Bloc (Austeria)

In Austerian politics, a Bloc refers to one of two major political camps in the Senate of Austeria, the July Bloc and the April Bloc. The blocs both encompass many ethnic and religious political parties that have divergent political agendas, but were united by their stance towards Euclean integration and the centralization of the country. The blocs are not a unified parliamentary group or electoral alliance, but instead consist through informal political arrangements such as confidence and supply agreements to support the leading party of the group. From the 1990 election to the early 2010s, the National Republican Party and the Kuvendi Party, were the leading parties of the July and April Bloc respectively.

In the past several years growing inter-party cooperation on government formation and other major issues have led analysts to argue that the two Blocs have declined in importance. The major cause usually given is the halting of the Euclean Community's southern expansion following the failure of the 2016 Etrurian Euclean Community membership referendum, effectively gave a de facto victory to the April Bloc. Since the beginning of the Tsabaran Civil War in 2020, the interests of the two Blocs have aligned over cooperating with the Euclean Community to support the Tsabaran government. Furthermore personal divisions between party leaders and disagreements over controversial political issues have threatened to break up the Blocs. However other analysts argue that traditional rivalries, differences over further engagement with the Community, and disputes over the devolution of powers to the regions continue to divide the two Blocs. Today they largely revolve around coalitions of a couple political parties and independents, which function as traditional parliamentary groups.

The Blocs are considered to be one of the defining features of Austerian politics, as well as one of the main causes of instability and corruption in the national government. While the parties of a Bloc assists in government formation, they are otherwise are free to support or oppose policies, even go as far to threaten the toppling of the government. As a result, Austerian governments are generally unstable and are prone to political gridlock and collapse, which has led to the President of Austeria becoming the main political authority of the country. Furthermore, the minimal role that political ideology plays in Austerian politics has led to the rise of independent politicians who align with a Bloc and their political parties for political favors and other corrupt activities. It has led to the rise of new reformist political groups that seeks to upend this system, such as the Progress alliance.