Political parties of Lower Columbia

This article describes the history and role of political parties in Lower Columbian politics, and briefly outlines the major national political parties. More detailed descriptions of each party, as well as of the minor political parties with representation in the Lower Columbian Parliament, are available in separate articles.

Political parties have dominated Lower Columbian politics for most of the kingdom's history, but the current three-party system is relatively young; the youngest of the three parties, the Libertarian Party, is only about 80 years old, while the other two major parties are each over 120 years old. While early national politics lacked formal political parties, the loose alliances of various political interests that did exist in the 18th century later gave rise to the first of Lower Columbia's true political parties. For much of the kingdom's history, there was no legislation dealing with political parties whatsoever; it was not until the 20th century that the Constitution of Lower Columbia was amended to take the reality of political parties into account.

Modern political party system
Current politics in Lower Columbia is dominated by a three-party system; the dominant parties are the Conservative Party, the Libertarian Party, and the Progressive Party. These three parties have controlled Parliament to some extent since 1935, whether by themselves or in coalitions with one another, and two of their leaders have been the Lords of Parliament since 1887.

Conservative Party
The Conservatives, associated with green, have held parliamentary power the most in Lower Columbia's history. Their stronghold and common affiliations are with the national heartland and Puget Sound. They are most often identified as war-hawks, since they have historically supported territorial expansion and increased defense spending. They are also the most pro-business of the major parties, favoring free-market economic policies and as few regulations as possible. In addition, the Conservatives favor small government and fiscal responsibility, which together have resulted in Lower Columbia having a very small national debt. True to their name, their social policies are very conservative, with a heavy focus on patriotism as the motivating factor for continuing the compulsory military service program, tough restrictions on immigration and encouraging new immigrants to both acculturate quickly to the nation and seek to become citizens. The Conservatives also strongly support freedom of speech and gun ownership rights while opposing the establishment of a welfare state, legalization of abortion and recreational drugs, and disestablishment of Christianity as the government religion. Nationwide, about 33% of voters support the Conservative Party.

Libertarian Party
After the Conservatives, the Libertarians have had a mandate to govern most often. They are frequently identified with the interior and the south. They are known as the Blue Party. Like the Conservatives, the Libertarians favor minimal government control over the economy and maintaining a strong military. Where they are most different, however, is in their social policies; their support for lower restrictions on immigration has made them more popular over the past 20 years. Furthermore, they support most of the social policies that the Conservatives oppose, in addition to maintaining the lack of government control over marriage and broader freedom of expression. Approximately 43% of the electorate supports the Libertarian Party.

Progressive Party
The red Progressives are the least popular party in Lower Columbia, as the few times they have been in power have generally resulted in economic downturns. They are most popular in the eastern regions and Vancouver. Much of their unpopularity is due to their support for stronger government controls over the economy and other anti-business policies, which together have been attributed with many of the country's financial slumps and recessions. While their support of most of the same social policies as the Libertarians has at times helped and hurt their popularity, their calls for stricter environmental regulations and secularism have generated the most controversy. The Progressive Party enjoys the support of roughly 12% of voters nationwide.

Minor parties
The remaining 12% of voters are split between independents (who make up three percent of the electorate) and four parties that, collectively, have only rarely held more than 80 seats in Parliament. Those parties are: the Green Party, whose environmental radicalism is widely scorned; the Workers' Party, made up of socialists and communists; the Republican Party, which demands an end to the monarchy; and the Plains Party, which seeks to return the two plains provinces of Calgariana and Edmontonia to Canadian governance. Those parties' colors are dark green, pink, orange and yellow, respectively.