List of political parties in Delkora
The following is a list of active political parties in Delkora. Delkoran politics is characterized by a multi-party system in which it is rare for a single party to win an outright majority at either the federal or state level, making coalition governments the norm.
Parties are registered and validated with the Federal Electoral Commission (Føderale Valgkommission), and are assigned one letter as an official symbol. On ballots, the parties are sorted alphabetically by party letter.
History
First party system (1833-1880)
Political scientists often term the period of Delkoran politics ranging from the implementation of parliamentary government in 1833 up until the 1880 federal election the "first party system". Both federal and state politics during this period were dominated by the Liberal and Conservative parties, representing the political left and right respectively.
This two-party system arose out of the majoritarian electoral system of the time, which ensured that the two major parties won nearly all seats and that one of them always formed the government. Still, a handful of minor parties, notably the Agrarians, were able to win some seats, but never enough to be influential.
The Conservative Party base primarily consisted of the aristocracy and wealthy urban merchants, while the Liberals represented rural interests, urban laborers, and the burgeoning Delkoran middle class. The Agrarians competed with the Liberals for the support of rural communities, often causing a vote splitting effect that helped elect Conservative MPs. Still, the Agrarians and Liberals often voted together on account of their shared support for land reform, small business, and limited government.
Second party system (1880-1940)
The 1880 federal election marked a major shift in Delkoran politics, in that National Labor gained a large number of seats, displacing the Liberals as the largest left-wing party in parliament. The two governed in a coalition during the chancellorship of Magnus Brom from 1880 to 1888. Brom's government successfully passed legislation implementing proportional representation, which came into effect for the 1884 federal election.
This helped solidify a relatively stable three-party system in which National Labor, the Conservative Party, and the Liberals competed to lead government formation. The Liberal Party was frequently the junior coalition partner in governments of this period, often serving the role of centrist kingmaker, and participated in both National Labor and Conservative-led governments.
The passage of the Jarls Amendment of 1885 caused the formation of the Progressive Party, which represented the liberal-minded nobility, supportive of reform and opposed to the conservatism and reactionary tendencies of the broader nobility. At the same time, the first red scare resulted in the foundation of the Communist Party of Delkora, which consolidated the major far-left forces and became a major challenger to National Labor.
Third party system (1940-1998)
The Liberal Party split of 1940 marked the induction of the third party system. The party's classical liberal faction broke away to form the Reform Party and joined Veidnar Albendor's government. The Liberal Party was reshaped as a solidly leftist social democratic party closely aligned with National Labor, aided by a merger with the Progressives and later the Democratic Farmers' Party.
Despite having an advantage at the start, Reform lost support and faded from politics, forcing the Conservative Party to rely much more heavily on the Agrarian Party. Elections in this period were thus generally contests between the National Labor-Liberal coalition and the Conservative-Agrarian coalition, with the Communists and the Moderates playing important roles.
The 1953 Banking Crisis and subsequent economic depression caused a high-water mark of support for the far-left, giving the Communists their best election results. The left and centre-left — represented by the Communists, National Labor, and Liberals — would see a gradual increase in their seat share throughout the 1950s as public confidence in the Albendor government waned.
Held during a dire economic crisis, the 1959 federal election produced a rare single-party majority in the Chamber of Representatives when National Labor gained an outright majority. Historians often credit the party's sweeping victory to the "Elvensar Coalition" forged by National Labor leader Mette Elvensar, an alliance of the party's traditional urban working class base and two social cleavages that had traditionally supported more moderate or right-wing parties: the rural working class (traditionally supporting the Agrarian Party) and the middle class (normally supporting either the Conservatives or the Liberals). Both of these groups defected to National Labor in response to deteriorating economic conditions caused by the depression of the 1950s.
During this period, the Liberals gained a significant geolibertarian orientation, making them a left-wing challenger to the Agrarians in rural areas.
Throughout its time in office, National Labor benefited from its new cooperation with the Liberal Party. Even when in the opposition, the Liberals often voted for key components of National Labor's New Kingdom program, and cast the deciding votes in favor of the Economic Rights Amendment. When National Labor lost its independent majority in the 1975 federal election, it entered into a coalition agreement with the Liberals, and the two would govern together until 1983.
The lengthy hegemony of National Labor gave rise to a moderate faction within the Conservative Party, known as the New Conservatives. They represented progressive conservatives, supportive of the New Kingdom program, and clashed with the dominant right-wing faction. They were largely excluded from and critical of the Lars af Vellarand and Ulrik Andersen governments. When the neoliberal conspiracy was exposed, many New Conservatives split to form the Centre Democrats, adding to the Conservatives' devastation in the 1990s.
Fourth party system (1998-present)
The pivotal development of the fourth party system was the emergence of the Green Party as a major political force in the 1998 federal election. Founded in 1972, the party had been politically insignificant aside from a string of victories in state and local elections in the early 1990s. A key turning point came with the Halmodryn Lead Scandal of 1997, which helped the Greens gain a large number of seats in parliament the following year.
Continued losses led to pressure for the Conservatives and Centre Democrats to reunite, as their vote-splitting was benefiting the left. The 2002 election was a watershed: although the Centre Democrats won a narrow plurality in a hung parliament, they declined to form a centre-right government as it would depend on Conservative support for a majority. Instead, a Green–Communist–Pirate minority coalition was formed by Kol Vossgaard, with confidence and supply from National Labor. With the right-wing discredited by the result, the New Conservatives managed to gain influence in the Conservative Party and shift it towards the left, thus accomplishing the reunification on the Centre Democrats' terms.
