Pacitalian Social Democratic Congress

Jump to navigation Jump to search
Pacitalian Social Democratic Congress
ChairpersonFederico Mattapensa
General SecretaryDamián Moya
FoundedJune 30, 2020 (2020-06-30)
Merger ofPacitalian Social Congress, Democratic Nationalist Party
HeadquartersCorso D'Amato 292/10, Timiocato 2077AC
Youth wingCSDPxJuve
Women's wingCSDPxFemme
IdeologyDemocratic socialism, social democracy, market socialism, social liberalism, Georgism
Political positionCentre-left
Colours  Red
Senato
57 / 100
Constazione
340 / 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 reunified 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 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 it 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 non-religious people, urban professionals, people with at least some post-secondary education, 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.

Constazione Repubblicana
Election Leader Party Electorate votes[a] 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
Increase 20
95 / 445
Increase 32
151 / 715
Increase 52 Increase 2nd Opposition
Tomás de la Marques PSC 16,726,602 5.0% 33,910,208 10.1%
0 / 270
Steady 0
45 / 445
Increase 45
45 / 715
Increase 45 Increase 4th Opposition
2017 Damián Moya DNP 89,335,062 27.4% 71,402,842 21.9%
70 / 270
Increase 14
97 / 445
Increase 2
167 / 715
Increase 16 Steady 2nd Coalition government with PSC
Tomás de la Marques PSC 64,229,953 19.7% 72,707,004 22.3%
62 / 270
Increase 62
99 / 445
Increase 54
161 / 715
Increase 116 Increase 3rd Coalition government with DNP
2020 Damián Moya 151,151,231 46.5% 182,040,274 56.0%
207 / 270
Increase 75
250 / 445
Increase 54
457 / 715
Increase 129 Steady 1st Majority government
2023 Damián Moya 140,361,329 41.5% 135,288,028 40.0%
162 / 270
Decrease 45
178 / 445
Decrease 72
340 / 715
Decrease 117 Steady 1st Plurality government[b]
Senato Repubblicana
Election Leader Party Votes[a] Seats Position Result
No. Share No. Share
2014 Cristián Piñera DNP 108,574,166 31.6%
22 / 96
Increase 8 Increase 2nd Minority (opposition)
Tomás de la Marques PSC 12,712,798 3.7%
3 / 96
Increase 3 Increase 6th Minority (opposition)
2017 Damián Moya DNP 85,422,578 26.2%
27 / 96
Increase 5 Increase 1st Majority (governing)
Tomás de la Marques PSC 77,923,650 23.9%
20 / 96
Increase 17 Increase 3rd Majority (governing)
2020 Damián Moya 152,752,840 47.4%
72 / 100
Increase 25 Steady 1st Majority (governing)
2023 Damián Moya 114,676,083 34.2%
57 / 100
Decrease 15 Steady 1st Majority (governing)
Archonate of the Pacitalian Republic
Election Candidate Party First-round votes Runoff election Result
No. Share Position No. Share Position
2010 Cristián Piñera DNP 70,931,379 24.7% Increase 3rd   Eliminated in first round
Athena Papistikas PSC 21,400,134 7.4% Decrease 4th   Eliminated in first round
2016[c] Franco Russo PSC 84,022,575 30.8% Increase 2nd 124,681,113 50.0% Steady 2nd Lost in runoff[c]
Sorinel Vulpes DNP 19,822,366 7.3% Decrease 4th   Eliminated in first round
2017[c] Vittoria Agradossa DNP 77,650,120 26.8% Increase 2nd 141,136,117 51.0% Increase 1st Elected
Adan Cárdenas PSC 61,539,308 21.3% Decrease 3rd   Eliminated in first round
2023 Franco Russo 103,322,602 36.1% Steady 2nd[d] 132,229,091 46.5% Decrease 2nd Lost in runoff
Notes
  1. 1.0 1.1 Total of first-preference votes only.
  2. The PSDC will govern alone and rely on confidence votes from other parties to remain in power. This runs the risk that the government may not last the full term and a new election is needed before 2026.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 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.
  4. The change in position compared to the 2017 archonal election is notional as the PSDC did not exist prior to 2020. The ranking of the candidate's performance is relative to how the PSDC's two constituent parties (the DNP and PSC) performed in that election. The DNP's candidate placed 2nd and made the runoff election, while the PSC's candidate finished 3rd and was eliminated.
References