Political Spectrum of Occitania
Parties Which Have Successfully Contended for Government:
National Unity Party
A messy early assembly of the conservative factions of Occitania, National Unity has a minor identity problem. Its core issues are, quite naturally, regional protection of Occitania, internal support for the government, and monarchy oriented economic policies. The internal divisions have come from how nationalistic the party should be, as many simply desire conservation of the state and national pride, rather than expansion of either. The first Premier Ministre of National Unity, Pascal Saysset, with his charismatic attention to the subtleties of politics, kept National Unity together for multiple elections, forwarding economic plans as well as creating the framework for Occitanian geopolitics, being a founder of the Rhine-Rhone Pact, entering the Spanish Civil War where Spain was also brought into the Pact. Since the 1920 election, with the defeat by the Party of Order, Pierre has dropped his post as leader of the party, and the internal strife is being watched by political commentators on the future of National Unity.
Party for Confederation
Considered a liberal faction, the party has one main issue, closer relations with the Franco-Burgundian union, or preferably joining their Confederation. They tried to appeal to the larger demographics in the earlier elections, advocating freer trade, a better system for starting a business, and lower taxation alongside their largest issue. The party has become largely irrelevant, and its internal elites are troubled to redefine the party; many members have left and joined the Party of Order.
Party of Order
The third most significant party in Occitanian election history has been the Party of Order, a dominant force for liberalism. They are the main critics of National Unity and conservatism in Occitania, demanding more progressive economic and social reforms for society. The election of 1920 has been more moderation between internal and foreign policy, and was the parties first election forming government. Pierre Durands moved quickly to sign the Luxembourg Accord, promoting peace in western Europe, and he showed calmness towards the partys demands for reform, preparing for several new worker laws. The Party of Order accepted their allies call into the Italian-Confederate War of Piedmont, which contributed to their success in the following election. Durand has made many hard decisions during his two terms, which have gained him fame for his calm resistance to political adversaries, but has also tarnished his reputation as a fighting liberal.
Other Major Parties:
Socialist Party
Founded in a coffee shop in 1917, the social proletarist party of Occitania has weighed in on every election since then, to minor public attention. They advocate for rapid labour reform, lowering the working day, universal secondary and primary education, raising the minimum wage, and variously improving working conditions. The party has been extremely unpalatable to the noble and capitalist classes of Occitania, and has received very little economic support. Unions have also been barred from directly funding them, as acting thus would constitute them as socialist unions. Despite this, or perhaps because of this, the Socialist Party is the most stable political party in Occitania, maintaining the same dedicated members with few members leaving for other, more popular, parties.
Moderate Party
The moderate party has the most peculiar internal issue of all the major parties of Occitania, that is, defining what precisely is moderate. The most recent election of the Party of Order demonstrated even liberals can claim moderation, if the previous government was not. Thus defining precisely where the middle of the spectrum is in Occitania has been very difficult, and the Moderate Party suffers the perennial issue of members exiting for other stronger parties. Though the Moderates usually lose people, the core staff has remained, and the focus as of recent has been that the Moderates are the incorrupt (or least corrupt) party, with no strong allegiance to capitalist backers, labour, the king, or any other faction in Occitanian politics.
Peoples Party
The Peoples Party is the least popular of nationally eligible parties, gaining not more than a single seat in the history of Occitania. The leadership of the party is however strong from the ideological glue of nationalism and state corporatism, and its members are mostly youth activist working from educational institutes across the country. The party believes in reducing the monarchys power, nationalizing core industries, though leaving large firms to continue to compete, and building a strong army and navy, and has its extremes in reclaiming the title of the nation of France. The Peoples Party has been the most critical of the government on the slow naval rebuilding efforts, mismanagement of military engagements leading to fewer military successes than could be obtained, and frequently receives press for the radical statements its members make. The party is also highly anti-proletarist and anti-clerical.
Traditional Proletarists and Religious Parties:
While Occitania is not a secular state, and usually allows publication of reform writings which are sympathetic to revolution, traditional proletarist and religious parties are constitutionally banned. Proletarist parties are banned, not by direct mention, but by a section of the constitution which forbids parties whose platform are revolutionary change of government and the constitution, while religious parties are banned explicitly. The upper house of Occitania has several seats given to bishops or high ranking religious officials, because of the importance of representing Occitanias religious population. A whole party dedicated to religious advancement does not constitute legitimate leaders in Occitania, as they are perceived to fail to modulate their policies to the population, and sacrifice good government work for inaccurate interpretation of scripture. The Occitanian population has been cynical of religious justifications since the last century. Thus religious and proletarist parties are banned because the latter is poisonous to the nature of Occitanian democracy, and the former is both already represented, and in the form of a party, considered bad at governing.
All of this is pointless, the Confederation hasn't lost anything.