There was initially concern among left-wing activists that the presence of three strong leftist parties in parliament would make it easier for right-wing governments to form, as the political right was much more unified under the Conservative Party and its junior coalition partner, the Agrarians. This proved to be the case in the 2006 and 2010 federal elections: the Liberals, National Labor, and Greens collectively won more seats than the Conservative-Agrarian coalition, but failed to form a government.
Led by its moderate faction, the Liberal Party was hesitant to work with the Greens for fear its radical agenda would alienate the party's moderate base. This changed with the election of Adric Azengaard as party leader in 2010, who sought to forge the country's first traffic light coalition, succeeding in the lead up to the 2014 federal election. The coalition was subsequently returned with a larger majority in the 2018 federal election, and the three parties continue to govern in a stable coalition arrangement.
The defining features of the fourth party system have been the increasing unity of the Delkoran left manifested in the stable electoral alliance of the Liberals, National Labor, and Greens, as well as a general leftward shift in the Delkoran political spectrum as the moderate New Conservatives have gained power in the Conservative Party, moving it to the left on a number of economic and social issues.
Parties in the Federal Parliament
Symbol | Party | Current leader | Ideology | Position | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
L | Liberal Party (Liberale Parti) | Adric Azengaard | Social democracy, social liberalism | Centre-left | |
A | National Labor (National Arbejdskraft) | Andreas Støvring | Democratic socialism | Centre-left | |
G | The Greens (De Grønne) | Margrethe Heldenvar | Green politics, eco-socialism | Centre-left to Left-wing | |
K | Conservative Party (Konservative Parti) | Grethe Vilstrup | Liberal conservatism, social liberalism | Centre-right | |
B | Agrarian Party (Agrariske Parti) | Frans Kjær | Agrarianism | Centre to centre-right | |
H | Alliance for National Action (Alliance for National Handling) | Elsa Tolstrup | Delkoran nationalism, right-wing populism, nativism | Far-right | |
C | Communist Party of Delkora (Kommunistpartiet i Delkore) | Berit Thrane | Left communism | Far-left | |
Ð | Lebøvian People's Party (Lebøvsk Folkeparti) | Júlia Nysted | Regionalism | Centre-right | |
Y | Free Republicans (Frie Republikanere) | Erik Holdergaard | Classical liberalism, libertarianism, republicanism | Right-wing |
Other parties
Symbol | Party | Current leader | Ideology | Position | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
P | Pirate Party (Pirat Parti) | Jonas Oversen | Civil libertarianism, direct democracy, E-democracy | Far-left | |
M | The Moderates (Moderaterne) | Jon Lund | Centrism, economic liberalism | Centre | |
V | United Leftist Front (Forenet Venstreorienteret Front) | Brette Kalbenfjorn | Authoritarian socialism | Far-left | |
E | Freedom and Liberty Party (Fraeher og Rettigheder Parti) | Felix Berg | Anarcho-capitalism | Far-right | |
N | Traditionalist League (Traditionel Liga) | Herbert Hedegaard | Traditionalist conservatism, national conservatism | Far-right |
State parties
Symbol | Party | State | Current leader | Ideology | Position | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ᛒ | Farmers' Alliance (Bønderforbundet) | Norvia | ? | Agrarianism, populism, progressivism | Centre | Formed through a merger of the Democratic Farmers' Party and the state Agrarian Party. |
Defunct parties
Symbol | Party | Founded | Dissolved | Ideology | Position | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
R | Republican Party (Republikansk Parti) | 1833 | 1916 | Republicanism, radicalism | Centre-left | Split in 1916 between Left Republicans and Free Republicans. The Left Republicans later merged into the Liberal Party. | |
D | Democratic Farmers' Party (Demokratisk Bondepartiet) | 1880 | 1948 | Agrarianism | Centre to centre-left | Split from the Agrarians over the issue of working with National Labor. Later merged into the Liberal Party. | |
F | Progressive Party (Fremskridtspartiet) | 1885 | 1940 | Progressivism, social liberalism, reformism | Centre-left | Formed by the progressive-leaning nobility after the Jarls Amendment of 1885. Merged into the Liberal Party following the 1940 split. | |
J | Agrarian Workers' Party (Landbrugsarbejderes parti) | 1912 | 1930 | Agrarian socialism, land reform | Far-left | State party active in Cybria. Merged with the state's National Labor under Bjørn Olsen. | |
I | Reform Party (Reformpartiet) | 1940 | 1960 | Classical liberalism | Centre-right | Split from the Liberal Party in 1940. Later merged into the Free Republicans. | |
Ɲ | National Revival (National Genoplivning) | 1954 | 1967 | National conservatism, corporatism, national syndicalism | Far-right | Emerged during the 1950s depression. Disbanded in 1967. The Alliance for National Action is considered its successor. | |
Ɵ | Party of Ordinary Delkorans (Almindelige Delkorsker Parti) | 1968 | 1982 | Right-wing populism, national conservatism | Right-wing to far-right | State party active in Cybria. Right-wing splinter from the Conservative Party, based on opposition to Jørna Winther's affirmative action, desegregation busing, and immigration policies. Merged into the Alliance for National Action. | |
Œ | Centre Democrats (Centrum-Demokraterne) | 1992 | 2003 | Progressive conservatism, liberal conservatism | Centre-right | Split from the Conservative Party in the aftermath of the neoliberal conspiracy. Rejoined the Conservatives following the growth of the New Conservative faction. |