Strength of Political Parties

[Tulija]

How strong are political parties in your nation? Does a system of party discipline stifle them; does a parliamentary set up mean they are operated and dominated by their executive? Or are they freer to act? Does your nation have a dominant single party, two party, or multi-party system? Would you say your Parliament / Congress are pluralist, and free to think and act independently, or do they just "tow the line"?

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Tulija has a notoriously low level of party discipline - the whips ability to offer career prospects (ministries) to loyal minister an impossibility with technocratically appointed, non-partisan ministers. Due to this, cross party cooperation and rebellions are common, with the individual being exceptionally more powerful in Parliament than in other countries. Repercussions for lack of discipline are usually only feebly brought out during the most important and divisive votes. This has been commended for its pluralist and more democratic results in Parliament, but has also drawn criticism by senior party members for allowing votes to fail due to party splits.

Tulija has a multi-party state due to proportional representation, with coalition voting groups in Parliament common. A list of the major parties with seats in the Consular House and Senate can be found here.

[Radiatia]

Ever since the transition from a parliamentary system to a Presidential system, Radiatia has changed from a multi-party system into arguably a two-party system.

In the previous system, party discipline was stricter and the role of the whips was more crucial. Votes in parliament were often cast en bloc.

Today Radiatia has two main parties, both of which are big tent parties - the Social Democratic Union is loosely made up of everyone on the political left, from socialists to liberals to progressives to centrists, while the Liberal-Conservative Party is loosely comprised of everyone on the political right, from libertarians, to neoconservatives, to classical liberals, to moderates.

While party whips can still expel members for grossly violating party rules, members are free to vote more or less how they wish, with the practice of en bloc voting having been entirely abolished.

[Kingdom of Phoenixia]

Political parties are less to non existent. A few charismatic Nobles can lobby in the House of Nobles (equal to a parliament) but all decisions are made by King Erik Eirikson IV and over 90 % of the population are happy with this solution.

[ArghNeedAName]

Political parties tend to have a strong system of party discipline, which is considered necessary to running a parliamentary government. The majority of votes in both chambers of parliament consist of "bloc votes" where all the MPs vote according to their party's line. Traditionally, the party whips (MPs who maintain party discipline) give subordinate MPs a list of bills which are marked to show their importance:

• Free vote: (circled) The bill is not underlined, meaning MPs may vote as they please, abstain or be absent without any consequences. This rating is normally reserved for votes on "issues of conscience" such as abortion.
• Single whip: (underlined) MPs will be reprimanded for voting against the bill, abstaining without permission or being absent without a good reason. Frontbenchers may be demoted and backbenchers may be denied future promotion unless a significant percentage of the party caucus also revolts. They may be absent from parliament on the day of the vote, as long as it's due to government business or illness. They may get permission to abstain if they oppose a bill due to "constituency issues". The majority of all bills receive this rating.
• Double whip: (underlined twice) MPs will be punished for voting against the bill, abstaining or being absent without permission. Frontbenchers will be demoted and backbenchers will likely be denied future promotion or even lose committee assignments, unless a significant percentage of the party caucus also revolts. Normally, to get permission to be absent on government business, there must be an MP from the other side who is also planning to be absent. They will also get permission if they are ill. This rating is used on major pieces of legislation put forward by the government.
• Triple whip: (underlined three times) MPs will be punished for voting against the bill, abstaining or being absent, unless they are seriously ill. In some cases they may be expelled from the party or de-selected in the next election, though not if a significant percentage of the party caucus also revolts. They may still be demoted, lose committee assignments or be denied future promotion. This rating is used on the most important reforms a government passes, confidence votes and the budget.

The only time a secret ballot is used is in elections for the Speaker.

Note that for an MP to be "absent", they must not just be absent from the building but also absent from the vicinity. If an MP stays at their office across the road when the division bell rings, it will be considered to be an abstention, not an absence. MPs may also be expelled from their party for rebelling against the government on multiple occassions, even if they only rebel against single whips.

MPs do often engage in cross-party campaigns, usually for less polarising political issues.

