People's party (politics)

"People's party" (German: Volkspartei) or "large party" (German: Großpartei) is a political science term mainly used in the German language region, referring to an open and popular political party composed of various social classes, generations, voters, and members. It is different from "class party" (German: Klassenpartei), "interested party" (German: Interessenpartei), and "notable's party" (German: Honoratiorenpartei).[1][2] The term Volkspartei was first used in political science by the political scientist Dolf Sternberger.

Example

According to Dieter Nohlen, a 'people's party' is "a self-designation used by major parties such as the SPD and CDU/CSU, which strive to achieve strategic majorities by expanding their voter base to gain as many votes as possible. Their political rhetoric and promotional self-presentation is based on the claim that they want to embrace broad sections of the electorate across social classes and ideologies and represent their diverse interests in a balanced manner."[3]

In Austria and Switzerland, the term "large party" (Großpartei) or "people's parties" (Volksparteien) is preferred over "people's party" (Volkspartei) because there is one of the main major parties in both countries that uses the German name "People's Party": Austrian People's Party (Österreichische Volkspartei) and Swiss People's Party (Schweizerische Volkspartei).

In Japan

In Japan, Volkspartei was translated into 国民政党 (lit: "national party" or "people's party"); it refers to a political party that advocates representing the interests of the entire populace rather than specific organizational interests such as labor unions.[4][5][6]

The Liberal Democratic Party is a right-wing nationalist party, but because it is a major conservative party exhibiting a transcending class character, it is traditionally classified as a 国民政党 in Japanese politics.

The defunct Japan Socialist Party (officially renamed the "Social Democratic Party") aimed to be a 階級政党 (lit. "class party"). Within the party, the right wing advocated shifting to a centre-left social democratic line and transforming into a 国民政党, while the left wing insisted on maintaining the 階級政党 line, leading to a confrontation.[7] The Democratic Socialist Party, founded by a defector of the JSP, openly claimed to be a 国民政党.

Naoto Kan (formerly of the Socialist Democratic Federation) stated in 2017 regarding the founding of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan: "For the Constitutional Democratic Party, which aims to be a 国民政党, relationships with existing industry groups and labor unions are of course important. However, in recent years, Japanese society has seen an overwhelming increase in the proportion of people not belonging to such large existing organizations—for example, those working non-regular jobs. It is precisely these people who need ‘politics’ the most within today's unequal society."[8] Similarly, in 2019, Kazuhiro Haraguchi of the Democratic Party for the People described his party's position as "a 国民政党 to replace the Liberal Democratic Party."[9]

List of people's parties

Active

The Freedom Party of Austria, which holds the largest number of seats on the National Council as of 2025, but is not part of the traditional Volksparteien.[10]

Historical

Political party using Volkspartei

The following are parties whose party name includes Volkspartei:

See also

Look up Volkspartei in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

References

  1. ^ Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung. "Volkspartei | bpb". Retrieved 2021-10-07.
  2. ^ Eckart Thurich (2011), Pocket Politik: Demokratie in Deutschland (4. Aufl., August 2011 ed.), Bonn: Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung, ISBN 978-3-8389-7046-2
  3. ^ Dieter Nohlen (2010), Lexikon der Politikwissenschaft: Theorien, Methoden, Begriffe / 2 N–Z., vol. 2 (Originalausgabe, 4., aktualisierte und erw. Aufl ed.), München: Beck, pp. 1189 ff., ISBN 978-3-406-59234-8
  4. ^ "政党". www.kyoritsu-wu.ac.jp. Retrieved 2019-03-21.
  5. ^ "新しい政治をめざして／社会党は"歌"を忘れよ 江田五月". www.eda-jp.com. Retrieved 2019-03-21.
  6. ^ kannaoto (2017-11-18). "立憲民主党を草の根に根差した政党に育てるために". 菅直人公式サイト (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2019-03-21. Retrieved 2019-03-21.
  7. ^ 「対立軸の昭和史　社会党はなぜ消滅したのか」p15, 保阪正康,2020
  8. ^ 疑似政権交代とは？ 意味や使い方 - コトバンク
  9. ^ 自民党内の多様性が薄れている…田中真紀子氏. 読売新聞 (2015-07-13)
  10. ^ Andreas Wirsching, ed. (2012). Der Preis der Freiheit: Geschichte Europas in unserer Zeit [The Price of Freedom: The History of Europe in Our Time] (in German). Beck. p. 332. Die Parteiprogrammatik und die Selbstinszenierung ihres Führers verliehen der FPÖ eine scheinbar authentische Stimme gegen die Machtparität der beiden Volksparteien SPÖ und ÖVP und die von ihnen dominierte «Konkordanz- demokratie». [The party's programme and the self-promotion of its leader gave the FPÖ a seemingly authentic voice against the power parity of the two people's parties, the SPÖ and ÖVP, and the ‘concordance democracy’ they dominated.]
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