III. CLASSIFICATIONS
(from left to right in the political spectrum)
Communism: Communist parties
primarily adhere to Marxism developed by Karl Marx and
Friedrich Engels in the 19th century. Their aim is the free and classless society based on common ownership of the means of
production. This parties intend to
overthrow the present capitalist system through revolutionary action
of the working class. They often originated after the Russian Revolution
of 1917 from leftist factions of socialist or social democratic
parties.
· Marxism-Leninism: Marxist-Leninist (Leninist)
parties prefer a non-pluralist orthodox form of communism developed by
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (leadership of a vanguard party,
dictatorship of the proletariat, centralism).
· Trotskyism: Trotskyist parties favour a
non-pluralist form of communism established by Leon Trotsky (leadership of
a vanguard party, dictatorship of the proletariat, proletarian
internationalism, permanent revolution).
Socialism: Socialist parties oppose the present capitalist system and intend to establish a social and economic system
characterised by social ownership of the means of production and co-operative management of the economy
(state-owned enterprises, employee-owned cooperatives, common
ownership). They advocate a society characterised by equal access to resources for all
individuals. In general, they emphasise values as equality, solidarity
and social justice.
· Democratic socialism: Democratic socialist parties advocate a strong welfare state with a large public
sector. They resist the capitalist globalisation and propose a reorganisation of the
present socio-economic order through more public ownership,
workers' control of the labour process and redistributive tax
policies.
· Eco-socialism: Eco-socialist parties combine
(democratic) socialist and green policies.
Green politics: Most green parties were founded in the late
1970s as part of the new social movements that came up in the mid-1960s (in particular the
ecology, peace, women's and anti-nuclear movements). This parties
aim to create an ecologically sustainable society rooted in
environmentalism, feminism, nonviolence, social justice and
LGBT, civil and human rights.
Social democracy: Social democratic parties are
centre-left parties rooted in the socialist labour movement of the 19th
century. They advocate a democratic welfare state and a mixed economy that contains
privately-owned and state-owned enterprises. This parties adhere to values as
freedom, equality, solidarity and social justice. Since the 1990s, most of them incorporated economically liberal topics as limited social
welfare, privatisations, deregulations and lower company taxes
(Third Way).
Regionalism: Regionalist (autonomist) parties focus on the interests of a particular region
within a state. They generally intend to secure or to increase the region's
influence. Their aim is a decentralisation of governance,
self-determination and regional autonomy.
· Separatism: Separatist parties usually advocate a
full political secession of a particular region with its ethnical,
linguistical or cultural identity and the formation
of a new state.
Minority interests: Parties of minorities intend to
secure or to increase the rights of an ethnical or linguistical
minority.
Centrism: Centrist parties are usually
moderate traditionalist parties which take a centrist position on the socio-economic left-right
scale.
Liberalism: Liberal parties are
middle-class parties based on the tradition of political liberalism,
a movement of the 18th century. The doctrine of liberalism considers personal freedom
to be the most important goal. In particular it favours free markets, free
trade, limited governments, low taxes and private property (economic
liberalism) as well as equality for all citizens under the law, civil
rights, secularism and freedom of speech, press and religion.
· Conservative liberalism: Conservative liberal parties
usually combine liberal policies with more traditional stances
on social and ethical issues (in some
countries this form of
right-wing liberalism is traditionally known as national
liberalism).
· Social liberalism: Social liberal parties stress civil rights
and favour a social market economy.
Christian democracy: The Christian social doctrine
(basic principle: human dignity) is the main inspiration of Christian democratic
parties. This cross-class parties advocate
Christian ethical and moderate social conservative stances. They are very supportive of family values and adhere to principles as
freedom, solidarity and subsidiarity. This parties oppose any form
of secularism. Usually they advocate a social market economy.
Conservatism: Originally inspired by natural law and formed by the
upper-class, conservative parties today are usually middle-class organisations that seek to preserve established
traditions and the current status quo of a society. They normally advocate traditional values as
authority, nation, religion, family, stability and continuity. Over the time they
incorporated some liberal values, especially on economic issues (free market
policies).
· Liberal conservatism: Liberal conservative parties combine conservative policies with more
liberal stances on social and ethical issues.
· Social conservatism: Social conservative parties focus on the preservation of traditional
social, ethical and religious values. They usually advocate a social market
economy.
· National conservatism: National conservative parties combine conservative policies with national
stances.
They oppose a further European integration and prefer the preservation of the
nation-state with its cultural identity. This parties usually favour social
stability and traditional social, ethical and religious values.
Right-wing populism: Right-wing populist parties are protest parties that
appeal to the "common man". They appeared first in the early 1970s.
This parties combine national stances with an anti-elitist rhetoric and a radical critique of
the political institutions. They usually prefer strict law-and-order and anti-immigration
polices.
Nationalism: Nationalist parties believe that
the nation with its collective ethnic, linguistic and cultural
identity,
its natural order and its sovereignty is of primary importance. This involves a strong identification with the
nation state and its symbols. It usually also includes negative views of other nations
or other ethnic, linguistic and cultural groups.
· Far-right politics: Far-right parties are ultra-nationalist parties that adhere to a pure form of the nation
defined by ethnicity. They challenge the equality of all
humans and believe that a nation state requires a collective
identity and a strong leadership. This parties tend to
authoritarianism, xenophobia and corporatism. They usually oppose the present
democratic systems and their values.
Others:
Agrarianism, Animal welfare, Anti-clericalism, Anti-corruption
politics, Anti-globalisation politics, Christian left, Christian
right, Copyright reform, Direct democracy, Environmentalism,
Euroscepticism, Evangelicalism, Feminism, Gaullism, Islamism,
Kemalism, Loyalism, Libertarianism, Monarchism,
Multiculturalism, Pensiners' interests, Statism, Transparency,
Unionism.
