AHC: Create an exotic party system

[AltoRegnant]

I've been toying around with my own parties for the US, primarily based on the idea of "what if no jackson." Maybe an 1812 POD in general. I'm not the most knowledgeable about this part of American history. But, here's what i've been partial to. the broad ideas are that the federalists wind up picking up populism through the 1820s, having survived 1812 due to it going worse for the union.

After the War of 1812 ended in the United States paying reparations to the British Empire, dropping claims north of Massachusetts (now Maine,) and the demilitarization of the Great Lakes, the Democratic-Republican Party was in a very rough state. During this time period, the Union also saw large amounts of Populism, hoping to expand the franchise to poor white men, limit land minimums for civic engagement, and expand west into what was seen as more desirable land. As a result of this unrest, starting in 1820, a few DRs and Federalists began to embrace this idea, pushing for a more expansive franchise and pushing westward- however, importantly, the DRs were from the upper south, and were more amicable to protectionism than the typical party position.

While the Federalists remained a prominent force in congressional and state-level elections from 1816-1824, It did not take long for this loose coalition to begin taking the place of the Federalists. As a result, the informal bloc became known as the Union Party, based primarily on populism, protectionism, and expansion of civil liberties. Their first presidential nomination outside the Federalist Party was in 1828, pitting Martin van Buren against James Monroe. Van Buren was defeated, but achieved second place, after Rufus King's second bid as the Federalist candidate. The Federalist Party would continue to decline or see defection to either the Democratic-Republicans, or the NRP, and was officially disbanded on July 17th, 1831.

This formalized the Second Party System, the shortest in the history of the United States- the UP vs DRP. The DRP at this point had won big with President James Monroe, who had overseen quite a bit of expansion. After a border dispute in New York had spiraled into the Third Anglo-American War, or the War of 1830, Monroe had managed to take over the Toronto Isthmus, and push Maine to the north. However, this left the south wanting more, and many were upset by Monroe's protectionism to fund the war. As Monroe himself was not a partisan man, this radicalization only furthered when he again won the nomination.

John C. Calhoun, a staunch nationalist, and unionist, was still a more southern firebrand and ran a strong campaign attacking Monroe's northern sympathies and the UPs. While an independent, Calhoun did quite well at the election- with many senators and representatives acting more in line with his own ideals than Monroe's, even if Monroe also oversaw the successful conquest of the Seminoles. However, he still split the DRP vote, leading to Union Party man Nathan Sanford's presidency.

Sanford was one of the most instrumental presidents in US history, as he oversaw the Dominica War, which started under Monroe's last few weeks in office. Officially, it was due to piracy attacking American ships, but most people understood it was really to appease the south. However, Calhoun's cannibalization of the southern vote meant that fell to Sanford. The Dominica War was the brutal subjugation of Eastern Hispaniola, but what truly mattered at the time was that Sanford used it as leverage in the Arkansas Compromise, pushing the line wherein slave states would be accepted to Arkansas' southern border, which would obviously have massive impact on the shape and territory of the US going forward.

However, the 1832 Election would see quite a change. While officially, the 2PS refers to the UP and DRP, this 'system' only had one presidential election, and about 12 years congressionally, if one counts the UP's history as a Federalist splinter. As a result, many academics consider the 1832 election the real switch, as Calhoun officially formed the American Liberal Party (ALP.) Calhoun had, by this point, transitioned away from his ardent nationalism, though he was hardly a secessionist. Calhoun had become an opponent of the national bank and most tariffs, but believed that any use of national services should have a tax associated- roads, post, schools, etcetera, that would be collected at point of use.

Now, the ALP failed at seizing the presidency in 1832 or 1836, largely due to corruption and the vestiges of the Democratic-Republicans using every trick in the book, but it was clear that they were only delaying the inevitable, and handing the country to their opponents. As a result, DR membership dropped dramatically, and the ALP finally won under George M. Dallas in 1840. Dallas was an expansionist, who wanted to expand America's reach across the Caribbean and the Pacific. As a result, he waged the Mexican American War from 1840-1846, resulted in the American conquest of the Southwest. However, Dallas would run into trouble with his Caribbean expansion. Knowing he needed a stronger navy to threaten Spain, he tried to get congress to ascend, but was unable to do so due to one very simple reason- texas was too large and broke the Arkansas Compromise. dealing with how to break up Texas would eat the rest of Dallas's term, and he was unable to win re-election.

View attachment 809190
The United States in 1848, at the end of George Dallas's term in office.

I should mention this is based on the 1806: The Eagle Tries to Fly map game, but that game's situation is a bit of a mess atm.

 

[Born in the USSA]

I'm kinda curious how the party system would evolve if the House and Senate picked the president instead of having an Electoral College but I'm not exactly sure how it would shake out 🤔

Came up with a rough idea!

