Political spectrum of your country

[MaisseArsouye]

Reading somes political threads, I saw some problems weren't due to different politcal opinions, but to different political DEFINITIONS. Liberal, socialist, conservative, ecologist,... all these words may have different meaning in different countries. So, I think it could be intersting to compare political spectrums of our countries.

I begin with Belgium.

In Belgium, there are no national parties. Every party is flemish or walloon. That's the first important point. Each political familly ( socialist, ecologist,... ) has 2 parties, one for Wallonia, the other for Flanders. Brussels has both bevause it's bilingual. And there might be important differences between parties of the same familly.

There are five major political famillies. Pay attention that ( to be simple ) Wallonia is 40% of Belgium and Flanders 60%. I give you regional results of june 2004 :
socialists : PS ( 36.9% ) in Wallonia, SPa (19.7% ) in Flanders.
PS is left winged while SPa is more central-left.

ecologist Ecolo (8.5% ) in Wallonia, Groen ( 7.6% ) in Flanders
Ecolo is clearly left-wing, maybe more tha PS ! Groen is central-left. Ecolo is more "fundies" and Groen more realist.

christians CDh ( 17.6% ) in Wallonie, CD&V ( 26.1% ) in Flanders
CD&V is right-wing, conservative and catholic. CDh is centrist and changed its name from "christian" to "humanist".

liberals MR ( 24.6% ) in Wallonia, VLD ( 19.8% ) in Flanders
VLD is right-wing and very neoliberal. MR is right-wing, but less than VLD and CD&V.

extreme-right FN ( 8.1% ) in Wallonia, Vlaams Blok ( 24.2% ) in Flanders.
Vlaamse blok is racist, and nationalist flemish. They want an independant Flanders. FN is racist, but is pro-Belgium, not pro-Wallonia.

There are some other little partie :
RWF : walloon, for Wallonia to France
NVa and Spirit : nationalist flemish, but democratic
BUB : "belgicain" means unitarists, royalists, christians,...
MS-CW : walloon, leftist socialists, for an indepedant Wallonia

We have a proportionnal electoral system and governments are allways coalitions. The federal government can have from 4 to 7 parties to have a majority in both Wallonia and Flanders. Governments are :
Federal Belgium : PS-SPa-MR-VLD ( Verhofstadt : VLD )
Flanders : CD&V-VLD-SPa + NVa and Spirit ( Yves Leterme : CD&V )
Wallonia : PS-CDh ( Jean-Claude Van Cauwenbergh : PS )


What is the political spectrum of your countries ?

 

[The Last Conformist]

Lemme see, the main political parties in Sweden are:

The Moderates
The biggest rightist party. Has conservative roots, but is basically (European) liberals today. Have been making some faintly leftist noises lately, for reasons of their own.

The Liberals
The full name is "The People's Party The Liberals", which no doubt suggests unreconstructed commieness to Americans. They're however the 2nd biggest rightist party, and the closest thing we've got to a libertarian party. Your basic European liberals.

The Christian Democrats
Economically centre-right (perhaps centre-left by American standards), socially conservative (by Swedish standards).

The Centrists
Economically centre-right. In favour of more power for local governments. Much stronger in the countryside than in the big cities - they were once called the Peasant Union.

The Social Democrats
The biggest single party since approximately forever, and in government for most of the time since WWII. Economically centre-left, fairly middle-of-the road on social issues (by Swedish standards). Fond of centralization.

The Leftists
Formerly Communist party who has lately started to wave the commie flag again. Mostly for show, tho - in effect they're just a left-wing democratic party these days. Aggressively feministic.

The Greens
The environmentalists. Economically quite lefty, socially liberal.

 

[Riesstiu IV]

Democrats - Oppose Republican policies and agendas unless it directly benefits themselves.

Republicans – Oppose Democratic policies and agendas unless it directly benefits themselves.

Libertarians – They like liberty… I guess.

Green Party – Leftist Leprechauns who fight for gold rights under rainbows.

Communazis – Most evil party in existence…

 

[AVN]

The political spectrum of the Netherlands.

From left-wing to right wing the main parties are :
-SP (Socialistische Partij). They are real socialists, anti-globalists, anti-EU, but liberal on matters as abortion, gay-marriage, euthanasya, etc.

-Groen Links. The Greens. I consider them social-democrats, but for them environmental issues are very important. They are also liberal on issues like abortion etc.

