Political parties in Urcea
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 Conshilía 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 system
Throughout the modern history of Urcean politics - which typically means in the period since the Concession of 1747 established regular elections - ideological and party alignment has remained relatively consistent. While the issues of the day, policy choices, rhetoric, and most other aspects of political life have dramatically changed over a century and a half, scholars agree that there have been four basic types of political party in Urcea while the parties themselves have changed.
Liberals
Liberals are the oldest organized political movement in Urcea, with liberal clubs in the Conshilía Daoni forming as early as 1750. However, the liberal movement also saw the first major Urcean political party - the National Pact, which was an organized merger of various liberal clubs and factions in 1791. Unlike the other ideological movements in Urcean political life, the liberal movement has been largely represented by the National Pact throughout its entire history. The National Pact is the oldest extant Urcean political party and has continuously existed since 1791. Urcean liberals broadly and the National Pact specifically identify closely with the Constitution of Urcea and taking credit for its development. Liberals have historically been relatively conservative on social and economic issues, and the Pact's modern effort of preserving - rather than advancing - the constitution has transformed Urcean liberalism into a largely conservative political movement. Urcean liberals have historically attempted to form their own majority governments and win outright rather than relying on regionalist parties or others given their antipathy for competing ideologies, and liberalism is closely associated with Urceopolis and its suburbs even though the National Pact competes nationwide.
Reformers and integralists
The second major political movement are that of reformers, integralists, and other groups interested in the implementation of Catholic social teaching and its predecessors. This movement and its parties have always existed within the context of the liberal electoral order, and accordingly "reform" does not mean constitutional reform but rather social-cultural reform away from existing liberal norms. Individual members of the Daoni and small factions within the National Pact existed with these tendencies beginning in the middle of the 19th century, but they were only amalgamated together during the Red Interregnum by Gréagóir FitzRex who strongly associated his regime with reform tendencies. From FitzRex's coalition of supporters, a more specifically reform-oriented party - the Commonwealth Union - emerged following the Restoration out of the pro-monarchist reconstructed supporters of FitzRex. The Commonwealth Union was immensely successful throughout the 20th century and refined Urcean reform ideology, though the party gradually grew to include a robust left wing which contemplated socialist ideas in addition to the party's organic philosophy. The party dissolved in the 2015 Urcean political realignment, with the Union for National Solidarity emerging out of the core base of the party while the left formed new political parties. The Union merged with the regionalist, monarchist Julian Party to establish the Solidarity Party, Urcea's largest party. Throughout the history of the reform movement, the reformer-integralists have generally been more likely to work with competing political parties and ideologies to form governments, exemplified by the merger with the extremely monarchist Julians to establish a new large governing party.
Socialists
Socialism and the Urcean far left has always been a significant fringe ideological and political movement. They were largely suppressed during the 19th century but continued to grow; Gréagóir FitzRex attempted to coopt them into his government during the Red Interregnum, but after his assassination they seized control of Urceopolis and established the Urcean Republic. The Republic largely discredited the far left, requiring them to return to the shadows in the form of the terrorist Republican Party which gradually transitioned to legal means in the 1920s. Various left-wing parties such as the Democratic Labor Party competed in elections until the high water mark of the Urcean left following the 2015 Urcean elections, where a new unity party of the left - the Social Labor Party - became the second largest party in the Daoni as a result of the 2015 Urcean political realignment. That party gradually disintegrated as a result of both the Final War of the Deluge and 2018 Urcean institutional referendum, eventually disbanding in 2031 and being replaced by the Working Families Party. Unlike the other major ideological movements, socialism in Urcea is deeply divided because of radical philosophical differences between various schools of thought and factions; these divisions include whether or not to participate in elections at all and whether or not Urcean economics are too unique to discount traditional historical materialism. Socialists were traditionally most common in major industrial centers but have since waned in popularity to city centers with major academic centers and anti-centralist marginalized regions such as Transionia.
Regional parties and others
In addition to the three cohestive political movements, Urcean politics have also had a strong tendency towards regional parties and niche issue parties. The most famous of these was the Julian Party, the primary monarchist party throughout the 20th century. Though the Julians had a nominally nationwide platform and appeal as the unified supporters of the Apostolic King of Urcea, it nonetheless usually only consistently won elections in the Ionian Plateau. The Julians regularly worked to form coalition majorities in the Conshilía Daoni before merging with the integralists to form a single integralist-monarchist political party, the Solidarity Party. A small "New" Julian Party formed out of regional disaffected members but is a significant fringe movement. Various other small regional movements - such as a Derian Rights Party in Transionia and Ænglish People's Party in Ænglasmarch - existed for most of the 20th century but failed to win electoral victories. The International Trade Party, while not an explicitly regional party, is nonetheless only truly extant in Urcea's various Creagmer cities due to their pro-trade political persuasions. Other political parties, such as the Levantine National Party, have no specific constituency and no exact ideological persuasion, but have won elected office nonetheless on niche issues like Levantine Union integration.
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 Conshilía 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.
In addition to its political role, the Party Chancellery maintains an administrative role within the Conshilía Daoni as well. It serves as the central vetting agency for political parties within the Daoni, and all legislative employees are typically investigated by the Chancellery before being hired by individual delegates or by central staff. The Chancellery's investigations not only include typical background check information - such as criminal history or unreliable employment tendencies - but also political reliability. In matters of personnel, the Party Chancellery is expected to defer to the interests of diocesan and provincial committees unless a potential or current employee is an exceptional liability for the Daoni party. The Chancellery also continues to infrequently examine legislative staff social media communications to prevent leaks and ensure party discipline in terms of messaging. While it has no formal power in this regard, delegates are generally expected to fire an employee if given the directive to do so by the party Chief of Staff. The Chancellery's role also extends to major appointees of governors, though appointed employees and staffs of the governors are far too numerous to be investigated by the Chancellery directly.
When a political party has a governing majority in the Conshilía 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 Conshilía 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. The Chancellery also assists the incumbent Chancellor with vetting and investigating appointments of members to the Conshilía Purpháidhe as well as deputy ministers.
Party Consistory
The Party Consistory is a body of all of a political party's Conshilía Daoni members (if any), all of the party's provincial committee chairs and vice chairs, and five representatives each from all of the party's sitting governors (if any). Former living Procurators or Chancellors are also entitled to vote in meetings of the Party Consistory but are not normally considered to be members. 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 Conshilía 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 Conshilía 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.