[Chelta]

Although there is whipping in the Cheltish Parliament, party discipline is weak; this is mostly due to the two main parties' method of selecting and de-selecting party candidates (they are elected to their party candidacy in open primaries by their constituents) - parties cannot usually arbitrarily deselect an MP if he defies his whip. This ensures MPs answer downwards to their constituents rather than upwards to their whips for their endorsement in Parliament, and gives them licence to speak and vote according to their consciences or, better yet, according to their constituents' interests rather than their party's. So the Cheltish House of Commons tends to be a resolutely independent chamber, and rebellions and cross-party backbench co-operation are not uncommon.

Additionally there are alternative avenues for a political career in Parliament other than promotion to ministerial office: chairmen of select committees are paid the same as a minister of state, and chairmen of certain major committees are paid the same as a Cabinet minister. So an MP may pursue an eminent career in politics as a parliamentarian without seeking promotion by his party to government office.

The party leadership still retains the right to withdraw the whip (expel an MP from the party), however, and the threat of expulsion invariably accompanies votes on supply bills (such as the Budget) and no-confidence motions.

[Keduk]

Party discipline is generally tight and heavily controlled by the party executive. Bloc voting is regularly employed and a person can be expelled from the party for voting against the party line. Despite operating in a democratic system, parties themselves often contain little in the way of internal democracy.

[Syldania]

Depends, the governing Syldanian Party has always managed to maintain tight discipline, as indeed it must as it has rarely had an absolute majority, and has often been able to govern due to the discipline of the various opposition parties. Far right, centrist and ethnic parties seem to come and go, due to a variety of splits and the like, whereas the Socialist Party has usually been able to retain a tighter grip over its Members of Parliament. The Communist Party, although miniscule, is actually the oldest party in Syldania.

[Aristoleia]

There is no such discipline, as informal coalitions and interest groups support political campaigns in Aristoleia.

[Aurvian]

There is no such thing as political parties in Aurvian. This is not to say that likeminded Aur'vae cannot form a group to discuss and / or promote their views, but those groups are informal and have no place in the government.

[Xanthal]

Xanthal's federal government has a legislature elected entirely by proportional representation, so party discipline is extremely important in the selection process since if party leaders appoint too many mavericks they risk losing influence in Assembly votes to rogue members. Generally a member of the Assembly who votes against her party is subject to censure at the very least. Frequent defectors are usually first to lose their seats when the party loses representation, and in extreme cases have been expelled by their party. That said, some parties are stricter than others, and since what action (if any) is to be taken is the decision of the concerned individual's party leadership, the decision is often politically calculated and can be very uneven across cases.

Free votes do occur, but they are rare on matters of great contention or uncertain outcome. Generally free voting only takes place when the result is considered a foregone conclusion or the verdict is symbolic or otherwise of limited impact. Every once in a while, though, a party can feel sufficiently pressured by its members and the public to allow free voting on an issue of genuine importance.

[The United Soviet Socialist Republic]

There is one main ruling party, the Fascist Party, which controls 31 out of the 32 provinces. The Socialist Conservative Party that once ruled most provinces is now very weak and controls only one province. The other minor parties have just about no influence.

[Reino do Brazil]

In the Kingdom of Brasil, the civil society in heading towards Democracy with elections to be held every 5 years. For the moment there is only one
corporative Party, the National Union. Delegates are elected in electoral circles and only then they can choose the Prime-Minister who will be
appointed by the King-Emperor to hold Office

[Merriwhether]

Political Parties
The Merriwhethran legislature involves only one party which rules the senate at a time. The party represented by the elected president controls the House of Senate for his/her 10-year term. Once that term is up, the next president's party takes over the Senate. So, parties do havea significant influence over the Senate, but not so much over the legislature because the National Assembly basically has complete control over it.

[Auzkhia]

Since they don't officially exist they don't have any power.
Although politicians had formed "blocs" or groups of like minded politicians. They still meet at similar places but they are not allowed to be an official political party, only these politicians are part of the Imperial Council or local parliaments. Even if the Imperial and Royal government did recognize political parties, they would only have legislative power or control over the office of minister president. Political parties would have little executive power as the non-political Emperor has most of the executive power.