-PvdA (Partij van de Arbeid). This is a social-democratic party comparable with Labour in England. They are also liberal on free-choice matters

-D66 (Democraten 66). They are a centrum party on fiscal/welfare issues, but they like to reform the Dutch democracy, for example by introducing the referendum, chosen mayors instead of appointed ones, changes in the voting system etc. On free choice issues they are liberal.

-CDA (Christen Democratisch Appel). Christian Democrats. They are quite conservative on fiscal/welfare issues and also against abortion and euthanasya.

-VVD (Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie). A liberal party. Pro free market, only very limited welfare, but liberal on free-choice matters.

-Lijst Wilders. Someone who left the VVD a few weeks ago, because he considers them too leftish. He is for example against Turkey becoming a member of the EU.

-LPF (Lijst Pim Fortuyn). Very conservative party on fiscal/welfare issues.
They also want to restrict the rights of immigrants.

-ChristenUnie
-SGP (Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij)

These 2 parties are very conservative (both fiscally and on free-choice issues) and base their politics on the Bible.

At the moment the seats are divided as followed in our Tweede Kamer (House of Representatives.

SP 9 seats
Groen Links 8 seats
D66 6 seats
PvdA 42 seats
CDA 44 seats
VVD 27 seats
Lijst Wilders 1 seat
LPF 8 seats
ChristenUnie 3 seats
SGP 2 seats

Currently we have a right-wing coalition of D66-CDA-VVD, but this coalition is very unpopular at the moment according the polls.

According the current polls this can change in a left wing coalition (SP, Groen Links, D66, PvdA) after the next elections. These 4 parties together have a comfortable lead in the current polls.

 

[Verbose]

The Centrists
Economically centre-right. In favour of more power for local governments. Much stronger in the countryside than in the big cities - they were once called the Peasant Union.

More like "The Farmers Union" or the "Agriculturalists Union". One is only a peasant to one's sovereign.

The Social Democrats
The biggest single party since approximately forever, and in government for most of the time since WWII. Economically centre-left, fairly middle-of-the road on social issues (by Swedish standards). Fond of centralization.

I'd say that by Swedish standards these are the true "conservatives". The "built this country" and their mindset is that gvt by anyone except them is an aberration. This is now a classical power-party with surprisingly little ideology left.

 

[Aphex_Twin]

Romania

General elections are in November so the battle is heating up

There's the ruling PSD (Social Democratic Party), mammoth party, descendent of the former communists and have 40% in the polls currently. With media control and party discipline they have a good chance of winning.

There's the DA Alliance ( "Dreptate si adevar" - "Truth and justice"; the innitials also spell the word YES) made up of:
The PNL (National Liberal Party), right wing (shifting towards the left)
The PD (Democratic Party), left wing (shifting towards the right)
They have about 30-35%, second chance for presidency and parliament. They have an anti-corruption and reform message.

Third comes the PRM ("Partidul Romania Mare" - "Greater Romania Party"), nationalists, xenophobes with a powerful leader (Corneliu Vadim Tudor) but with a strong anti-corruption message (competing on a small scale with the DA). They have 10-12%.

A fourth is the PUR ("Parditul Umanist Roman" - "Romanian Humanist Party"), social liberals (largely centrist) eyeing the business sector. Recently they have formed a loose alliance with the PSD, granting them some 30 seats in parliament but prohibiting them to enter parliament themselves. The great asset of this party is it's TV station ANTENA 1 (highest audience TV) and Jurnalul National (best selling newspaper). Until recently they had 5-6% and it's expected they will drop to 1-2% due to the deal with PSD.

There are also a number of insignificant parties, numbering the PNTCD and AP (populars) and URR (moderate libertarians).


The political spectrum is strongly biased towards the left but shifting towards the right due to the growing middle class (now at 10-15%). If there are any questiond I'll be happy to oblige.

 

[~Corsair#01~]

Here is the political spectrum as I see it.

As you can see, I am NOT far left, as many think, rather, everyone else is simply far right. It all makes sense now.

 

[Aphex_Twin]

Feeling a little blue, corsair ?

 

[luiz]

Here's the political spectrum of Brazil, from the Ultra-Left to the supposed "Right"

Stalinists----PC do B(Communist Party of Brazil)

Maoists-----PCB and PSTU(Brazilian Communist Party and Unified Workers' Socialist Party)

Trotkyists--PCO and factions of the PT(Proletarian Cause Party and factions of the Workers' Party)

European-style socialists--PT, PSB, PPS(Workers' Party, Brazilian Socialist Party, People's Socialist Party).

