Pacitalian Social Democratic Congress
Pacitalian Social Democratic Congress | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chairperson | Federico Mattapensa |
| General Secretary | Damián Moya |
| Founded | June 30, 2020 |
| Merger of | Pacitalian Social Congress, Democratic Nationalist Party |
| Headquarters | Corso D'Amato 292/10, Timiocato, Capitale 2077AC |
| Youth wing | CSDPxJuve |
| Women's wing | CSDPxFemme |
| Ideology | Democratic socialism, social democracy, market socialism, social liberalism |
| Political position | Centre-left |
| Senato | 72 / 100
|
| Constazione | 457 / 715
|
| Website | |
| www.csdp.org.pc | |
The Pacitalian Social Democratic Congress (PSDC, Pacitalian: Conagresso Sociodemocrate Pacitaliana, CSDP) is a major, left-wing to centre-left political party in Pacitalia. Historically, the PSDC has been Pacitalia's only major national-level social democratic political party.
The PSDC, in its current state, was formed in 2020 by the re-merger of the more centrist Pacitalian Social Congress (PSC) and left-wing Democratic Nationalist Party (DNP). The DNP had been created in 2007, when trade union leaders and the progressive faction of the PSC, disaffected by what they perceived to be a rightward drift in the party's platform and principles, and eager to take advantage of the new Second Republic's proportional representation electoral systems, split away from the PSC. This group created their own political party, initially called "The Egalitarians".
Both parties were in opposition to centre-right governments (led by the Federation of Progressive Democrats) for the majority of the era in which they were split. Seeking an opportunity to consolidate progressive voters and win power, DNP leader Damián Moya and his counterpart in the PSC, Tomás de la Marques, engineered a reconstitution of the two parties, ratified by their respective memberships by the end of 2019, and taking effect by June 30, 2020.
Prior to the re-merger, the two parties were junior partners in a coalition government with the Green Party from 2009 to 2011. In 2018, after the Conte government failed to retain majority support in parliament and resigned, the DNP and PSC partnered again, with Moya becoming prime minister and de la Marques his deputy. The coalition relied on confidence votes from other minor parties to stay in power for the remainder of the term. Voters delivered the party a massive mandate in the 2020 national elections due to the Moya government's handling of, and response to, the COVID-19 pandemic in Pacitalia.
Due to its alignment and close ties with the labour movement in Pacitalia, the party has a massive organizational advantage over other parties and deploys an extensive campaign apparatus during elections. The PSDC is by far the largest party by membership and fundraising income as of 2023. It holds the archonacy, dominates both chambers of the national parliament, and holds majorities or pluralities of seats in more than half of Pacitalia's regional councils. Pacitalia's five largest cities are all run by mayors who are PSDC members.
Ideology
The party's constitution describes the party as a "democratic socialist organization [that is] dedicated to the advancement of socialist, democratic, and socially liberal ideas and values". Further, the constitution states that "the means of production and distribution are to be in common ownership for the good of all".
Though the explicit language of the constitution indicates the PSDC is a socialist, secular party, the party has never explicitly disavowed religion or capitalism. The PSDC adopted a series of motions by members at its national conventions during the 1990s which struck out potentially anti-religious sentiment from the party bylaws and allowed it to adopt more free market economic policies in its election platforms. The modern party typically campaigns and governs closer to the political centre. Like other centre-left parties, the PSDC and its predecessors have sought, as former leader Fernando Chiovitti once remarked, "a capitalist system inside a tall fence".
The party has historically advocated for, among others:
- prioritizing national interests over foreign ones;
- establishing and owning enterprises to compete with the private sector;
- extensively supervising and regulating private industry;
- encouraging workers to organize and form unions;
- imposing higher taxes on the wealthy and redistributing wealth;
- providing a strong social safety net through welfare and social programs;
- guaranteeing equal rights for every person;
- running well-funded, efficient public services; and,
- disincentivizing private health care and education
The PSDC is considered a "big tent" political party, encompassing large factions of socialists, social democrats, market socialists, and social liberals. In recent years, the farther left elements of the party have been more prominent and guided the party's overall policy direction.
Its voting base tends to skew towards educated urban professionals, young people, women, LGBTQ+ people, new immigrants, and non-traditional households. The party is more popular in cities and, historically, has drawn consistent, strong support in Pomentane, Pungaria, Franconia, Empordia and Marquería. Though working-class rural voters have largely shifted right in the last 25 years, there is still notable support for the party among workers in some primary industries, such as fishermen in the Pacitalian islands. This is because PSDC governments have often enacted and/or reinforced protectionist measures that support their livelihoods.