[Distributist Chestertonia]

A note about Chestertonian politics: for the most part cities run themselves autonomously. Towns meet on dates of their own choosing, as they feel is best to organise - so long as everyone of the age of reason is offered an opportunity to speak. Some have mayors who MC town council meetings, and basically give the mic over to whomever has an issue. Some towns have a council which sorts through pre-written issues. And there are other variations.

But there are some things which are decided on the provincial and national level. On the national level, particularly, the law is based on a concept of natural law that is based in reason, philosophy, logic, and other natural sciences. Everyone in Chestertonia, as per the Constitution, is required to learn these things. Anyone who wishes to run for office must earn an A- or better on their report cards for the relevant subjects.

If this is any indicator, you may have guessed by now that our politicians are chosen based on their demonstrated capabilities. We have no need of political parties, and indeed they are illegal, as partisan politics tend to be emotionally charged, disgraceful, and perfect opportunities to vote in crapsacks rather than good candidates. Instead, candidates run on their own merits and demerits.

All state and local level politicians are volunteers, or need a second job in order to make a living. National politicians make a living wage and nothing more or less.

[Detectatia]

Political parties are recognized by both the Detectatian federal government, as well as all provincial level governments. Additionally, the federal government operates under a parliament-esque system, giving political parties power.

That being said, unusual for a parliamentary system, party discipline is almost nonexistent. While every party has a party whip, they are not an officially recognized position within the legislature. The legislature is divided into the Government and Opposition--however, the terms are used as loose markers of where a party stands: either in general agreement with the party with the most seats, or in general disagreement. All votes are conscience/free votes, and it is very common for legislators to vote against their party's stance.

There is generally only a single vote in which party/faction discipline is strictly maintained--that of initially electing the Premier of Detectatia. The prospective Premier is almost always the leader of the party with the most seats, and is privately chosen to be the candidate Premier by his/her party caucus. When the time for an official election comes, all parties and party members in the Government are whipped into voting for the candidate. But, after this initial election, all votes, including future votes of (no) confidence/supply, are completely free.

In terms of executive domination, legislators are never dominated or operated involuntarily. What is meant by this is that, due to the massive size of the lower house, the House of Deputies (809 deputies), many backbench deputies choose to remain silent in debate and in making motions. However, under rules of the legislature, all legislators are entirely equal in power within the chambers--meaning, every deputy is allowed to make any motion, or speak for a near unlimited amount of time on any motion, bill, or resolution. But, as stated earlier, this is rarely done for matters of convenience.

Detectatia is a strongly multi-party system, with currently 11 parties represented in the federal legislature, and hundreds of self-described political parties across the country.

As described above, legislators are largely independent, with some exceptions to fit the parliamentary system.

[Mikhailgrad]

In our country, the political parties are part of a multi-party system that prohibits coalitions to maximize options. Party discipline is based on their hierarchy clearly functional. First is the president of the party, followed by the Secretary General, who at once (if the party in the administration of the country), then there is the Director for Soviet, then the local representative and finally members.
The parties are very versatile, since membership is free and portable, making things happen as what did our president, who switched Social Democratic to the Party Ecosocialist.

There are parties that are made ​​and broken as there are parties that have no members and only the command. The Congress of Soviets is the National Parliament is composed of about 1,000,000 parliamentarians. The parties have a president of the Parliament, which is the voice of the consensus to do the rest, based on proposals that give party members in the constituencies that control (Lower House). The same happens if you want to propose a bill. (Middle House)

These presidents proposed the project as compared to the Upper House, to other presidents. Congress President decides which begin and so begin voting. These ratings are based on arguments given by the proponent of the project and how convincing are. The rest is how beneficial vote according to the country and how you have been convinced. What you choose is based on the majority, to allow not suffer fraud as in "proportion".