Alright here's a quick workup, bear with me 😂

• Amendment XII- (obviously in much less flowery language than they used)-
  1. After each quadrennial election, the new Congress shall form a joint session to select the President, with the advice of the states. Sets up the procedure, etc.
• In the event of the death or incapacitation of a President the Congress shall reconvene in Joint Session to select a new one. (With the Federalist proposal OTL to defang the now toothless Vice Presidency accepted).
• The requirement for advice (but not consent) of the states provides fuel for the Jacksonian movement without any actual progress toward making things like popular votes, I don't know, binding on the Joint Session or opening the floor to the popular election of senators. Elections for the House and state legislators become increasingly intense as the party system solidifies, with fierce battles over redistricting and rampant gerrymandering on all sides.
• Even with no accidental presidents, a sectional conflict over slavery is inevitable, so lets just say that it happens roughly in line with OTL. Without the secessionist Democrats, the Republicans start feeling their oats and draw up plans for a new slate of amendments. Lincoln still gets assassinated in some form, but with no Vice Presidency to lead to a Johnson presidency the solidly Republican Congress selects a president more amenable to their policies, butterflying the end of Reconstruction. Aside from the OTL Reconstruction Amendments they also push through:
• Amendment XVI-
  1. The Executive Power of the United States shall be vested in the President of the United States, and in the Cabinet, consisting of the heads of the Executive Departments.
  2. The Cabinet shall be selected with the advice and consent of the House of Representatives upon the nomination of the President, and subject to a vote of no-confidence by the former and dismissal, with just cause, by the latter.
  3. Members of the Cabinet shall be serving members of the House of Representatives.
• With the help of enfranchised freed slaves and massively gerrymandered districting Reconstruction is saved, while states in the western interior are considerably fewer, with the benefit of additional Republican senators less of a concern in this period of the party's zenith. Festering bitterness (and the occasional terrorist outbreak) continue to plague the reconstructed South even as the Republicans begin to drift in an increasingly conservative direction.
• Growing dissatisfaction with the lack of a more concrete political voice in the West and among farmers and urban workers gradually begins eroding Republican control even with the gerrymandering, with the reduced number of states marking a slightly easier road to an Article V convention called by the states, gradually pushing through a slate of new amendments on the back of a coalition of farmers, ranchers and workers joined (to their mutual distaste) with reactionary Southern whites, though sectional differences prevent the passage of a Prohibition amendment.
• The Progressive Amendments:
  • XVII- Establishes the right to vote in all relevant elections. (By default women gain the right to vote and the disenfranchisement of the unreconstructed Southern population ends).
  • XVIII- Authorizes income and land taxes.
  • XIX- Federalizes the congressional redistricting process, creating a new nonpartisan board to oversee it. Establishes a mathematical formula automatically adjusting the size of the House after the census.
  • XX- Clarifies the dates terms for the President and the Congress begin and end, and establishes that the Cabinet secretaries.
• Things turn out more or less okay, even if Reconstruction de facto ends (though in detente rather than collapse, so that's something). The House becomes far more representative and the Republican lock on the Presidency ends, while the universal right to vote leads to the Supreme Court carving out a precedent to turn over "discriminatory" state districting maps to the federal commission. Several amendments follow in dribs and drabs:
  • XXI- Lowers the voting age to 18.
  • XXII- Grants DC and US territories voting representation in the Article 12 Joint Session proportional to their population, though they don't get the senator buff. Devolves domestic control in the city to the local government.
  • XXIII- Creates a procedure for the Cabinet to remove the president and allows it to exercise control of the Executive Branch in the interval between presidential death/removal/incapacitation and the selection of a new one.

In this scenario the Progressive Amendments spell the doom of the defacto one-party control of Congress (and with it the Presidency) held by the Republicans. In the modern day the United States is contested between two major parties (and a small third one):

• The Republican Party is the more fiscally and socially conservative of the major party, the party of business interests, managerial workers and Black civil rights. The party's symbol is a rooster.
• The Populist Party continues it's tradition as a big tent for rural populism, urban socialism and a veneer of liberal progressives that bolted the Republicans. Also the party of white ethnics and Asians. The party's symbol is a falcon.
• The States Rights Party is a bit of a grab bag, bringing together (extremely) socially conservative whites and latinos around a platform opposing federal constraints on state legislatures and cultural changes championed by the Populists. The party's hard right wing has kept it under various levels of state suppression from its founding. The party's symbol is a camellia.

 

[AltoRegnant]

I've been toying around with my own parties for the US, primarily based on the idea of "what if no jackson." Maybe an 1812 POD in general. I'm not the most knowledgeable about this part of American history. But, here's what i've been partial to. the broad ideas are that the federalists wind up picking up populism through the 1820s, having survived 1812 due to it going worse for the union.

After the War of 1812 ended in the United States paying reparations to the British Empire, dropping claims north of Massachusetts (now Maine,) and the demilitarization of the Great Lakes, the Democratic-Republican Party was in a very rough state. During this time period, the Union also saw large amounts of Populism, hoping to expand the franchise to poor white men, limit land minimums for civic engagement, and expand west into what was seen as more desirable land. As a result of this unrest, starting in 1820, a few DRs and Federalists began to embrace this idea, pushing for a more expansive franchise and pushing westward- however, importantly, the DRs were from the upper south, and were more amicable to protectionism than the typical party position.

While the Federalists remained a prominent force in congressional and state-level elections from 1816-1824, It did not take long for this loose coalition to begin taking the place of the Federalists. As a result, the informal bloc became known as the Union Party, based primarily on populism, protectionism, and expansion of civil liberties. Their first presidential nomination outside the Federalist Party was in 1828, pitting Martin van Buren against James Monroe. Van Buren was defeated, but achieved second place, after Rufus King's second bid as the Federalist candidate. The Federalist Party would continue to decline or see defection to either the Democratic-Republicans, or the NRP, and was officially disbanded on July 17th, 1831.

This formalized the Second Party System, the shortest in the history of the United States- the UP vs DRP. The DRP at this point had won big with President James Monroe, who had overseen quite a bit of expansion. After a border dispute in New York had spiraled into the Third Anglo-American War, or the War of 1830, Monroe had managed to take over the Toronto Isthmus, and push Maine to the north. However, this left the south wanting more, and many were upset by Monroe's protectionism to fund the war. As Monroe himself was not a partisan man, this radicalization only furthered when he again won the nomination.

John C. Calhoun, a staunch nationalist, and unionist, was still a more southern firebrand and ran a strong campaign attacking Monroe's northern sympathies and the UPs. While an independent, Calhoun did quite well at the election- with many senators and representatives acting more in line with his own ideals than Monroe's, even if Monroe also oversaw the successful conquest of the Seminoles. However, he still split the DRP vote, leading to Union Party man Nathan Sanford's presidency.

