Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was a liberal political party which was one of the two major parties in the United Kingdom in the 19th and early 20th century.

The party arose from an alliance of Whigs and free-trade Peelites and Radicals in the 1850s. By the end of the nineteenth century, it had formed four governments under William Gladstone. Despite splitting over the issue of Irish Home Rule, the party returned to power in 1906 with a landslide victory and introduced the welfare reforms that created a basic British welfare state. H. H. Asquith was Liberal Prime Minister between 1908 and 1916, followed by David Lloyd George whose premiership lasted until 1922 when the coalition the party had formed with the Conservative Party in World War I came to an end.

By the end of the 1920s, the Labour Party had replaced the Liberals as the Tories' main rival. The party went into decline and by the 1950s won no more than six seats at general elections. Apart from notable by-election victories, the party's fortunes did not improve significantly until it formed the SDP–Liberal Alliance with the newly formed Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1981. At the 1983 General Election, the Alliance won over a quarter of the vote, but only 23 of the 650 seats it contested. At the 1987 General Election, its vote fell below 23% and the Liberal and Social Democratic parties merged in 1988 to form the Liberal Democrats. A small Liberal Party was formed in 1989 by party members opposed to the merger.

Liberals (Finland)

Liberal People's Party (from 2001 Liberals) (Finnish: Liberaalinen kansanpuolue) was a liberal party in Finland. Founded in 1965 as a reunification of the People's Party of Finland and Liberal League. Originally named Liberal People's Party (Finnish: Liberaalinen Kansanpuolue), it restyled its name as Liberals (Liberaalit) in 2000.

Liberals was removed from the party registry in 2007 after the failure to gain a seat in two consecutive parliamentary elections. In 2011 the party dissolve it self as a politicial party. It continues it's basic idealogicial policy as an independent think tank

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Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada (French: Parti libéral du Canada), colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism, and generally sits at the centre of the Canadian political spectrum. The Liberal Party is positioned to the left of the Conservative Party of Canada and to the right of the New Democratic Party (NDP).

The party has dominated federal politics for much of Canada's history, holding power for almost 69 years in the 20th century—more than any other party in a developed country—and as a result, it is sometimes referred to as Canada's "natural governing party". The Liberals' signature policies and legislative decisions include universal health care, the Canada Pension Plan, Canada Student Loans, peacekeeping, multilateralism, official bilingualism, official multiculturalism, patriating the Canadian constitution and the entrenchment of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Clarity Act, restoring balanced budgets in the 1990s, and making same-sex marriage legal nationwide.

The Democrats (Austria)

The Democrats (German: Die Demokraten) were a minor Austrian political party.

The party was founded in 1991 as a split from the FPÖ by the former secretary of state Mario Ferrari-Brunnenfeld (initially as FDP Österreich). It became publicly notable under the leadership of Rudolf Fussi, who protested against the government's intent to purchase new Eurofighter jets. He initiated a referendum on this topic (Anti-Abfangjäger-Volksbegehren). The Democrats saw themselves as a democratic, liberal party, promoting equal opportunities, a market economy, environmental protection, openness and tolerance.

The Democrats participated in only one National Council election, fielding candidates in 2002 in the states of Vienna and Vorarlberg. The party received 0.05% of the vote and won no seats. The party did not stand in 2006, and Fussi defected to the social-democratic SPÖ.

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Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. Tracing its heritage back to Thomas Jefferson's Democratic-Republican Party, the modern-day Democratic Party was founded around 1828, making it the world's oldest active party.

Once its dominant worldview was classical liberalism, but modern social liberalism became a force within the party with the candidatures of William Jennings Bryan and Woodrow Wilson, who won the presidential nominations in 1896, 1900, 1908, 1912 and 1916. Since Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal coalition in the 1930s the Democratic Party has promoted a social-liberal platform, supporting social justice and a mixed economy. The Democrats' philosophy of modern liberalism advocates social and economic equality, along with the welfare state. It pursues a mixed economy by providing government intervention and regulation in the economy. These interventions, such as the introduction of social programs, support for labor unions, moves toward universal health care and equal opportunity, consumer protection, and environmental protection form the core of the party's economic policy.

Democrats (Brazil)

The Democrats (Portuguese: Democratas, DEM) is a political party in Brazil, which is considered the main party within the right-wing spectrum. It was founded in 1985 under the name of Liberal Front Party (Partido da Frente Liberal, PFL) from a dissidence of the defunct PDS, successor to the ARENA, the official party during the military dictatorship of 1964–1985. It changed to its current name in 2007. The original name reflected the party's support of free market policies, rather than the identification with international liberal parties. Instead, the party affiliated itself to the international federations of Christian democratic (CDI) and conservative parties (IDU). The Democrats' identification number is 25 and its colors are green, blue, and white.

History

PFL (1985-2007)

On January 24, 1985, DEM's direct predecessor, the Liberal Front Party (Partido da Frente Liberal - PFL), was founded by a dissident faction of the Democratic Social Party (PDS), which had been founded in 1980 as the successor of the National Renewal Alliance (ARENA), the former ruling party during the time of military dictatorship (1965–79). At the time, Brazil was under the effervescence that put an end to the military regime. In the previous year, a series of rallies known as Diretas Já gathered thousands of peoples in the streets of major cities to demand the direct election of the next President, as envisaged in the Dante de Oliveira amendment, which was pending approval in the Congress. On January 10, 1984, PDS rejected supporting this proposition, but a pro-Diretas Já faction emerged within the party a few days later. On April 25, 1984, the Congress, besieged by Army officials, voted the amendment. It did not reach the required quorum for approval, due to the absence of 112 deputies from PDS.

Council (disambiguation)

A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. In England "the council" is a widely used term to refer to the county, borough, metropolitan, etc. council responsible for local government in a place.

Council may also refer to:

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Other uses