There are strong parties, who are the parties that support the government and the opposition. Those who support him are:
Socialist Party (21% of the Congress of the Soviets)
Social Democratic Party (40% of the Congress of the Soviets)
Ecosocialist Party Actually in power (21% of the Congress of the Soviets)
Green Party (10% of the Congress of the Soviets)
Communist Party (2% of the Congress of the Soviets)
Eastern Left Wing Party (9% of the Congress of the Soviets)

And the opposition:
Party of Free Trade (1% of the Congress of the Soviets)
Party for the Privatization (17% of the Congress of the Soviets)

These are strong parties that have seats based force to fulfill his campaign promises.

Other parties are not strong enough and that no mayoral seats in the Congress of Soviets, governorates.
These are:
National Socialist Party
Russian Nationalist Party
Right United Party
Party for Liberation of the Mitieva Islands

[Saurisisia]

Well, the Dinosaurs First Party is the dominant political party in the nation and is the only one allowed in legislative elections (local government elections are completely non-partisan). However, the most prominent of the "lesser" Parties are the National Fascist Party, the Conservative Party, the Constitutional Party, and the Libertarian Party.

[Avaerilon]

How strong are political parties in your nation? Does a system of party discipline stifle them; does a parliamentary set up mean they are operated and dominated by their executive? Or are they freer to act? Does your nation have a dominant single party, two party, or multi-party system? Would you say your Parliament / Congress are pluralist, and free to think and act independently, or do they just "tow the line"?

Avaerilon has a vibrant multi-party system, and each party generally approaches matters in a different way. However, on most issues, MPs are free to act as they please. The executive is less powerful generally than most other governments', allowing for a pluralistic approach.

The Liberals
Consistently the strongest party in Avaerilon, The Liberals currently govern in the federal Parliament as a majority. They also govern in the devolved Fereldonian parliament in the same way, and take-part in coalitions elsewhere. MPs and AMs are almost always not pressured to vote for a general party line, although there have been occasions when the votes have been whipped. Only in times of significant trouble have any punishments been given for failing to follow a whipped vote; usually by verbal reproachment.

The Centrists
Often the first party involved in coalition negotiations with another, The Centrists are involved in both the Arnalorian and Morrowish devolved governments. Like The Liberals, their leaders often allow a free-hand in votes, although the party generally tends to gather members into a single line on economic issues.

The Social Democrats
The third-largest party at present, the Social Democrats govern as the senior coalition partner with The Liberals in Dunaemair. Their party used to adopt a whipped vote on economic and health issues, but has since relaxed. However, the party has been known to deny members access to meetings and committees on the basis of failing to vote with them. At times in the past, members were sometimes expelled.

The Conservatives
The fourth party of Avaerilon was until recently governing as a majority in Morrowind. They are the most likely of all the four main parties to have a whipped vote, but are not as unforgiving as the Social Democrats should a member rebel.

[Sanian Confederacy]

While the Sanian Confederacy was up until very recently a Multi-party system, the current system is that of a single Dominant-party.

Since the 1996 general elections, the Assimilationist Party has dominated the Sanian Confederacy's parliamentary democracy and has been central to the nation-state's rapid political, social, and economic development in the 21st century. With the victory of the 5th Sword Division in the Badlands of Noranda, the fame and influence of some of the most outspoken confederate officers in favor of Changeling integration rose. With the backing of some of the most famous confederate officers alive, the Assimilationist movement (which originally started as a minor grass roots equality effort) reached a majority in the confederate parliament and approved proposals to assimilate the Changelings of Noranda as a recognized Confederate ethnicity, rather than partake of the greatest ethnic cleansing in Sanian history. All Changelings, regardless of history, allegiance, infirmity, or service in the Confederacy now have a place, and their future generations genuinely adopted as full citizens of Sani.

However, the Assimilationist Party has since been criticized for the passing of laws that suppress free speech and other civil liberties. The party's leader Sylvia Presiding (who rode into office on a landslide victory provided by the Assimilationist movement), however, has consistently shown to be above the brutishness exercised by the predecessor she overthrew. Sylvia believes that the government should aid its people. Each of their lives contributes to the overall power of the state, and therefore, to her own overall power. Though technically those in Sani have fewer codified rights now compared to any other time in history, Sylvia is sure to treat her people with a measure of respect and empathy they are unused to having. Thus, she and her party are overwhelmingly loved by their people as “enlightened rulers.”