Political parties in Urcea

For a comprehensive list of parties, see List of Urcean political parties.

Urcean electoral politics have largely been dominated by successive pairs of major political parties since shortly after the First Great War, succeeding a century of uncontested domination by the National Pact, broadly considered the first organized political party in Urcean history. Urcea has a tradition of smaller regional third parties (such as the Julian Party) as well as typically having a small socialist or left-wing party which wins third or fourth place in most Concilium Daoni elections. The National Pact has been opposed by a succession of related parties; the Commonwealth Union, the Union for National Solidarity, and the modern Solidarity Party, each of which descended from the preceding political party representing a reformist, integralist perspective contrary to the crown liberal National Pact. Both major party structures have largely retained a similar ideology since their foundation, though approaches and perspectives on individual issues have varied broadly throughout their histories.

Party organization

In Urcea, political parties are formed through standing committees at the diocesan and provincial level. These committees are made up of individuals who represent smaller constituent units and make all decisions for the local party committee, fundraise, allocate funding, endorse and select candidates, and other activities. Accordingly, party organization in Urcea is largely bottom-up, with parties sometimes differing broadly across the country's extensive geographic area. Committees typically elect a chair, vice chair, treasurer, and secretary, and these positions can sometimes be powerful and influential depending on the size and scope of the committee. Diocesan and provincial parties largely function in the same manner, only representing different sized constituencies. Unlike some other countries, Urcea's political parties are not responsible for maintaining their own membership rolls, with party enrollment figures maintained by Diocesan Boards of Election.

Diocesan Party Committee

Diocesan Party Committees are the basic unit of political party organization in Urcea. They serve as the political party organization, administration, and leadership on the diocesan level. All members of local party committees are made up of members who represent the various polling precincts within a diocese as determined by the local Diocesan Board of Election. Accordingly, these committees vary widely in size depending on the number of precincts in a diocese, which itself is usually (but not always) a function of the local population. Diocesan Committees are extremely important in the life of a Urcean political party, nominating candidates for local office while also constituting a significant part of both delegation and provincial party committees. Diocesan committees elect between 2 and 27 provincial committee members, with the number depending on Diocesan Committee size but also the by-laws and rules of each province's party committee. Members of the Diocesan Committees are chosen by circulating petitions; would-be members must file a petition with at least five percent of a precinct's enrolled party members to the Diocesan Board of Elections. Multiple individuals are allowed to circulate petitions for a party's precinct representative, enabling a primary for the role of Diocesan Committeeman.

Delegation Party Committee

In addition to the regularly constituted Diocesan Party Committees, ad hoc Delegation Party Committees are established every five years during election years to create a formal party structure within individual Concilium Daoni districts as well as provincial legislative districts that encompass more than one diocese. The Delegation Committee members are chosen by the Diocesan Party Committees which make up a Daoni district. The ratio of appointments are typically determined by the provincial party committee, usually by population but sometimes according to other concerns like the importance of a "swing" diocese to choosing a candidate who can win the Daoni district. The Delegation Committees typically only meet once or twice to select a candidate before disbanding.

Provincial-Crownland-State Party Committee

Party committees for the provinces, crownlands, and states (usually just referred to as "provincial") committees serve a similar function to Diocesan Party Committees on a province-wide basis. They are made up primarily of representatives chosen by the Diocesan committees, though after 2004 all parties in Urcea required 10% of Provincial Committee members to be appointed by the central Party Chancellery. Because some of these committees can be very large, province committees typically elect a Central Committee to actually execute the day-to-day function of the provincial party in concert with the state party chair.

Party Chancellery

Party Chancelleries are the central organ of Urcea's political parties. The Chancellery serves as the basic administrative apparatus of the national political party. It is responsible for overseeing the party's overall efforts in fundraising, messaging, candidate recruiting, and other similar functions but also including credentialing of provincial party committee members, and overseeing the party's procuratorial primary. The Party Chancellery is the central political office of the Party Leader; as such, it is not bottom-up like the other party committees, but does depend on the incumbents and candidates they support and nominate. The Party Chancellery is led by the Chief of Staff of the Party Chancellery. The Chief of Staff is nominated by the Party Leader and confirmed by a vote of the Party Consistory. The Chief of Staff is then responsible for staffing the party chancellery. Nominally, the Chief of Staff answers directly to the Party Leader, but in practice, party Chiefs of Staff are typically the actual effective organizational head of political parties, with the leader serving as the elected representative figurehead of the party; the Party Leader, can, however, dismiss a Chief of Staff without approval of the Consistory.

When a political party has a governing majority in the Concilium Daoni - and thus its Party Leader is also the Chancellor and Temporary President - the Party Chancellery receives official standing as a quasi-government agency. As the Chancellery is responsible for organizing the members of its Concilium Daoni delegation, it receives public office space in the Julian Palace, though its personnel remain employees of the party rather than the government. Chancellery officials are usually consulted in major policy choices made by the party's Daoni employees and appointments, and their input is generally expected to be followed unless contradicted directly by Daoni members or the Party Leader.

Party Consistory

The Party Consistory is a body of all of a political party's Concilium Daoni members as well as all of the party's provincial committee chairs and vice chairs. The Party Consistory has two primary responsibilities: electing (or removing) the Party Leader and confirming the Party Leader's nominee for Chief of Staff of the Party Chancellery. As such, the Party Consistory is a somewhat informal body called on an ad hoc basis. Party Leader selections require two-thirds of the members, while Chief of Staff confirmations require a simple majority. The role of Chair of the Party Consistory is a leadership position awarded to a member of the party's Concilium Daoni leadership; the role is subject to the appointment and dismissal of the Party Leader, meaning it cannot be dismissed until a new Party Leader is elected in the case of successions or leadership disputes.

Party Leader

In Urcea, the office of Party Leader is elected by the Party Consistory. If a party has elected members of the Concilium Daoni, that individual is also always the party's legislative leader. Accordingly, all Chancellors and Temporary Presidents have been Party Leaders in the modern legislative system. As such, Party Leaders must be sitting members of the Daoni if a party has one. Most of the Party Leader's authority and influence derives from their role as leader in the Daoni rather than within the party apparatus, as Chiefs of Staff of the Party Chancellery usually serve as the de facto party head. Nevertheless, Party Leaders are viewed to be the key representative of their party within the public imagination with the exception of candidates for Procurator if they are not the same person.

Affiliation

Urcean culture tends to place an importance on affiliating with its major political parties, and Urceans which are members of parties strongly associate themselves with that party. About 60% of Urceans are formal members of a political party, with the remaining being independents. Independents in Urcea usually have an existing, though looser, affiliation with the major political parties according to most studies.