Sanford was one of the most instrumental presidents in US history, as he oversaw the Dominica War, which started under Monroe's last few weeks in office. Officially, it was due to piracy attacking American ships, but most people understood it was really to appease the south. However, Calhoun's cannibalization of the southern vote meant that fell to Sanford. The Dominica War was the brutal subjugation of Eastern Hispaniola, but what truly mattered at the time was that Sanford used it as leverage in the Arkansas Compromise, pushing the line wherein slave states would be accepted to Arkansas' southern border, which would obviously have massive impact on the shape and territory of the US going forward.

However, the 1832 Election would see quite a change. While officially, the 2PS refers to the UP and DRP, this 'system' only had one presidential election, and about 12 years congressionally, if one counts the UP's history as a Federalist splinter. As a result, many academics consider the 1832 election the real switch, as Calhoun officially formed the American Liberal Party (ALP.) Calhoun had, by this point, transitioned away from his ardent nationalism, though he was hardly a secessionist. Calhoun had become an opponent of the national bank and most tariffs, but believed that any use of national services should have a tax associated- roads, post, schools, etcetera, that would be collected at point of use.

Now, the ALP failed at seizing the presidency in 1832 or 1836, largely due to corruption and the vestiges of the Democratic-Republicans using every trick in the book, but it was clear that they were only delaying the inevitable, and handing the country to their opponents. As a result, DR membership dropped dramatically, and the ALP finally won under George M. Dallas in 1840. Dallas was an expansionist, who wanted to expand America's reach across the Caribbean and the Pacific. As a result, he waged the Mexican American War from 1840-1846, resulted in the American conquest of the Southwest. However, Dallas would run into trouble with his Caribbean expansion. Knowing he needed a stronger navy to threaten Spain, he tried to get congress to ascend, but was unable to do so due to one very simple reason- texas was too large and broke the Arkansas Compromise. dealing with how to break up Texas would eat the rest of Dallas's term, and he was unable to win re-election.

View attachment 809190
The United States in 1848, at the end of George Dallas's term in office.

So admittedly this js my first time actually noting this stuff down. Does it all make sense?

 

[GullibleCynic]

I've had an idea brewing in the back of my mind for a while.

A five pointed political compass based on the magic the gathering color wheel consisting of red for labour and socialism, green for agrarianism and environmentalism, blue for conservativism and monarchism, yellow for liberalism and capitalism, and black for federalism and pragmatism

Each party would have their natural allies and opponents, but of course, politics occasionally makes strange bedfellows. I like that it would get away from the simple binary of traditional compasses

I tried to get an ai art generator to create a mockup, but alas, they can't seem to handle five pointed objects, at least not the ones I found

 

[Sir William Jol]

I've had an idea brewing in the back of my mind for a while.

A five pointed political compass based on the magic the gathering color wheel consisting of red for labour and socialism, green for agrarianism and environmentalism, blue for conservativism and monarchism, yellow for liberalism and capitalism, and black for federalism and pragmatism

Each party would have their natural allies and opponents, but of course, politics occasionally makes strange bedfellows. I like that it would get away from the simple binary of traditional compasses

I tried to get an ai art generator to create a mockup, but alas, they can't seem to handle five pointed objects, at least not the ones I found

Hmm, that sounds really interesting. Hope you find what you're looking for.

 

[Born in the USSA]

I've had an idea brewing in the back of my mind for a while.

A five pointed political compass based on the magic the gathering color wheel consisting of red for labour and socialism, green for agrarianism and environmentalism, blue for conservativism and monarchism, yellow for liberalism and capitalism, and black for federalism and pragmatism

Each party would have their natural allies and opponents, but of course, politics occasionally makes strange bedfellows. I like that it would get away from the simple binary of traditional compasses

I tried to get an ai art generator to create a mockup, but alas, they can't seem to handle five pointed objects, at least not the ones I found

You could tweak colors and add logos/names to this Wu Xing diagram 🤔 it would be a little tricky to position them so the arrows could designate alliances/opposition or what have you but it would certainly be interesting.

Off the top of my head, here's an American First Party System in a world where the Loyalists weren't driven from the country and the Continental Congress never shifted their opposition from Parliament to George the III as they did OTL:

• Republican Party- Radicals eager to export the French revolutionary model to America and shed the constitutional monarchy. With the bourgeoisie voting for the Patriots or Federalists their political base is concentrated among unpropertied workers and freed slaves.
• Sovereigntist Party- The Jeffersonian agrarian smallholder ideal, though they're vehemently opposed to the Southern aristocratic class and view the expansion of slavery as undue competition. Very pro-expansion and volcanically anti-Indian.
• Unionist Party- The default Loyalist party, concentrated in the south. Above all the seek to deepen ties with the mother country and preserve the powers of the upper classes, the prerogatives of the Governor-General and the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
• Patriot Party- Middle class strivers to a man, the Patriots favor weakening the Slave Power and opposing Anglophilic taxes and tariffs of the Federalists.
• Federalist Party- The party of (minority) government in the Continental Congress by default, the Federalists are agnostic on the king but seek to manage westward expansion, maintain friendly relations with the Civilized Tribes, and use ties with Britain, tariffs and internal improvements to strengthen the economy.

 

[Citizen Keynes]

I've had an idea brewing in the back of my mind for a while.

A five pointed political compass based on the magic the gathering color wheel consisting of red for labour and socialism, green for agrarianism and environmentalism, blue for conservativism and monarchism, yellow for liberalism and capitalism, and black for federalism and pragmatism

Each party would have their natural allies and opponents, but of course, politics occasionally makes strange bedfellows. I like that it would get away from the simple binary of traditional compasses

I tried to get an ai art generator to create a mockup, but alas, they can't seem to handle five pointed objects, at least not the ones I found

Creating a diagram like this one could help you with this idea. The captions describe each side's objective and how they go about achieving it.