Labour Parties---PDT and PTB(Democratic Labour Party and Brazilian Labour Party)

Social-Democrats--PSDB and PFL(Social-Democratic of Brazil and Liberal Front Party).

As one can see, the brazilian political spectrum is not friendly for those that, like myself, dislike a monstrous government.

 

[Grisu]

SVP - Schweizerische Volkspartei - right wing, very conservative, atm the bigges party
SP - Sozialdemokratische Partei - social democrats, second biggest party
FDP - Freisinnige Demokratische Partei - liberals third biggest party
CVP - Christliche Volkspatei - centrist, social-democratic on economic issues, conservative on social issues (abortion, gay-marriage, family values, etc)

these four parties share about 85% of the seats (SVP being the biggest with about 25%)

then there are some smaller parties like the greens (about 7%)
the EVP -Evangelische Volkspartei - (nobody really knows what they stand for)
SD - Schweizer Demokraten - (extreme right wingers)
Lega dei Ticinesi - Ticinesi extreme right wingers
PdA - Partei der Arbeit (workers party, extreme left wing), that's all I can think of right now...

 

[insurgent]

We have about nine or ten political parties which have seats in parliament or can potentially get them.

All of them are socialist.

 

[Free Enterprise]

Democrats: Center-slightly left leaning. Often dubbed "liberal" (Not at all like the term's former meaning). Generally support a more interventionist and active role for the government than Republicans.

Republicans: Center-slightly right leaning. Often labeled as "conservative" (Not at all like the term's former meaning). In general desire a smaller government role than Democrats. Some may disagree however most accept this general rule of thumb as accurate. I would not call Bush a typical representative of Republican ideology (particularly on spending).

Libertarians: Quite right-wing though it sometimes conflicts with Republicans. I would state that the Libertarians are more like the Republicans (not the same, however, as I said) overall than the Democrats. It is basically a party of nearly minimal government. Michael Badnarik is running on this ticket.

Greens: Overall left-wing however focus primarily on environmental issues. Peter Camejo is running on the ticket of one a Green Party (there are more than one).

Constitutional Party: What would be termed a very conservative party perhaps somewhat right-wing though there are issues where it is not. Michael Peroutka is running on this ticket.

Socialist Party: Substantially farther left than Democrats. No real chance of winning unlike in so many other countries of the world. Candidate for President in 2004 is David Cobb.

There are other parties however none except the Republicans and Democrats have a real chance of winning for now.

 

[Hitro]

I'll list only the bigger German parties, from left to right:

-PDS (Party of Democratic Socialism) - technically the successor of the GDR's (East Germany's) state party, which still today seriously stains their chances to be taken as a serious alternative here in the West. Which leaves no big leftist party in the West anymore (see SPD). The PDS is quite popular in the Eastern states, it is currently projected to become the strongest party in a state election in Brandenburg next week. It has however never even reached the necessary five percent to enter a parliament in the West.

- SPD (Social Democratic Party of Germany) - current major coalition partner in the federal government, formerly led by Chancellor Schröder who recently stepped down as party chairman. The party is currently in the biggest crisis of it's existence (apart from the Third Reich, obviously), as the leadership wants to move it strongly to the right (the "New" Labour way) while big parts of its base and its voters strongly oppose that, resulting in major losses in almost all elections. Can currently be seen as a Centrist party, if anything can be seen at all.

- The Greens - current minor coalition partner in the federal government that, unlike the SPD, has not suffered from the voter's wrath at the government's policies. The party used to be a leftist party with focus on ecological issues but has turned rather liberal on many economical issues these days. The difference between them and their major coalition partner is hard to see these days. However, their state sub-parties are sometimes rather more traditionally green.

- FDP (Free Democratic Party) - Germany's classical liberal party, officially persuing the goals you would expect from a liberal party, i.e. free market and social liberties. However, in practical terms they have been seen to ally with whoever drags them into power. They have been in the Federal government longer than any other party, despite (rather because) of having a voter base of less than 10%.

