Citizens Party

Citizens Party or Citizens' Party may refer to:

Citizens Party (United States)

The Citizens Party was a political party in the United States. It was founded in Washington, D.C. by Barry Commoner, who wanted to gather under one umbrella political organization all the environmentalist and liberal groups which were unsatisfied with President Carter's administration. The Citizens Party registered with the Federal Elections Commission at the end of 1979. Commoner, a professor of environmental science at Washington University in St. Louis, was the head of the Center for the Biology of Natural Systems in St. Louis and editor of Science Illustrated magazine.

The Citizens Party platform was pro-environmental in nature. Some have claimed that it was possibly socialist as well, but this claim arose from a misunderstanding of the economic democracy platform of the party, which appears to be a form of corporatism. Commoner clearly stated repeatedly that socialism for parts of the economy other than essential infrastructure was a disastrous idea. His economic democracy idea stated that the business of business is to do business, but that the business of government is to regulate business to prevent abuses.

Citizens Party (Hong Kong)

Citizens Party (Chinese: 民權黨) was a small pro-democracy political party existed in Hong Kong from 1997 to 2008. It was founded by Legislative Council member Christine Loh in May 1997.

Beliefs

Being part of the pro-democracy camp, the Citizens Party demanded democratisation with the ultimate aims of universal suffrage which was stated in the Hong Kong Basic Law. However, it claimed to be more creative and less confrontational than the Democratic Party in seeking democratic reform and emphasised the importance of dialogue with the Beijing officials. In general, the party believed in an accountable government with representative democracy under rule of law, that would protect citizens' personal freedoms and equal opportunity, as well as promote tolerance and personal responsibility. In economic policies, the Citizens Party believed that free-market principles could best respond to change and provide choice. However, it also demanded proper regulation where there is an overriding public interest, such as to ensure fair competition.