People's Democratic Party
The People's Democratic Party (PDP; Latin: Factio Democraticae Populi, FDP; Pelaxian: Partido Democrático Popular; Reform Tainean: Partita Demaukrata Popaulara) is a left-wing democratic socialist political party in Castadilla. It was founded on 30 May 1986 by militants who were at the time members of the Socialist Workers' Party, one of the many groups in opposition to the Estado Social regime. The PDP has been the governing party of Castadilla since the 1996 legislative election, the nation's first post-revolution election.
People's Democratic Party Factio Democraticae Populi Partido Democrático Popular Partita Demaukrata Popaulara | |
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| Abbreviation | Latin: FDP Pelaxian & Reform Tainean: PDP |
| President | Carmen Huerta |
| Secretary-General | Francisco Carvalho |
| Deputy Leader | Luis Hidalgo |
| Peerage leader | Enrique, Baron Valdez |
| Commons leader | Jaun Girou |
| Founder | Vito Borbon |
| Founded | 30 May 1986 (50 years ago) |
| Merger of | PST, PCD, PDI |
| Preceded by | Socialist Workers' Party |
| Headquarters | Santa Maria, Castadilla |
| Newspaper | Socialist Action |
| Youth wing | FISC |
| Membership (2028) |  487,068 |
| Ideology | Majority: Factions: Cabacero Socialism Democratic centralism Permanent revolution Revolutionary socialism |
| Political position | Left-wing to Far-left |
| Colors | Red |
| Commons | 256 / 500
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| Peerage | 139 / 266
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| Local Government (2032-2036) | 908 / 1,420
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| Regional Parliaments | 1,216 / 1,900
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| Regional Government | 12 / 19
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The PDP is serves as the dominant party in Castadillaan politics, having many of its values enshrined in the constitution much to the chagrin of the opposition on the political right. The current leader of the PDP is Francisco Carvalho, the current Prime Minister of Castadilla and the party's second leader. The party won 256 out of 500 seats in the National Assembly following the 2028 election, enough to retain a majority government.
History
Socialist Workers' Party (1982-1991)
People's Democratic Party (1991-present)
Ideology
Formal ideology
The core ideology of the party is the fundamental principles that emerged after the Velvet Revolution in 1984, in particular the moderate socialist "constitutionalists" that overthrew the radical far-left coup. Ever since the PDP's founder Vito Borbon stepped down in favour of Franisco Carvalho, these principles have had minimal changes since its formalisation in 1994. Whether or not further changes may be applied by Carvalho's probable successor is entirely up for debate. However, with the democratic nature of the party structure, some have suggested that such changes are an inevitability when Carvalho steps down.
Marxism is the first official ideology of the PDP. According to the PDP, "Marxism reveals the universal laws of societal development as per historical truth." To the PDP, Marxism provides a "vision of the inherent flaws of societal capitalism and of the inevitability of the rise of societal socialism and the eventual achievement of communism." According to Socialist Action, Borbonism "is the Castadillaan application and development of Marxism for a society formerly under the rule of a reactionary dictatorship." Borbonism was conceived not only by Vito Borbon himself, but also by leading party officials.
The major ideas behind Borbonism are what spurred the ideas of "Crown socialism", the belief that the Emperor, as a long-term national ruler, plays an integral role in guiding the nation towards socialism and away from reactionary ideologies, and "constitutionalist socialism", the idea that the transition towards socialism must be a gradual one. Basically, for socialism to work, it must have both the support of the people, and a comfortable standard of living for those same people. If one or the other is not achieved, then the socialist revolution is in jeopardy before it even begins. These two ideas were added to the party constitution in 1989 after the 2nd National Congress.