 

[Zireael]

mind blown at the idea of creating a wu xing based party system

 

[Born in the USSA]

Did a deep dive researching for a completely random idea and made an interesting discovery! In 1888, Edward Bellamy published Looking Backward, a novel about a future socialist US based on the combination of a basic income and nationalized industries. Before the year was out there were already groups forming around the country to advocate for Bellamy's ideas. These Nationalist Clubs had some interesting ideological crossover, with Bellamy himself advocating a fusion with the People's Party even as some local Clubs had crossover with the Socialist Labor Party. This got me thinking about how the US has never had a genuinely leftist major party and the wheels started turning. The end result was for the National Populist Party, born in a world where:

1. The Nationalist Clubs were politically motivated from the start, building up a larger base of support.
2. Bellamy successful manages to fuse the Nationalists and the Populists.
3. An electoral alliance forms between the new party and the SLP.

Bringing together middle class utopian socialists, proletarian syndicalists and agrarian populists, the NPP is able to carve out a space for itself, becoming a full-fledged major party as the Democrats schism between a reactionary southern party and a progressive northern one.

 

[Born in the USSA]

"The United States is also a one-party state, but with typical American extravagance, they have two of them."​

Here's an experimental one inspired by the above quote, featuring an America where two-party politics is a sham and we're secretly in thrall to a single cryptoparty doing kayfabe to make citizens think they have a choice 🤔

The Democratic-Republican Cryptoparty developed into its modern form during the Era of Good Feelings, when a conspiracy within the Society of the Cincinnati extricated themselves from the corpse of the Federalist Party and engineered a hidden takeover of the party which originally bore the name. Determined to permanently prevent true popular mass democracy in the United States for the greater good*, the conspiracy immediately set about ensuring the period of single-party government would never end. This would be accomplished through the creation of an elaborately staged political process to distract the public and the aggressive co-opting of any new movements that could rise up to shatter the illusion, all maintained through absolute media control and economic manipulation and (if-necessary) assassination of political actors unknowingly laboring under the illusion of choice.

Organization:

1. The Society of the Cincinnati is now and forever the Inner Party and secret master of the DRC and through it the neocolonial American political, media and economic empires.​
2. The Whigs form the Outer Party, made up of coopted elites and politicians who aren't direct descendants of Society members. They are the primary center of the actual work of the cryptoparty, using control of media, the economy and an army of purchased politicians to preserve the Society's program of neutralizing true democratic accountability and preserving the Bipartisan Consensus of American economic and political prerogatives at home and abroad.​
3. While the Whigs are more than capable of managing the political center, they outsource dealing with the fringes to two smaller organs made up of apparatchiks hoping to be inducted into the higher level.​
   • The Antimasons were among the first parties devoured by the cryptoparty, and they have taken to the task of managing nativist and reactionary impulses for the sake of the Consensus with vigor through the generation and dissemination of conspiracy theories and militaristic media. Their greatest success was the Civil War, engineered to eliminate the economically unproductive institution of chattel slavery.​
   • The American Railway Union, first link in the chain of American socialist parties, has been coopted from the very start, ensuring that the existential threat of socialism could be neutered in each of its ideological evolutions. The Union repeatedly allows carefully cultivated resurgences in leftist sentiment in order to frighten the central mass of the proles into turning to the right to preserve order.​

*The greater good....

 

[Born in the USSA]

mind blown at the idea of creating a wu xing based party system

Politics makes strange bedfellows, the left/right terminology and dichotomy are only rooted in the French Revolution, there's tons of room to explore alternative arrangements and distinct definitions for political positions. Radically divergent political theories and party systems are sadly underused in the genre.

 

[Onedotman]

Liberal Party: A merger of the liberal factions of both the former Democratic and Republican parties, united by their classical liberal ideology as well as support for big business and free trade. On the slavery question, it supports gradual emancipation with compensation for former slaveholders, which were the contents of Liberal President Samuel J. Tilden's Emancipation Act of 1884.

Radical Party: The standard bearer of radical abolitionism, and also what remained of the Republican Party following its collapse in 1875. The GOP had previously come under fire for the Cameron administation's incompetent handling of the Southern Rebellion (1869-1874), which was resolved with the Compromise of 1874 under Democratic President George Pendleton. With their reputation completely destroyed, the Radicals' only support base was only confined to northern New England.

States' Rights Party: A regional party of the Deep South, formed as a protest against President Tilden's measures of emancipation. Many former Southern Democrats chose to rally behind the States' Rights banner.

Populist Party: A biracial coalition of freed blacks and white farmers/yeomen in the Midwest and the Upper South, also the greatest challenge to the Liberals' monopoly on federal politics.

Presidents of the United States:
1861 - 1865: Horatio Seymour/William L. Yancey (Democratic)
1865 - 1873: Simon Cameron/Abraham Lincoln (Republican)
1873 - 1881: George Pendleton/John Letcher (Democratic)
1881 - 1885: Samuel J. Tilden/James Longstreet (Liberal)

 

[Sir William Jol]

Liberal Party (est. 1944): Founded by Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt in December 1944 after winning re-election with Republican Wendell Willkie on a National Union ticket, the Liberal Party occupies the left to center-left of the political spectrum in the United States, though some members lean far-left or to the center.
Libertarian Party (est. 1971): Founded by David Nolan in 1971, the Libertarian Party occupies the right to center-right of the political spectrum in the United States, though some moderates lean center-left.
National Unity Party (est. 1982): Founded by President John B. Anderson in 1982, the National Unity Party is the political party in the United States which occupies the political center, though some members lean center-right or center-left.
Freedom Party (est. 1993): Founded by President Ross Perot in 1993, the Freedom Party is the political party in the United States that occupies the center-right of the political spectrum. It has since overtaken the Conservative Party, which merged into it in the 1990s.

 

[Ophois]

Progressive Party: The party of Long, the Progressives support a welfare state and a corporatist economy. They are big-tent but generally left-wing on social issues.
Socialist Party: The party of Debs, the Socialists support unions and a decentralised market socialist economy. They are firmly left-wing on social issues.
Reform Party: The party of Perot, the Reformists support isolationism and a capitalist economy. They are big-tent but generally right-wing on social issues.
American Independent Party: The party of Wallace, the American Independents support interventionism, both in the economy and other countries. They are firmly right-wing on social issues, and include quite a few bona fide white supremacists.

