Progressive Party (Lower Columbia)

The Progressive Party of Lower Columbia is the second-largest of the three major political parties of the Federal Kingdom of Lower Columbia, and currently forms the Official Opposition in Parliament. Despite some early successes at the national level, it has held power in Parliament less often than either the Conservative Party or the Libertarian Party. It is considered the largest left-wing political party in the kingdom, although it is ideologically more centrist than its counterparts in other countries.

History
The Progressive Party was organized in the months leading up to the general election of 1887. Earlier that year, Lower Columbia had annexed the mainland territories of the Federal Republic of Gudland; the five new states that annexation had created were thus preparing for their first elections as part of the kingdom. Many residents and politicians in the annexed territories were significantly more left-leaning than the majority of Lower Columbians at the time, and so determined that they should form a new political party instead of joining one of the existing ones. The former Gudlanders initially wanted to name their new party the Liberal Party, in homage to a party of the same name that had existed in their former republic; however, a party of that name already existed in Lower Columbia. They therefore chose the name Progressive for its largely equivalent meaning.

The new Progressive Party attracted many liberal politicians in Lower Columbia, including a large number of the old Liberal and Republican parties' members. When the election finally took place, they easily won a majority of seats in Parliament, and even in many state legislatures. Their electoral victory upset the previous balance of power among Lower Columbia's established political parties: within a few years, the old Liberal Party was no more; the Republican Party was reduced to a minor party; and the Royalist Party was forced to regroup and form a new political strategy, leading them to reorganize as the Conservative Party. Thus reborn, the Conservatives took control of Parliament in the general election of 1890, bringing the Progressives' first government to an end.

The Progressive Party has spent most of the past century-and-a-quarter out of power, either as an opposition party or as a junior coalition partner. It has only been the sole party in government twice since 1890: in the 49th Parliament (1907-1911) and the 65th Parliament (1971-1976). The latter of those parliaments contained their largest majorities in the party's history in terms of percentage of seats held; they held almost 60% of the seats in each chamber of Parliament, enabling them to pass many liberal laws. Unfortunately for them, Lower Columbian voters grew increasingly unhappy with their reforms, due in no small part to their detrimental effect on the national economy. They voted to replace their government with a Libertarian-Conservative coalition government in the 1976 election.

Platform
The Progressive Party is generally considered a Christian socialist party; its members frame their economic views in the context of Bible passages which they interpret as supportive of a socialist policy for the church. While this tactic has made the Progressives more popular over the years, the party owes much of its unpopularity to its support for tighter government control over the economy, creation of a welfare state, and progressive income tax rates, both for individuals and corporations. Their support for reduced military spending, mandatory gun registration, and stricter environmental regulations are also highly controversial. Most of their other social policies are considerably less controversial, due to their being shared with the more-popular Libertarian Party; such policies include increased LGBT rights, reduced restrictions on immigration, cultural pluralism, and expansion of freedom of expression.