- CDU (Christian Democratic Union) - together with their Bavarian sister party, the CSU (Christian Social Union), the CDU is the main Conservative party in Germany. As such they tend to be in favour of the free market, but not to the extend of the liberals. The "Social Market Economy" was created during their reign after the foundation of the Federal Republic in the 1950s. On Social issues they are naturally the most rightist big party in the country, with parts of it, especially in the CSU, strongly opposing abortion, homosexuality and secularism. However, as that are minority views amoung the German electorate and as such unable to win a majority they tend to go on a more moderate course in general.
Overall a center-right party.

-DVU (German People's Union) basically a far-right party focusing on the usual issues of that political leaning, i.e. blaming foreigners and the political establishment for the problems of the country. The DVU is usually not much associated with violent right-wing extremism. It is a rather small party that managed to enter a few state parliaments.

- NPD (National Democratic Party of Germany) - another currently popular (meaning more than completely unknown) far-right party, usually slightly more radical than the DVU. The federal government planned to ban this party a few years ago but the proceedings failed to do so. They are currently projected to make strong gains in the upcoming election in Saxony. Overall the most right-wing party in the country.

Aside of these there are various even smaller parties, including far-left Communist parties, esoterical parties and oddly traditional right-wing groups. But none of these has much of an impact currently.

 

[Mauer]

Democrats - Oppose Republican policies and agendas unless it directly benefits themselves.

Republicans – Oppose Democratic policies and agendas unless it directly benefits themselves.

Libertarians – They like liberty… I guess.

Green Party – Leftist Leprechauns who fight for gold rights under rainbows.

Communazis – Most evil party in existence…

I like these explanations better!

 

[kronic]

I'll list only the bigger German parties, from left to right:

-DVU (German People's Union) basically a far-right party focusing on the usual issues of that political leaning, i.e. blaming foreigners and the political establishment for the problems of the country. The DVU is usually not much associated with violent right-wing extremism. It is a rather small party that managed to enter a few state parliaments.

- NPD (National Democratic Party of Germany) - another currently popular (meaning more than completely unknown) far-right party, usually slightly more radical than the DVU. The federal government planned to ban this party a few years ago but the proceedings failed to do so. They are currently projected to make strong gains in the upcoming election in Saxony. Overall the most right-wing party in the country.

Aside of these there are various even smaller parties, including far-left Communist parties, esoterical parties and oddly traditional right-wing groups. But none of these has much of an impact currently.

Compared to the other parties (PDS, SPD, Greens, CDU/CSU, FDP) I wouldn't consider NPD und DVU as "big". They don't have realistic chances to enter the Bundestag.

 

[kulade]

Repulicans- Hate Democrats

Democrats- Hate Republicans

Greens- Hates Everybody

 

[SKYPECAST]

basically in usa you have the democrats who are right wing, and the republicans who are right wing extremists. either way you put it, neither party has made universal healthcare available. they are all extremely capitalist. both parties support the troops, imperialist, zionist, and are extremely nationalist, waving their flags around, and of course patriotic. they are also both very religious. as you can see with obama, one of the most unconventional right wingers cant go a day without mentioning god, or supporting the troops. you should also keep in mind that obama only wants to remove combat troops, all other troops and contractors will remain. u.s combat troops will be relocated to afganistan, and pakistan. obama wants to close down guantanamo bay, not to release the prisoners, but to relocate them to other countries, so they can be tortured in other countries. the u.s. has for years, kidnapped random people and brought them to various countries such as egypt to toture them. this would only continue the tradition.
i have seen diagrams of how eu countries compare to each other on the left right scale, but i would like to see a world scale. id like to see how usa would compare to europe. im sure it would be far right, but i noticed that in the eu, uk was the most right wing of them all.

 

[amadeus]

If you're going to bump a five year old thread, at least be comprehensible.

 

[Mowque]

wow, ancient Necro

 

[eastsidebagel]

I'll list only the bigger German parties, from left to right:

-PDS (Party of Democratic Socialism) - technically the successor of the GDR's (East Germany's) state party, which still today seriously stains their chances to be taken as a serious alternative here in the West. Which leaves no big leftist party in the West anymore (see SPD). The PDS is quite popular in the Eastern states, it is currently projected to become the strongest party in a state election in Brandenburg next week. It has however never even reached the necessary five percent to enter a parliament in the West.

Where do you live, dude? The PDS became history long time ago already . The rest of your summary is nice and correct though.

EDIT: I'm a dumbhole. Didn't notice that this thread was a necroed one.