 

[Born in the USSA]

Been busy but I'll try to come up with something fun for this later this week!

 

[Gokbay]

Political Parties in the Pacific States of America:
Pacific Republican Party: Pro-Japan, pro-independence, anti-communist, centrist, pro-stronger federal government, the dominant political party of the PSA, only losing power in 1972. (founded 1946) (mainly descending from the US Republican Party)
Pan-American Democratic Party: Pro-reunification with the US, conservative, pro-free trade, the main federal opposition. (formed 1946, legally recognised 1957) (mainly descending from the US Democratic Party)
Utah First Party: Mormon/Utah interests, conservative, pro-stronger state governments (founded 1958)
Baja Barty: Mexican/Hispanic Minority Interests, pro-reunification with Mexico, culturally conservative but economically more left wing (founded 1961)
Cascadian Union Party: Pro-British/Canadian, Cascadian interests, secession from PSA (pro-independence, pro-Canadian and pro-USA factions), center-right (founded 1962)
In the 1972 all the opposition parties united under the "Dissolution Ticket" and were able to win. Leading to the dissolution of the Pacific States in 1976.

Political Parties in the Pacific Federation:
Pacific Republican Party: Pro-Pacific Treaty Organisation*, centrist-liberal, stronger/more centralized federal government, political scene more competitive compared to the PSA but PRP still held the presidency until 2004 (founded 1946)
Pan-American Democratic Party: Pro-reunification with the US, Anti-Pacific Treaty Organisation, conservative, pro-free trade, had mostly switched from advocating for full reunification with USA to individual states leaving the Pacific Federation and joining the US. (formed 1946, legally recognised 1957) (lost status as major party with New Mexico leaving the Pacific Federation to join the United States in 2012)
Utah First Party: Mormon/Utah interests, conservative, increased autonomy, pro Utah independence (factions) (founded 1958) (Utah became independent 1988)
Social Democratic Party: Anti-Pacific Treaty Organisation but not pro-US, social liberal, economically left wing (Founded 1975, became a major party 1998)
In 2016 the Pacific Federation was reformed into an unitary state named the California Republic.

Political Parties of the California Republic:
Pacific Republican Party: Pro-Pacific Treaty Organisation, anti-North American Union**, center-right, socially conservative, economically capitalist, the oldest major party, somewhat less popular than SDP. (founded 1946)
Social Democratic Party: Neutral on Pacific Treaty Organisation, pro-North American Union, social liberal, economically left wing, has held the presidency since 2004 (Founded 1975, became a major party 1998)

*Originally a Japanese political, military and economical alliance, mostly lost political and military effect in the 70s but remained as an economic cooperation organisation.
**A recently founded mostly economic organisation between the US, Utah, California and Mexico.

Also crossposting from the List of Alternate Political Parties Thread:

Major Political Parties in the United Nations Parliamentary Assembly:

Global Democratic Party: The main big centrist-liberal party. Existed throughout the entirety of the history of the Parliamentary Assembly. "The natural party of government". Not the only party to become the "government" but is the one that did become "government" the most often. Had some policy changes throughout its long history. The main party supporting global unification. Later also growing to support unification of all of humanity.​

Socialist Peoples Party/Federation of Social Reformists: The main left wing party in the UNPA. Mostly social-democratic throughout its existence but also had democratic-socialist phases. As long lived as the GDP. Also supportive of global unification (and later all of humanity). Generally less popular than GDP but has had times while they were the government. SPP would be replaced by FSR during the 1st Silent War. This party supported extensive reform such as abolition of vestigial organs that remained from the times when the UN was more Supranational Organization than a Sovereign Superstate, such as the Security Council and General Assembly. FSR also supported the creation of a new assembly as an upper house to the Parliamentary Assembly's lower house.​

Jaamat-e-Islami/Democracy and Development/Party of Faith and Justice: The Islamic parties. Muslims have been either a large portion of the population of the areas under direct UN administration (I don't have the numbers but even if they were not majority they were definitely a plurality at some points). Tended to be the most socially conservative parties. The Jaamat was the earliest which functioned until the 3rd World War (2111-2114). It was succeeded by Democracy and Development. D&D tended to be more liberal than the Jaamat. It remained the big tent Islamic party until the 4th Interwar Era. During which it slowly lost popularity and was replaced by Party of Faith and Justice. PFJ was the Islamic Party operating during the end of the UN.​

Alliance for Restoration of Independence/Sovereignty League: Big tent alliance of localist parties that want the end of "temporary" (that fiction was actually mostly done away with by 23rd century and was completely gone by the 24th) UN rule. Tended to be conservative. Sometimes grew popular but was mostly rather fringe. Was dead after the 1st Solar War and had grown very ephemeral almost a century before that. Spent the majority of the 77 years that was the 4th Interwar era out of the Parliamentary Assembly. Sovereignty League was created as a successor to ARI sometime after the 1st Solar War but was never very popular.​

Legions of Gaia/New Legionary Party: Martian economist (from European Federation colonies, of Ukrainian descent) Alexander Kravchenko wrote and published "On planetary sovereignty and self sufficiency" in 2255. It was the birth of the Legionary Ideologies. The Book suggested that all planets should be self sufficient independent states and supposed that planets would be isolationist following this and systemwide peace would be achieved. As unification of Earth under its leadership was already an important part of UN policy by that time the original Legions of Gaia found an accepting home. They proved quite popular in the Parliamentary Assembly. Up until 2289 and the start of the 1st Colonial War this did not have many effects but with the Legionary revolutions in the colonies LoG grew to be shunted. The party managed to survive all the way until 2392 and the start of the 1st Solar War. As Legionary States were crushed across the Solar System the Legions of Gaia were banned. However the Legions would come back as the New Legionary Party after the UN defeat in the 2nd Colonial War (2444-2453). NLP would enter the UNPA after the 3rd Orbital War (2461) and would grow during the 1st Silent War, eventually becoming the government. Policy would change from the unification of humanity to only global unification and abandonment of all UN territories outside of Earth. NLP government also quickly began pushing for the replacement of the Charter (still in use, with changes) with a new constitution. In 2496, after a referendum, the Legionary backed constitution came to effect. The United Nations was abolished along with all its organs. The Parliamentary Assembly remained but lost much power. A more stratocratic model was put in effect.​