Castadillaanism, the political thought of Franciso Carvalho, was added to the party constitution in 2001 after the PDP's 4th National Congress. The concepts of "socialist patriotism" and "Vallosism" were credited to this theory. Castadillaanism can be defined as a belief that the Castadillaan national identity was not founded in the chauvinistic Delepasian exceptionalism or the Catholic Church, but in the shared history of the nation's four cultures and how they came together to form one stronger nation in Vallos from multiple weaker polities. In addition, Castadilla's natural future lays not with the Leventines nor with the Sarpedonians, but with Vallos. This meant closer ties with Castadilla's neighbours and support for the enlargement of the Vallosi Economic Association.
There does exist more radical wings of the party that seek to do away with Borbonism and Velvetine Socialism in favour of what the far-left cabaceros would have wanted had they not have been overthrown by the constitutionalists. However, these wings are only at their strongest in the city of Adouka, which was the last pro-Cabacero stronghold in Castadilla, itself having been dissolved in late 1995.
Economics
Vito Borbon has never believed that the fundamental difference between the capitalist and socialist modes of production was central planning and free markets. He said, "Top-down economic planning is not an inherently socialist idea, nor are the existence of markets an inherently capitalist idea. Many capitalist nations have used elements of a planned economy both then and now, so has a few socialist nations have embraced a market economy with socialistic characteristics. In short, both markets and economic planning make for effective tools to ensure a healthy and, hopefully, ethical economy. If it works, then why not embrace it?". He has also said, "Socialism needs a strong foundation in order to make it work. That is why, until it is time, that Castadilla must stick to a socialist market-based economy, albeit with heavy elements of state dirigism and collaborationistic tripartism to ensure that both the economy and the worker remain in pleasant harmony. Once that strong foundation is built, then Castadilla may venture towards pure socialism, and most certainly at a faster rate than if we had directly started off with a purely socialist economy".
Based on those two statements, it is clear that Borbon advocates for a form of market socialism as a necessary first step towards what he has called "pure" socialism, seeing state planning and free markets as not inherently capitalistic or socialistic. This economy would make use of dirigism for state economic planning, and tripartism for a more diplomatically democratic approach towards economic matters. The idea being that these kinds of economic policies would guarantee economic growth while still effectively protecting the worker from exploitation and market failures. This has also allowed for the establishment of special economic zones, most notably in Portas Gemeas, Samalosi, and the Federal District, with plans to establish further SEZs in Bahia and Inaua well underway.
Under Francisco Carvalho's leadership, the PDP had began to embrace a more liberal trade policy, encouraging the establishment of Vallosi regional headquarters for foreign firms in the special economic zones so as to open up the nation to said foreign firms. Through this so-called headquarters loophole, Carvalho hoped to normalise mainline socialism as a viable economic theory for both liberal democracies and even monarchies. According to Carvalho, "classical socialism as attempted in countries like Kiravia, although noble, have proven to fail due to restrictions in the ability of the internal economy to participate in the external economy, and vice versa. Modern socialism necessitates that the internal economy must participate in the external economy if the necessary conditions for socialism are to be realistically met".
Analysis and criticism
Many foreign analysts have agreed that the PDP has rejected orthodox socialism and Marxism in favour of social democracy with elements of left-wing populism. The PDP, however, disagrees with that notion, claiming that "Vito Borbon and his successor Francisco Carvalho have rid the Party of the ideological attachments to different kinds of ownership; they did not give up on Marxism or socialism altogether, but rather they provided the Party with a more nuanced and modernistic approach to understanding Marxism and socialism, hence why we still maintain our commitment towards the socialist revolution in both the Party's and the nation's constitutions even though we've adapted to meet the conventions of the world's economies." The attainment of true "communism" is still stated as the "natural endpoint" of both the PDP and Castadilla. Although the PDP has claimed that Castadilla is undergoing a transitional stage towards socialism, party theorists have argued that the current development stage "more closely resembles that of a mixed-market social democracy" than any form of socialism or even a step towards anything, leading to some amongst the more radical wings of the PDP having dismissed the concept as a cynical surrendering to reactionary forces.