National Bloc (Alsland)

National Bloc Nasjonaal blok Rahvuslik blokk
Abbreviation	NB RB
President	Inka Mast
Secretary-General	Its Zandstra
Deputy President	Felkert Smits
Founder	Erlend Peetre Loof Schaafsma Hans Essler Villem Mand
Founded	11 June 1924 (1924-06-11)
Merger of	Dellish People's Party Social Democratic Party Rjochts
Headquarters	61U8 Jansenstrjitte Yndyk
Newspaper	New Republic
Youth wing	Young Bloc
Membership (2021)	42,192
Ideology	Liberal conservatism Pro-Eucleanism Civic nationalism Formerly: Catch-all party
Political position	Centre-right
Euclean Affiliation	Modern Democrats
Euclean Parliament group	Alliance of Conservatives and Democrats for Euclea
Colors	Blue   Grey
Slogan	"With the people"
Folkssenaat	8 / 201
Federal Council	4 / 96
Community Parliaments	29 / 608
Euclean Parliament	3 / 24
Website
nasjonaalblok.com
Political parties

The National Bloc (Dellish: Nasjonaal Blok, Martish: Rahvuslik Blokk; NB/RB), also colloquially referred to as the Bloc, is a centre-right political party in Alsland. The Bloc was founded in 1924 and was in office continuously for 66 years, until 1990 when it lost power for the first time in its history. The Bloc has been a member of the governing coalition since it was founded with brief exceptions in 1992 to 1994, 2006 to 2010 and 2022 to the present. It has an official cooperation agreement with the Martish Democratic Party who sit as members of the Bloc's parliamentary faction in the Folkssenaat. The Bloc has 8 seats in the Folkssenaat since the 2022 legislative election and 3 Members of the Euclean Parliament. Since 2023 the Bloc has been led by Inka Mast.

The Bloc was founded in 1924 by a merger of the then governing Dellish People's Party, Social Democratic Party and Rjochts under the leadership of Hans Elssler. The Bloc was founded to prevent either the far-left or far-right from gaining power as well as to protect Alslandic independence and neutrality. The Bloc's internal ideology changed dramatically under the leadership of Villem Mand who restructured the party into a more formalised political force. Subsequently the Bloc quickly developed into the dominant political force in Alsland following the Great War. Between 1929 and 1940 the Bloc's rule over Alsland was described as authoritarian which led to the coinage of the term Illiberal democracy to describe its governance of Alsland during the post-war period. In the 1942 election many opposition parties had their campaigns hampered by the Bloc who enforced their control of the media resulting in a landslide victory, the election itself was seen as free but not fair and sparked widespread protests against the Bloc. After the ODRE movement the Bloc liberalised and committed itself towards retaining multi-party democracy. Between 1942 and 1990 the Bloc remained in power by becoming synonymous with Alslandic nationalism, introducing a technocratic government and forming a grand coalition with the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) and Democratic Party of Alsland (DPA). The Bloc's rule was noted for its stability despite many internal changes in government as cabinet portfolios were largely shielded from the frequent changes in government. Its rule during the 20th century was described as a 1+ party system due to the existence of other parties but the continued dominance of the Bloc in politics. For a period during its rule it had one of the highest memberships of any party in east Euclea and had an expansive network of aligned organisations forming the backbone of the Alslandic division system.

For much of its history the Bloc lacked an official ideology and instead was primarily a big tent movement encompassing several different political ideologies. The party's ideology was governed by the party's presidium which was composed of members from each ideological faction and selected by official party officials to maintain stability. Historically the party's only uniting ideology was of civic nationalism, Alslandic neutrality and opposition to extremism, populism and anti-establishmentarianism. The Bloc also adopted strongly pro-Euclean views and strongly supported the development of the Euclean Community. The leadership of Illimar Rootare did irreparable damage to the party's status as a big tent movement as he attempted to direct the party to the right, as a result many of the Bloc's liberals and socialists defected to differing parties. The Bloc was challenged at the 1990 election by the anti-elitist Humanist Sotirian Union (HSU) under Richard Hauschka which emerged victorious and the Bloc was reduced from 59 seats to 19, although the Bloc remained in government under a coalition agreement signed between the HSU and Bloc. The Bloc also lost many of its non-conservative members which cemented its status as the main party of the conservative wing of Alslandic politics. Since it lost power the Bloc has been heavily involved in the various coalition governments of the 21st century, it has only been excluded from the governing coalition three times since it lost power officially.

The Bloc's current policies states its support for: "upholding the values and principles of liberal democracy and working with all groups to ensure stability and a high standard of living for everyone." The Bloc's claims to support pragmatism over ideology, favouring large and ideologically diverse coalitions over ideologically based coalitions. It refuses to cooperate with the Orange Party at any level of government for its supposed radicalism. It is sceptical of the Alslandic Section of the Workers' International (ASAY) although it has cooperated with the party in the past as both parties were historically the two dominant parties of Alslandic politics. At the Euclean level it is a member of the Modern Democrats - Euclean Centre Party of which it was a founding member. Historically it sat as unaligned in the Euclean Parliament but began to affiliate with the Alliance of Conservatives and Democrats for Euclea in 2010.

Ideology

Historically the party claimed to be a secular big tent movement and had strong social democratic, liberal and conservative factions. Its big tent status allowed the party to retain public support until much of the party's social democratic faction withdrew from the party.

Policy overview

• Economy and Finance
  • Support for a Market economy
  • Keeping a Balanced budget
  • Welfare state status quo

• Social and federal affairs
  • Equal status for Dellish and Martish
  • Home rule for the communities
  • Support for same-sex marriage
  • Secularism
  • Reduction in immigration
  • Opposition to Euthanasia
  • Universal Health Insurance
  • Federalism

• Foreign affairs
  • Euclofederalism
  • ECDTO membership
  • Internationalism
  • Pragmatic relationship with foreign partners

Organisation

Wings

Throughout the National Bloc's history, the presence of Factions has featured heavily in the party's ideology. Whilst the party's constitution mandated that all major factions must be represented in its governing board it also heavily favoured the larger and established factions within the party. Under the leadership of Illimar Rootare the party's rules regarding factions were changed which allowed various minor right-wing factions to be elected to the governing board to the annoyance of the party's liberal and social democratic factions.

The party's current rules allow for factions to be formed with the support of 5% of the party's membership. To be represented in the Bloc's governing board it must have the support of at least 10% of the party's membership and 10% of the party's elected officials.

Current factions

As of the party's 2019 congress the party's current factional composition consists of the following factions:

Historical factions

The following factions were historically influential within the National Bloc or governed the party:

• Social Democrats and Progressives (Sosjaaldemokraten en Progressiven) (1924—1989)
  • Sosjaal-Demokratyske en Arbeid Beweging (1924—1987) (social democracy, labourism)
  • Foarútgong '65 (1965—1989) (progressivism, social liberalism)
• The Radical Centre (It Radikaal Sintrum) (1961—2009)
  • The Centre (1961—2009) (liberalism)
  • Radical Movement (1961—2017) (Radicalism)
• Freethinking Faction (Frijtinkende Fraksje) (1924—2008)
  • National Democratic Group (1924—2008) (conservative liberalism)
  • Mûneherst Group (1967—2008) (national liberalism)
  • Wikseljild! (2005—2022) (populism, reformism)
• Rootare List (Rootare List) (1982—2000)
  • Rootare List (1982—2000) (social conservatism, traditional conservatism)