the state level. Local offices, however, are often nonpartisan.

Modern political party system

The modern political party system in Ibica is dominated by the Conservative Party and the Progressive Party. These two parties have won every presidential election since 1852 and have controlled the Ibican Congress to some extent since at least 1856. There are numerous minor, or third parties. The Libertarian, Green, Reform, Independent and other parties have won elections throughout history at different levels, but the success of those parties is sparse.

Major parties

Progressive Party

Main article: Progressive Party (Ibica)

The Progressive Party is one of two major political parties in the Ibica. Founded as the Democratic-Republican Party in 1722, it is the oldest extant voter-based political party in the world.

The Progressive Party since the 1920's has positioned itself as the liberal party on domestic issues. Since the mid-20th century, Progressives have generally been in the center-left and currently support social justice, social liberalism, a mixed economy, and the welfare state. Progressives are currently strongest in the southeast and in major Ibican urban centers.

Conservative Party

Main article: Conservative Party (Ibica)

The Conservative Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Ibica.

Since its founding, the Conservative Party has been the more market-oriented of the two Ibican political parties, often favoring policies that aid Ibican business interests. This party has traditionally supported more aggressive defense measures and more lavish veteran's benefits. Today, the Conservative Party supports an Ibican conservative platform, with further foundations in economic liberalism, fiscal conservatism, and social conservatism. The Conservative Party tends to be strongest in the Western and "flyover states", as well as suburban and rural areas in other states. One significant base of support for the Conservative Party are Evangelical Christians, who have wielded significant power in the party since the early 1970s.

Minor parties

Ibica also has an array of minor parties, the largest of which (on the basis of support for their Presidential candidates in the 2016 election), are the Libertarian, Green, and Constitution parties.

Libertarian Party

The Libertarian Party was founded on December 11, 1971. It is the largest continuing third party in Ibica, claiming more than 511,277 registered voters across all states and territories. As of 2019, they have about 176 elected officials, including 13 state legislators.

The Libertarian Party's core mission is to reduce the size, influence and expenditures of all levels of government. To this effect, the party supports minimally regulated markets, a less powerful federal government, strong civil liberties, drug liberalization, separation of church and state, open immigration, non-interventionism and neutrality in diplomatic relations, free trade and free movement to all foreign countries, and a more representative republic. As of 2016, it is the third largest organized political party in Ibica.

Green Party

In Ibica, the Green Party has been active as a third party since the 1980s

The Green Party in Ibica has won elected office mostly at the local level; most winners of public office in Ibica who are considered Greens have won nonpartisan-ballot elections (that is, elections in which the candidates' party affiliations were not printed on the ballot). In 2005, the Party had 305,000 registered members. During the 2006 elections the party had ballot access in 9 states.

The Ibican Green Party generally holds a left-wing ideology on most important issues. Greens emphasize environmentalism, non-hierarchical participatory democracy, social justice, respect for diversity, peace, and nonviolence. As of 2016, it is the fourth largest organized political party in Ibica.

Sovereignty Party

Main article: Sovereignty Party (Ibica)

The Sovereignty Party is a small single issue political party in Ibica. It has been active since 1860.

The Sovereignty Party is only active in federal elections, and is mostly made up for territorial governors and their non-voting delegates to the Ibican Congress. The party solely advocates for the statehood of Ibica's populated territories, and is generally supported by the opposition party, currently the Progressives, though its members are split between the major parties and generally have no other shared goals.

Issues

Because Ibican political parties are more loosely organized than those in other countries, not all members of a party subscribe to all of the officially held positions in their respective party's platform. The usual degree of variation generally is higher for the larger parties. Party members may hold different views on legislation to be enacted at the state or federal levels, and an elected official once in office may act contradictory to many of his or her party's positions (this has led to terms such as "Conservative In Name Only" and "Progressive In Name Only" - CINO and PINO, respectively).

Comparisons

Modern political party comparisons

Issues		Green Party	Progressive Party	Libertarian Party	Conservative Party
Primary related subjects		Green politics Eco-socialism Left-libertarianism	Social liberalism Third Way Progressivism	Christian-Libertarianism Classical liberalism Right-libertarianism	Conservatism Economic liberalism Social conservatism
Issues *	Abortion restrictions	No	No	No	Yes
	Limiting private financing of campaigns	Yes	Yes	No	No
	Legalization of same-sex marriages	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
	Universal health care	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
	Progressive taxation	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
	Immigration restrictions	No	No	No	Yes
	Capital punishment	No	No	Yes	Yes
	Drug liberalization	Yes	No	Yes	No
	Civilian gun control	Yes	Yes	No	No
	Non-interventionist foreign policy	Yes	No	Yes	No