Major Political Parties in the State of Gaia:

Legions of Gaia: NLP was immediately reformed into the new Legions of Gaia. It remained the government of the new State of Gaia throughout its history. In 2498 the 1st Silent War ended. As the Great Legionary Rising or the 4th World War started. The war was a defeat and the Legions were soon banned again.​

Global Democratic Party:​

Federation of Social Reformists: Both parties continued to exist during the State of Gaia and advocated return to representative democracy. There wasn't time for elections in the short existence of the State of Gaia.​

Major Political Parties in the Earth Republic (Before Hermetic War) (Belém/Dakar):

Global Democratic Party: The old GDP still going strong. Party of liberal democracy fighting hard to maintain power. Still mainly centrist. And still going for global unification.​

Alliance of Socialist Labor: FSR successor. Mostly moderate left. Quite popular. Unlike UNPA's mostly dominant party system, ASL got in power as often as GDP.​

Islamic and Christian Democratic Party: Fairly similar to early 21st century christian democrats but in an alliance with Muslims of similar ideology.​

Major Political Parties in the Earth Republic (Port Antarctic):

Nonpartisan: Operated as an Emergency Military Government from its "foundation" after the end of the Hermetic War for almost a decade.​

Justice Party: Created by the military government. Mostly center-right. While it wasn't the only party in its parliament it heavily dominated it. Never lost the control of government until few years before unification with Earth Republic (Belém) and Earth Republic (Geneva).​

Reform Party: The guys who managed to win the government and unified with the Belém and Geneva governments. Very big tent.​

Major Political Parties in the Earth Republic (Belém):

Alliance of Socialist Labor: Direct continuation of the pre-war ASL. Since Belém was the executive and Judiciary capital the president's party survived the war. It did move closer to the center in this period however.​

Christian Democracy: ICDP's successor. Did quite well. Was the government the most often along with ASL.​

South American League: An unique party to say the least. Advocated for the end of the Belém government of the Earth Republic and replacing it with a pan-south american/caribbean/central american federation.​

Major Political Parties in the Earth Republic (Kinshasa):

Nonpartisan: Operated under temporary military rule for quite a while like the Antarctic government.​

Federalist Party: Dominant party. Generally right wing. Collapsed after the Great African War.​

Peoples for Democracy: The general opposition. But somewhat more left leaning than the Reform Party in the Antarctic Government. Became the dominant party doing the governing for the Central African Federation, which succeeded the Kinshasa Government of the Earth Republic. But later joined the Belém/Geneva Government.​

Major Political Parties in the Earth Republic (Dakar):

Global Democratic Party: Dakar was the legislative capital and as such all the major pre-war parties survived. GDP remained broadly similar to its pre-war version but moved towards the right slightly. Clearly less popular than the pre-war GDP however (probably less because of the party itself and more because of demographics).​

Alliance of Socialist Labor: Likewise, survived. Grew somewhat leftier. Still one of the two largest parties.​

Islamic and Christian Democracy Party: Again, continuation of the pre-war party. Remained mostly the same. Can arguably be said to have changed places with the GDP when comparing post-war Dakar to pre-war Belém/Dakar. Main rival of the ASL.​

New Republic Party: Small Government, Free Trade. Also supports the reestablishment of orbital infrastructure and the return of interplanetary voyages, which had grown rather limited in the Inner System during the Interregnum. Celebrated the re-establishment of contact with Venus and Mars following the 3rd Lunar War and the Venusian conquest of the Moon despite the nervousness created by the aggressiveness (and well, the imperialism) of the Venusian Empire.​

Major Political Parties in the Earth Republic (Geneva):

New Social Democratic Labor Party: ASL successor but decidedly more social-democrat and less democratic-socialist. Can be said to be arguably the most popular party in the Geneva Government but Geneva tended to operate under coalition governments far more often than majority governments.​

Global Democratic Party-Continuation: As the name implies, the orthodox continuation to the pre-war GDP. Economically and Socially Liberal.​

Global Democratic Party-Reformed: Social Liberal but economically more socialist. Somewhat similar policies to Green politics.​

Peoples Democracy Party: Continuation of the ICDP but decided to to drop the open religious terminology. Can be said to be the most conservative major party.​

Major Political Parties in the Earth Republic (Belém/Geneva):

United Left Front: ASL from Belém + NSDLP from Geneva + elements of RP (Port Antarctic) and PfD (Kinshasa). Big tent left wing party. The largest party overall.​

Union of Global Democrats: GDP-C and parts of GDP-R from Geneva, large parts of Justice Party (Port Antarctic) and National Party (successor to the Federalist Party in the Central African Federation). A big tent right wing party.​

United Democratic Party: Christian Democracy from Belém, PDP from Geneva and elements of PfD from Kinshasa. Proceeded with the same policies and ideologies.​

Democratic Reform Party: Majority of RP from Port Antarctic, elements of PfD from Kinshasa and majority of GDP-R from Geneva. Center left.​

ALLIANCE: Elements of Justice Party (Port Antarctic), South American League from Belém, elements of National Party (Kinshasa) and elements of GDP-C from Geneva. Right wing and heavily Populist. Smallest of the major parties.​

Major Political Parties in the Global Federation:

United Left Front: Continues to exist as a big tent left wing party. Remains one of the largest parties.​

