Idealists Without Illusions
Idealism without pragmatism is impotent. Pragmatism without idealism is meaningless. The key to effective leadership is pragmatic idealism. The choice we offer is not conservative or liberal. In many ways it's not even Right or Left. It's different. It's new. And it will work.
Party Platform
SOCIAL POLICY
At our heart, the New Democrats are committed to humanism. We take the side of people and make our social decisions based on reason, empathy, and a concern for life. We believe that life can be given meaning not simply through bring happiness to our own lives, but also by seeking it for those around us. Our social policies reflect our views not just on traditional debates but also on how we see the world around us and the people that live in it.
The New Democrats do not question a woman's right to a safe and free abortion. However, we respect the views of those who believe that an unborn baby should not be terminated up to the point of viability, and so hold that view that 24 weeks is the absolute maximum abortions should be restricted to. Past this point, the matter is a free vote.
We respect the positive role that religion can play in modern life and firmly believe that nobody should be persecuted based on their religious beliefs. All members of Calaverdan society should be free to practice their religion peacefully in a way which does not harm the rights of others. The New Democrats believe that in order to ensure all religious people are treated equally, we must lead by example in government. Therefore, Calaverde must remain a peaceful secular state where religion is free to play a role in peoples' lives, but is not forced upon them.
As part of our belief in equality, we stand firm on the matter of LGBT rights. Members of the gay community have and still do face discrimination and persecution across the world, but we stand arm and arm with every Calaverdan in our faith in equality and democracy to protect the values that make us a humane and fair society.
ECONOMIC POLICY
The New Democrats support a strong, open economy that serves the public interest. Taking ideas from both the left and the right, the New Democrats support market-based solutions to social problems, favouring a free and flexible market economy coupled with a strong and secure social safety net.
The New Democrats propose concentrating public funding on key pro-growth, anti-poverty services for the prosperity and equality of Calaverde, and support a broadening of the tax base to encourage innovation and efficiency. Aware of Calaverde's economic and financial position in the world, the New Democrats are sceptical on running large deficits, unless for the purpose of stabilising the country's economy.
We believe that the market and economic prosperity can play a key role in solving issues surrounding poverty and those less privileged in our society, but the traditional belief that they alone are the solution to poverty is outdated and out of touch. The New Democrats believe in a strong social security net that provides an incentive for work while guaranteeing a fair and stable income for hard working Calaverdeans.
LAW & ORDER
The New Democrats realise that crime is a result of a wide variety of important factors, but believe that this does not excuse the behaviour of criminals. The New Democrats adopt a policy that is both tough on crime as well as tough on the causes of crime, keeping our streets safe and making them even safer.
The old view that deterrents alone can stop crime is foolish and outdated. We believe in funding for our education and healthcare systems, a fair and secure social safety net and an approach to policy that shows a way out of crime, not merely a form of punishing it. The New Democrats wish to take an evidence-based approach to our law and order issues, whilst avoiding seeing both perpetrators and victims as statistics or numbers.
HEALTH & EDUCATION POLICY
The New Democrats maintain that the health of Calaverde is of crucial importance to the party, and for this reason we support a state-funded universal healthcare system to cover at least the most basic medical needs of Calaverde's citizens. Historical worries about the damage on economic prosperity done by universal healthcare have been proven untrue, and we instead believe that a healthy workforce will only serve to form a healthy economy.
As a party, we see education as not only the next step to employment, but also to understanding life and what it means. The New Democrats believe that as well as being taught conventional and traditional skills, students need to learn how to get on in life, how to make themselves safe and how to be happy. We see it as crucial that education is open to all those who seek to learn, young or old, and view those in education not as numbers, but as our future.