History
Notable policy achievements
- Legalization of labour and trade unions (1969)
- Decriminalization of homosexuality (1970)
- Legalization of homosexuality (1975)
- Decriminalization of "soft" drugs like cannabis (1976)
- Landmark housing anti-discrimination law (1979)
- Legalization of cannabis (1983)
- Abolition of the death penalty (1984)
- Creation of a consumption tax (2010)
- Passage of the Housing Affordability and Cost of Living Act (2018)
- Complete overhaul of road and public transport rules (2019-2020)
- Foringanan split from Atlantian Oceania (2022)
Party leaders
| Name | Party | Served from | Served until | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Juan Rodriguez | April 18, 1963 | January 9, 1969 | Prime Minister (1965-1969) | |
| Roberto Castorini | January 9, 1969 | September 5, 1977 | Prime Minister (1969-1977) | |
| Athena Papistikas | September 5, 1977 | May 31, 1993 | Prime Minister (1977-1985) | |
| Aracio Partiva | May 31, 1993 | July 10, 2002 | ||
| Fernando Chiovitti | July 10, 2002 | September 1, 2007 | Prime Minister (2006-2007) | |
| Fernando Chiovitti | PSC | September 1, 2007 | August 4, 2008 | |
| Jávier Grandinetti | DNP | September 1, 2007 | November 15, 2012 | |
| Bartomeu Cámp i Franc | PSC | August 4, 2008 | January 26, 2011 | |
| Tomás de la Marques | PSC | January 26, 2011 | September 9, 2011 | Leader ad interim |
| Vacant | PSC | September 9, 2011 | September 9, 2013 | Party suspended (Elections Act violation) |
| Cristián Piñera | DNP | November 15, 2012 | February 6, 2016 § | DNP archonal candidate, 2010 |
| Tomás de la Marques | PSC | September 9, 2013 | June 29, 2020 | Deputy Prime Minister (2018-2020) |
| Jávier Grandinetti | DNP | February 8, 2016 § | May 31, 2016 | |
| Damián Moya | DNP | May 31, 2016 | June 29, 2020 | Prime Minister (2018-present) |
| Damián Moya | June 30, 2020 | |||
§ Piñera died suddenly of a heart attack and the party officially had no leader for the two days between Piñera's death and Grandinetti being named the interim replacement.
Note: Leader's party only listed for the era in which the PSC and DNP were split (2007-2020).
Electoral performance
The below tables include pre-merger results of both the DNP and PSC for historical context.
| Election | Leader | Party | Electorate votes | Party list votes | Electorate seats | Party list seats | Total seats | Position | Result | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Share | No. | Share | No. | ± | No. | ± | No. | ± | |||||
| 2014 | Cristián Piñera | DNP | 79,712,679 | 23.2% | 73,528,075 | 21.4% | 56 / 270
|
 20
|
95 / 445
|
32
|
151 / 715
|
52
|
2nd
|
Opposition |
| Tomás de la Marques | PSC | 16,726,602 | 5.0% | 33,910,208 | 10.1% | 0 / 270
|
 0
|
45 / 445
|
45
|
45 / 715
|
45
|
4th
|
Opposition | |
| 2017 | Damián Moya | DNP | 89,335,062 | 27.4% | 71,402,842 | 21.9% | 70 / 270
|
14
|
97 / 445
|
2
|
167 / 715
|
16
|
2nd
|
Coalition government with PSC |
| Tomás de la Marques | PSC | 64,229,953 | 19.7% | 72,707,004 | 22.3% | 62 / 270
|
62
|
99 / 445
|
54
|
161 / 715
|
116
|
3rd
|
Coalition government with DNP | |
| 2020 | Damián Moya | 151,151,231 | 46.5% | 182,040,274 | 56.0% | 207 / 270
|
75
|
250 / 445
|
54
|
457 / 715
|
129
|
1st
|
Majority government | |
| Election | Leader | Party | Votes | Seats | Position | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Share | No. | Share | |||||
| 2014 | Cristián Piñera | DNP | 108,574,166 | 31.6% | 22 / 96
|
8
|
2nd
|
Minority (opposition) |
| Tomás de la Marques | PSC | 12,712,798 | 3.7% | 3 / 96
|
3
|
6th
|
Minority (opposition) | |
| 2017 | Damián Moya | DNP | 85,422,578 | 26.2% | 27 / 96
|
5
|
1st
|
Majority (governing) |
| Tomás de la Marques | PSC | 77,923,650 | 23.9% | 20 / 96
|
17
|
3rd
|
Majority (governing) | |
| 2020 | Damián Moya | 152,752,840 | 47.4% | 72 / 100
|
25
|
1st
|
Majority (governing) | |
| Election | Candidate | Party | First-round votes | Runoff election | Result | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Share | Position | No. | Share | Position | ||||
| 2010 | Cristián Piñera | DNP | 70,931,379 | 24.7% | 3rd
|
Eliminated in first round | |||
| Athena Papistikas | PSC | 21,400,134 | 7.4% |  4th
|
Eliminated in first round | ||||
| 2016† | Franco Russo | PSC | 84,022,575 | 30.8% | 2nd
|
124,681,113 | 50.0% | 2nd
|
Lost in runoff |
| Sorinel Vulpes | DNP | 19,822,366 | 7.3% | 4th
|
Eliminated in first round | ||||
| 2017† | Vittoria Agradossa | DNP | 77,650,120 | 26.8% | 2nd
|
141,136,117 | 51.0% | 1st
|
Elected |
| Adan Cárdenas | PSC | 61,539,308 | 21.3% | 3rd
|
Eliminated in first round | ||||
| 2023 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD
|
TBD | TBD | TBD
|
Election to be held in November 2023 | |
† Election result was annulled due to the narrow margin of just 754 votes between the final two candidates, out of nearly 250 million valid votes cast. Voting irregularities and missing postal ballots that may have altered the final result were also noted during the tabulation process. The National Superior Court invalidated the election results as a precaution and officials re-ran the election in 2017.