Civic Democratic Party of the Antilles

Civic Democratic Party of the United Commonwealth of America
Chairperson	William Abernathy
Senate Minority Leader	Franklin Perry
House Minority Leader	William Abernathy
Founded	January 1, 2017 (2017-01-01)
Preceded by	Liberal Party Reform Party Civic National Party
Headquarters	141 Westend Street Columbia City
Student wing	Civic Colliegates
Youth wing	Civic Youth of America
Membership	3.1 million (2020)
Ideology	Majority:  • Social Liberalism  • Modern Liberalism  • Progressivism  • American Unionism Factions:  • Centrism  • Antillean nationalism  • Anti-Landonism
Political position	Center left
International affiliation	Liberal International
American affiliation	Liberal Democrats of America (observer)
Official colors	Light Blue
Senate	3 / 36
House of Representatives	55 / 162
Political parties Elections Politics

The Civic Democratic Party of the United Commonwealth, commonly referred to as the Civic Democratic Party of the Antilles and simply the Civic Democratic Party is a center-left political party in the United Commonwealth of America, or the Antilles. Founded in 2017, the Civic Democratic Party is currently the main opposition party in the Antilles, and is considered one of the two major political parties of the nation, along with its historic rival, the Federalist Party.

The successor to the Liberal Party, the Civic Democratic Party would be founded on January 1, 2017. The party would be founded after a merger between the Liberal Party and smaller socially liberal parties represented in the National Assembly, including the Reform Party and the Civic National Party. The party would be founded with the goal of uniting the many socially liberal parties represented in the National Assembly into one single party in order to properly oppose the dominant governing Federalist Party, which has dominated Antillean politics since before the Continental Revolutionary War. Like its predecessor, the Civic Democratic Party is a distant successor to the Unionist Democratic Party, the leading left-leaning party in the United Commonwealth before the Continental Revolutionary War.

Since its creation in 2017, the Civic Democratic Party has followed a platform of social liberalism and progressivism, taking a number of center-left positions on a number of political issues in the Antilles. According to its 2020 platform, the Civic Democratic Party is in favor of the legalization of same-sex marriage and labor unions in the Antilles, and is in favor of lifting almost all of the heavy restrictions placed on abortion. Along with that, the Civic Democratic Party supports the creation of a public healthcare option and supports levying taxes on the nation's gambling industry. The Civic Democratic Party is the only party to support the independence of the Antilles as a separate nation rather than recognizing the islands as a continuation of the United Commonwealth of America. As required by law, the Civic Democratic Party also adheres to Anti-Landonism, though it is considered a minority in the party. The party is ardently American unionist, supporting the Antilles' ascension into the Conference of American States. Since 2020, the Civic Democratic Party holds 3 seats in the Senate and 48 seats in the House of Representatives, making it the leading opposition party in the country. The party primarily generates its support from Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and rural Cuba.

History

Formation

The Civic Democratic Party was founded on January 1, 2017, with its establishment being publically announced and showcased in Columbia City. The party itself is a merger of three political parties; the Liberal Party, Reform Party, and Civic National Party. Prior to its establishment, the three parties were the ones who opposed the ruling Federalist Party opposing its monopoly on political power, history of authoritarian rule, and usage of controversial and often corrupt electoral and political laws to maintain its political dominance. The Civic National Party was the biggest of the three and was the main opposition party and joined in a coalition with the Civic National and Reform parties in a de-facto political alliance. Leaders and high-ranking officials in all three parties had contemplated the idea of merging the three parties into one single political party as they had many commonalities including adherence towards liberalism, democracy, and anti-corruption along with taking inspiration from the Unionist Democratic Party, the leading opposition party in the original United Commonwealth of America before the Continental Revolution.

The proposed merging of the three main liberal parties was proposed in 2016 as the Unity Plan which argued that the three parties needed to either form a long-term electoral alliance or to merge and create one single unified political party believing that if neither options were done, than the liberal and progressive electorate would be split and would weaken the possibilities of challenging the ruling Federalist-dominated political establishment. Prominent proponents included Allen Paul, city council member and later mayor of Montgomery, Liberal Party house leader William Abernathy, and Reform Party chair Joseph Powell.

2018 elections

The 2018 elections would be the first set of elections the party would participate in, and would be the party's most successful. In the House of Representatives elections, the Civic Democrats would secure a total of TBD seats, the largest share of seats a opposition party had receive since 1992.

Platform

Economic policies

• Legalize labor unions and repeal all anti-union laws.
• Increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour.

Social issues

• Legalize same-sex marriage in the Antilles.
• Strick down all laws restricting LGBT rights in the Antilles.
• Repeal most laws and regulations restricting abortion.

Foreign policy

• Support Antillean ascension to the Conference of American States.
• Support Antillean membership in NATO.
• Support Antillean independence.

Organization

National committee

The Civic Democratic Political Committee (CDPC) is responsible for promoting Civic Democratic campaign activities and also controls the Civic Democratic Political Fund (CDPF), responsible for raising campaign funds. The CDPC is responsible for overseeing the process of writing the Civic Democratic Platform, and running the party's primaries prior to the general election. While the CDPC is responsible for the party's public policy it is more focused on the party's campaign and organizational strategy. Every four years it supervises the Civic Democratic National Convention. The national convention is subject to the charter of the party and and has ultimate authority over the Civic Democratic Party when it is in secession. The current chairman of the CDPC is William Abernathy.

Major party groups

Main article: Civic Democratic Party (Antilles) organizations

See also

• Political parties in the Antilles
• Liberalism in the Antilles