Electoral Alliance of Democratic Liberalism

Electoral Alliance of Democratic Liberalism
File:Vdl.png
Leader	Vilde Gunnhildsdottir
Founded	8th of October, 2012
Headquarters	Storvik, Breheim
Youth wing	Liberal Youth Popular Socialist Youth
Student wing	Freethinking Students
Newspaper	N/A
Membership	135,000
Ideology	Liberalism Green Politics Federalism Big-Tent
Internal Factions	Social-Liberalism Environmentalism Ordoliberalism Classical Liberalism Left-Libertarianism Popular Socialism Progressivism Anarcho-Syndicalism Right-Libertarianism Anarcho-Primitivism
Member Parties	The Free Liberals People's Socialist Party Green Party Liberal Party Anarcho-Syndicalist Federation New Equality Party Party of Free Labourers Simple Party
Political position	Right/Centre-Right
Official colours	Orange Green
National Assembly	70 / 320
People's Assembly	69 / 200
Storfylke Assembly	12 / 60
Website	http://www.liberalisme.brh

The Electoral Alliance of Democratic Liberalism is one of Breheim's major political parties, although it is technically merely an electoral alliance of several disparate political parties, it has since late 2013 had a membership structure (members of constituent parties automatically being members, but people may become members as simply the EADL as well), a single press-organ ('Valg', or 'Choice'), have completed a general assembly and have an elected central committee. The EADL champions liberal economic policies and social policies, and green regulations on the private and public sectors in order to decrease carbon emissions and reduce urban sprawl.

The EADL was formed in 2012 by The Free Liberals and the People's Socialist Party of Breheim, in order to unite 'liberty-minded' politics under a single banner. Other parties soon joined, ranging from the Libertarian Party to the Anarcho-Syndicalist Federation. However, the large alliance experience a split in early 2014 when the Libertarian Party, Freedom and radical members of The Free Liberals left to form the Freedom Party of Breheim, with an estimated 10% of members leaving the EADL to join the new party, along with several MPs.

History

The EADL is young, having only formed in 2012, but has a strong presence in Breheim, becoming the second-largest party in the 2014 elections. The single largest constituent member is The Free Liberals, although they lack the dominant position the Communist Party has in the Alliance of Radical Socialists and Farmers (Breheim's third largest party by support, second largest by membership). The EADL trace its history primarily to the countercultural movement of the 1970s, when both The Free Liberals and the People's Socialist Party were formed by students protesting the Breheimian status-quo (plagued by statist economics and repressive social policies). However, some member-parties have a history older than this, such as the Liberal Party (formed in 1931 from a splinter group in the United People's Party, intent to recreate the Liberal Party which, along with the Conservative Party, had dominated Breheimian 19th century politics). The Anarcho-Syndicalist Federation also has a longer history, tracing their history to 1896 with the formation of the Labourer's United Trade Federation.

Liberalism in the social sphere is historically unpopular in Breheim, at least since the mid-19th century (when comparing Breheim to other nations of the time, it was incredibly liberal in the 1790s and somewhat more liberal in the early 19th century). Only some factions within the Socialist Worker's Party, and the Communist Party before the 1960s, championed liberal stances. The Communist Party is considered moderate by Breheimian standards, supporting some extension, but by world-wide standards they are social-conservatives, making the EADL the lone political force championing the extension of freedom in the social sphere. This is what unites the disparate parties of the EADL, who often refuse to consider themselves 'right-wing' (despite overall party policies aligning in that direction) due to the numerous members with left-wing sympathies, even far-left.

The EADL entered a coalition government with the United People's Party in mid-2013 during the electoral breakthrough of the Right, forming the first non-socialist government since 1922. The ensuing 2013 Constitution is widely considered a victory for the EADL, including numerous key-points, such as constitutionally granting the right to privacy, federalism, tetracameralism and mild presidentialism in order to prevent any one party from ever holding a monopoly on power again. In contrast to their coalition partner, the UPP, who have collapsed in the polls, the EADL has largely remained stagnant. Vilde Gunnhildsdottir, leader of the EADL, managed to go to the 2nd round in the first presidential election, squaring off against the independent candidate Even Skrog (who is commonly described a 'right-wing populist') but lost in the second round with only 40% of the votes.

While the EADL are strong on the national level, the have not been able to achieve the same success in local governance. While their presence in the five federal storfylke districts is strong, their presence in fylker and municipalities is neglible, outside of a few cities such as Torshavn and Alfby.