Progressive and Liberal Party: Direct successor to DRP but has had some UGD, UDP and ALLIANCE members joining. The main liberal party.​

Global Democratic Party-Conservative: Combination of majority of UGD and UDP. And also large parts of ALLIANCE. The main conservative party.​

Reborn Global Democratic Party: Main successor to ALLIANCE. But has had members originating from all parties. Doesn't really have policies other than populist pandering. Tends to be fairly centrist because of that.​

Future US Party Systems (not intended to be a serious prediction of the future, indeed several events that happened since I started working on this "timeline" (mostly a series of maps with some other stuff) that are different from it, so could be considered AH rather than full Future History)
(From the same timeline as the UN-Earth Republic post above)

7th Party System, 2030-2055
The 6th Party system ended with in late 2020s, with further polarisation in US Politics and rise of extremism leads to the Republicans to fracture. More centrist "Rockefeller" Republicans form the Moderate Republican Party, while the more right-wing part of the party, including "Trumpists" retain the GOP moniker and remain simply "the Republican Party". Democrats manage to stay in one piece as a big tent center to left wing coalition. Democrats, while not always the majority, dominated this period as Republicans and ModReps were basically splitting their base. As Democrats were mostly able to cooperate with the ModReps in the Congress. The system ended as center and left wings of the Democratic Party split. With moderates/centrists keeping the Democrat name and left wing taking up the name Progressive Socialists of America.
(All presidents in the 7th System were Democrats, mostly establishment/moderates, thought two terms were under a left wing president. One or two of the elections were via House as Electoral College majority was not reached.)
8th Party System, 2055-2084
Started with 4 parties, from left to right, Progressive Socialists of America-Democratic Party-Moderate Republican Party-Republican Party. Democrats and ModReps later unified (together with Alliance Party, Unity Party and Reform) into the United Center. Republicans would be pushed outside the Congress in 2070s following the 1st Orbital War. Thought the last Republican Electoral vote was in 2084. By the 2060s, while the Electoral College was not abolished, all states adopted the Maine and Nebraska method.
9th Party System, 2084-2114
The 9th Party System held sway until the end of the Third World War. It featured relatively equal competition between the PSA and UC but eventually PSA triumphed via a mix of War Victory high and United Center not having as a strong ideology.
10th Party System, 2114-2135
Was dominated by the Progressive Socialists of America. United Center was reorganised into the Constitutional Party (as a reaction against PSA wishes for a new constitution). Other parties also rose to Congressional representation and electoral votes. Patriotic Party (nationalism never truly dies), Libertarian Party (backed by Megacorps) and Green Party. Ended as a result of various constitutional reforms backed by the PSA such as Electoral College being replaced by two round popular vote, the House is changed from first-past-the-post to proportional representation. These reforms, while making the US political system more representative, also spell the end of the the dominant party period.
11th Party System, 2135-2220
PSA had become something of a mainstream party with American overton window having moved leftwards for some time (so more of a center-left party than an outright left wing one). Their main competition was the Constitutional Party, as while it's main ideology of defending the Constitution was mostly moot now (with PSA having achieved much of their reform goals and Constitutionals having been able to moderate them from a new constitution to just making amendmends) but it was able to rebrand itself as the general center-right party. Patriotic Party remained as a minor party (mostly out of Congress), Green Party had become something of a left wing party. Libertarian Party remained the main right wing party, advocating for smaller goverment and more capitalism (thought long years of PSA leadership had mitigated the megacorp issue). Greens and Libertarians, while pretty permanent fixtures of the Congress now remained unable to truly contest the Presidency against the PSA and the CP. Also now relevant were localist parties on the Moon and on Mars. The 11th Party System came to an end just before the 2nd Orbital War.
12th Party System, 2220-2260
Terroformation of Mars (and Venus) had become big topics of discussion even on Earth, alongside colonial separatism, genetic and technological transhumanism and AI research. PSA remained the main center-left party being pro-terraformation, neutral on colonial separatism, anti-transhumanism and pro-AI. While the new Liberty Party, formed as a unification of the Constitutionalists and Libertarians, was pro-terraformation, anti-separatism, pro-transhumanism and pro-AI (but not necessarily pro full AI rights). The Green Party on the other hand had grown in size, able to function as a kingmaker in presidential elections. They were anti-terraformation, anti-transhumanism and anti-AI as well as pro-separatism. There were also single-issue parties many of which (the ones with opinions on Transhumanism and AI) are too minor to warrant a mention. The issue of separatism and terraformation was a big one however. Lunar and Martian Unionist Parties (as well as other branches elsewhere) were important anti-separatist parties. Supporting instead a commonwealth/territory status to be followed by state status. The Martian Unionist Party was pro-terraformation. "Citizens' Rights" and "Statehood Now!" were major interplanetary pro-statehood and anti-separatism parties, separate from the Unionists as they were more radical on the issue of statehood. Lunar Rights Party and Lunar Independence Party were the main pro-separatist parties on the Moon. The former were popular in ex-Russian, ex-Chinese and ex-Argentinian cities, mainly supported by these particular ethnicities (as well as more soft on separatism), while the latter was a more general pro-independence party also with some American support. On Mars there were the anti-terraformation Red Mars Front and the pro-independence Martian Peoples Freedom Front, while originally formed by American colonists the latter quickly became popular among newly annexed Nigerian colonies. This party system came to an end as Lunar and Martian states were admitted to the Union and terraformation of Mars was achieved.
13th Party System, 2260-2290
The major parties in the US political spectrum in this time period were as follows; Green Party-Progressive Socialists of America-Liberty Party. With terraformation now a moot issue these parties mostly disagreed on separatism (soft-pro to neutral/soft-anti to hard-anti), economy (left to right), genetic engineering (GP against, PSA for, LP divided on the issue) and AI (GP against, latter two for but with disagreements as LP was more sceptical of AI rights), they all tended to agree on cybernetics in that they were a great way to fix damage but that people should not be allowed to replace perfectly functional body parts with cybernetics. More pro-AI and pro-Cybernetics people united under the Future Party, which was a rather minor party, not able to get into federal congress. Outside of Earth all four of these parties had members (thought only the former three had any success) but the question of separatism and colonial rights remained a major issue as ever. Unionist Party was the main party for the status quo here, aligned with LP. While "Citizens' Rights Movement" on Luna and "Martian Autonomy Coalition" were aligned with PSA and advocating for remaining a part of the US but the creation of a government level between the States and the Federal Goverment for each Planetary body to better respond to the unique needs of each. Lunar Rights Party and Martian Independence Front were pro peaceful independence parties supported by the Greens, however these parties were not very popular. The more popular pro-separatist parties on the Moon and Mars were the Lunar Independence Party and Martian Peoples Freedom Front respectively. With the former being a member of the international/intercolony Lunar Liberation League and the latter being a part of the Martian Planetary Congress. Of these four parties only the LIP had any measurable success, but this was not because the mass opinion was against independence. It was the rise of "Hellenic Legionarism". Legions of Artemis had taken pretty much any support base LRP might have had as well as driven LIP from the ex-Russian, ex-Chinese and ex-Argentinian cities on American Luna, with LIP only seeing support in cities that were originally founded by US. Similarly, the ex-Nigerian colonists on Mars which had formed a great deal of the support base for the MPFF and could have supported MIF instead supported the Legions of Ares.
14th Party System, 2290-2315
The 13th Party System came to an end as 1st Colonial War started. It was no longer safe to be pro-separatism. The 14th was dominated by the wartime National Unity Goverment, covering all three major parties as well as the Unionist Party, CRM and MAC. Meanwhile LIP and MPFF were banned and both the LRP and MIF were under heavy suspicion. It came to an end with the war and the NUG. Loss of all Lunar colonies also contributed to changes in the political system.
15th Party System, 2315-2361
This period was dominated by the Liberty Pary on Earth and Unionist party in the colonies. On Mars, where the only US state remaining was Elysium, saw the unification of MAC and MIP (as well as any supporters of the MPFF/Martian Planetary Congress/Martian Congressional Republic) into the United Front for Elysium. On Earth the Greens near enough collapsed, while the expected breakthroughts in AI or Genetic Engineering not happening made said topics rather less relevant (ending any State-scale success the Future Party had) (Not to say computers had not become incredibly more advanced than the early 21st century or genetics knowledge. Many genetic diseases were reduced by a great amount, genetic engineering to help survival on more extreme enviroments were common, as were aesthetic ones like hair and eye colours. However there were no genetic superpeople. As for AI, computer programmes and algorithms have advanced tremendously, virtual reality is also nearly indistinguishable from real life. However, while machines have surpassed human brains on many aspects there was still no personality or sentience. Many expert systems have been created, but successful Brain upload or an Artificial General Intelligence seems to always be 20 years away just like Fusion used to be). PSA remained as the main and largest competitor to the Liberty Party early on but split into the People's Union Party and the New Federalist Party. The former was a left wing party, which was more pacifistic and isolationist. PUP also supported a diplomatic realignment away from the Unified Commonwealth and towards the Geneva Agreement and were rather socially progressive. NFP on the other hand was quite the pro-UC party, supportive of stronger relations with the Unified Commonwealth (vs the relatively status-quo LP). It was econonomically speaking relatively centrist and tended to be more socially progressive than LP but a little less so than the PUP.
16th Party System, 2361-2388
This period saw UFE surpass the Unionists, eventually leading to the independence of the Elysian Republic after the 1st Martian War. On Earth several PUP and NFP administrations saw many US allies become European Federation allies or neutrals. This alongside UN, EF and VTO continuing to surpass the US lead to many feeling disullusioned with the United States. As such 2366 saw the birth of the Commonwealth Party, a party supporting unification with the Unified Commonwealth. 1st Martian War and indepence of Elysium further increased US feelings of inadequacy as such in 2376 the New Federalist Party and Commonwealth Party unified. The Commonwealth Party would go on to win the elections of 2380, 2384 and the 2388, and followed the latter with a referendum to join the UC. The vote ended up successful and as such the United States of America came to an end, being annexed by the Unified Commonwealth, which itself was reformed into the United Commonwealth. UC being on the winning side of the 1st Solar War was a very big morale boost on that part, thought UC didn't gain much from the defeated European Federation.

