With the DNP's Conservative Slide, the SDP Is the Party of Liberalism in Demarcia

The Demarcian National Party primarily originates in the liberal tradition, while the Social Democratic Party originates in the socialist tradition and the Green Party in the environmentalist tradition. However, shifts in Demarcian politics have led to the Demarcian National Party representing conservative, centre-right viewpoints, with the Social Democratic Party representing a broad array of centre-left viewpoints.

It is clear now that the Social Democratic Party is the party of social liberal politics in Demarcia.

This, however, is not merely the result of the changes going on within the Demarcian National Party. This is a result of the evolution of the Social Democratic Party as well; when it first formed its own, single-party government in February 2020, it was quite a staunchly democratic socialist party. However, as it grew and embedded itself in power, it moderated and, like every contemporary social democratic party in the world, came to represent a broad array of centre-left, modern social democratic viewpoints.

However, despite its origins in the socialist tradition, the Social Democratic Party also sees itself as part of a broader liberal tradition - and has indeed made overtures to have that recognised. The July Programme of the Social Democratic Party proclaims:

Our democratic socialism is a liberal socialism, which combines the liberal ideals of freedom, individualism and self-reliance with the socialist ideals of equality, solidarity and cooperation. Liberal socialism combines the best of both liberalism and socialism.

A pure liberalism, without a socialist tint, is harmful towards society and leads to extreme selfishness and disregard for fellow human beings, as well as alienation, exclusion and a society rooted in the relentless pursuit of money and material things.

A pure socialism, without a liberal tint, is equally harmful and leads to a totalitarian society in which individual expression is suppressed, liberties endangered, jobs and opportunities absent and people condemned to equality in poverty.

The purpose, therefore, of liberal socialism, is to join these two traditions together and create a synthesis of these two philosophies; this is done through the politics of social democracy. Only social democracy can guarantee that both individual freedoms as well as our collective needs are equally satisfied; only social democracy can create a market economy that is both dynamic as well as kept in check; and only social democracy can reconcile the liberal and socialist values mentioned earlier.

With the inclusion of a liberal socialist philosophy in the party's programme, the Social Democratic Party has effectively embedded itself as part of both the socialist and the liberal political families, and that way occupied the space that the Demarcian National Party formerly used to have. Indeed, the party also has an official social liberal, centrist faction, the Granita Group, a major and influential circle in the party.

The Social Democratic Party of Demarcia has done the same thing that most European social democratic parties have done in the absence of social liberal parties, or, oftentimes, the presence of very weak and irrelevant social liberal parties. European social democratic parties have in many countries taken the same position in their respective countries' political arenas as the Democratic Party has in the United States; they have taken up the position of a big tent centre-left political party, inclusive of various progressive perspectives.

In doing this, social democratic parties worldwide (and therefore ours included) have essentially joined the socialist and liberal traditions together to create a liberal socialism. In practice, it's better to describe liberal socialism as "liberal social democracy", as a hybrid of social democracy and social liberalism, as that would be a more specific term.

Joining social democracy and liberalism together meant that the Social Democratic Party of Demarcia embraces and synthesises the thought of a diverse array of intellectuals from both ideological families; in particular, it draws strongly on the thought of John Rawls, Eduard Bernstein, Karl Polanyi, Leonard Hobhouse, Carlo Rosselli and John Stuart Mill.

By bringing all of them together under a single party, one in which they can all feel at home and to which they would definitely belong, the Social Democratic Party effectively takes the role of a people's party for all democratic, progressive-minded citizens who strongly respect liberal democracy and believe in liberty, equality and justice for all people, as well as consider the welfare and common good of all men and women, in a community of friendship and solidarity, to be of the utmost importance.

As such, it is safe to declare that, with the slide of the Demarcian National Party towards a conservative kind of politics, the Social Democratic Party is effectively the new liberal party in Demarcia. The synthesis of social democracy and liberalism that the party has embraced is vital for the continuing survival of Demarcia's democratic system.

Tony Palme,

Demarcian Inquirer.