 

[Born in the USSA]

Hey all, I'm headed back to school in a week so unfortunately the next update may not be for some time. In the meantime, I present these three wikiboxes:
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View attachment 851389

Have an interesting Democratic/Whig split! Here's me holding out for a fun green party in @TheHedgehog's excellent TL 😂

 

[TheHedgehog]

Have an interesting Democratic/Whig split! Here's me holding out for a fun green party in @TheHedgehog's excellent TL 😂

Thanks for the shout-out! There is a Green party with a few seats in state legislatures (and the mayoralty of Baton Rouge), but its a long way from the mainstream, especially as the Democrats are also fighting against climate change

 

[Born in the USSA]

Thanks for the shout-out! There is a Green party with a few seats in state legislatures (and the mayoralty of Baton Rouge), but its a long way from the mainstream, especially as the Democrats are also fighting against climate change

Oh wow, they're taking the Christian responsibility for environmental stewardship somewhat seriously I see, that's neat. Funny enough the party system I was intending to put up last week was one where environmentalism was a right wing issue.

 

[TheHedgehog]

Oh wow, they're taking the Christian responsibility for environmental stewardship somewhat seriously I see, that's neat. Funny enough the party system I was intending to put up last week was one where environmentalism was a right wing issue.

I guess lol, though my thinking was that given the direction the Democrats have gone, they argue that stuff like cap and trade and green energy tax breaks are proper capitalist, free-market solutions to the climate crisis (which is considerably worse ttl due to more industrialization much earlier)