Social Democratic Union

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Social Democratic Union Социал-Демократический Союз
Chairman	Yevgeniy Tulamov
President of Volkia	Yuliya Surkova
Vice President	Vladimir Burmakin
Speaker of the Chamber	Stefania Nevzorova
Federal Council Majority Leader	Yefim Luzhkov
Founded	September 14, 1969 (1969-09-14)
Student wing	Collegiate Social Democrats
Youth wing	Young Social Democrats
Women's wing	Union of Social Democratic Women
Overseas wing	Social Democrats Abroad
Membership (2020)	2,557,102 (2024 est.)
Ideology	Majority:  • Social democracy Factions:  • Nationalism  • Liberalism  • Progressivism  • Left-wing populism
Seats in the Federal Council	48 / 78
Seats in the Chamber of Deputies	180 / 350
Governors	15 / 26
Provincial Legislature Seats	3,417 / 6,345
Election symbol
Party flag
Website
http://www.sotsial-demokrat.vol

The Social Democratic Union (Volkian: Социал-Демократический Союз, Sotsial-Demokraticheskiy Soyuz), frequently abbreviated to SDU, is a major social democratic and progressive political party in the Volkian Federative Republic.

The SDU was formed in 1969 as a response to increased political instability and perceived corruption and cronyism in Volkia during the 1960s. Since its foundation, the SDU has been in power in some way in the Volkian National Assembly or by holding the presidency. The SDU has maintained a federal government trifecta since the 1992 elections; with its overwhelming electoral dominance, it has ruled the country as a de facto one-party state. The party oversaw massive societal and political change in Volkia in the aftermath of the Volkian Revolution, including an expansion of civil rights to citizens, the establishment of free healthcare and higher education, and the amendment of the Volkian Constitution for the first time. After the 2022 elections it holds 283 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 48 seats in the Federal Council, maintaining the government trifecta. Additionally, the party holds 15 governorships, 3,417 seats in the upper and lower houses in the provincial legislatures, and the mayoralty of most major cities.

The SDU is often described as a progressive, left-wing big tent party. The party's history and internal composition has been characterized by factionalism since the 1980s, with its members currently split into five factions that each vie for influence in the party and government. Even with the differences between the factions, the party has historically supported social democratic policies and maintaining close relations with its neighbors. The incumbent president, Yuliya Surkova, is the first woman and youngest politician in Volkian history to be elected president.

History

Beginnings

The SDU was formed on September 14, 1969 by a coalition of social democrats, democratic socialists, and progressive liberals in response to growing political instability and perceived corruption during the presidency of Matvei Lukyanov. The party framed itself as a potential solution to the issues plaguing Volkian society and as a way to keep Lukyanov's growing power in check. At the time, both houses of the National Assembly had a Volkian Conservative supermajority that enabled Lukyanov and acted as his rubber stamp. Opposition parties, while not illegal, had been stifled and did not receive the same support from the establishment that the Conservatives did.

Initially viewed as a "fool's errand," the party found growing support in Volkia's major cities and rallies rivaled those of the ruling Volkian Conservatives. These rallies were met with harassment from the Skopa Special Police Unit (Skopa), a federal police agency that reported directly to Lukyanov. Numerous rallygoers, activists, and political candidates tied to the SDU would be attacked, beaten, or arrested by Skopa for "anti-Volkian activities." A notable example was the beating of Valentin Botvinnik by Skopa officers which sparked the 1970 Volkgoroda riots and further fueled the Volkian Revolution.

Lukyanov himself also brought attention to the group as they grew in popularity, and stated that they were "searching for blue roses" by promising sweeping social reforms. The SDU embraced the image of the blue rose and would go on to be known as the "Blue Rose Party" in Volkian politics. Political scholars have suggested that Lukyanov played a role in his party's defeat in the 1970 elections by bringing national attention to the SDU, which had previously been largely isolated to Volkgoroda and the surrounding provinces. The SDU went on to coalition with the Liberal Party and Socialist Labor League in what would become known as the Great Coalition.

In the 1970 elections, overseen by international election observers, the SDU won nearly 45% of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies and half of the available seats in the Federal Council. Their partners, the Liberals and Socialists, won enough seats in the Chamber of Deputies to give the coalition a supermajority and split the remaining available seats in the Federal Council. The SDU spearheaded the successful impeachment of Matvei Lukyanov and his ultimate conviction for high treason, anti-Volkia activities, and electoral fraud.

The successful removal of the largely unpopular Lukyanov and the reversal of his unpopular policies thrust the SDU into the national spotlight and secured the party a landslide victory in the 1972 elections. Winning a majority in the Chamber of Deputies and the presidency, the SDU (and its coalition partners) continued to fight remnants of policies that allowed for pervasive corruption. The party's ongoing popularity led to the party retaining their majority in the Chamber of Deputies and securing a majority in the Federal Council in the 1974 elections, giving the party its first government trifecta.

1974–1998

The SDU used its trifecta rapidly and effectively, passing laws to protect abortion access and to create the country's universal healthcare system. Additionally, laws were passed to strengthen labor unions and provided guaranteed paid time off to most full-time workers. The SDU also made the nation's public universities tuition free and established guaranteed parental leave for mothers. President Alexander Polivanov, the first SDU member elected to the presidency, led the movement to amend the Volkian Constitution to limit presidential power and enshrine term limits for the office. The amendments were put forth to the provinces in November 1974 and was ratified by the required number of provinces on March 2, 1975, fulfilling another policy goal set by SDU leadership. Additional electoral

The SDU maintained its trifecta into the 1980s, continuing to work with partners in the Liberal Party and Socialist Labor Union to pass legislation. Consistently winning elections over the period of

These successes led the SDU to maintain their trifecta into the 1980s, but lost their majority in the Chamber of Deputies in the 1984 elections following increased economic stagnation, unpopular tax increases, and several bribery scandals. The party held onto their majority in the Federal Council by one seat and won the presidency after

2016–present

Headquarters of the SDU in Volkgoroda

Ideology and political stance

The party's platform highlights civil liberties and social equality while maintaining the current capitalist welfare state with a combination of free market activity and large state ownership in certain key sectors.

Factions

Factions first arose within the Social Democratic Union in the 1980s, after several electoral successes and the defeat of then-President Matvei Lukyanov. The party's current factions can be traced to their roots in the 1980s, demonstrating the stability and institutionalized nature of the Social Democratic Union's factions. The party is currently split into five factions: two major factions and three minor ones. The incumbent president, Yuliya Surkova, is a member of the National People's Caucus.

Current factions in the SDU include:

Name	Ideology	Political position	Leader	Members
National People's Caucus Национальное народное собрание	Social democracy Big tent	Left-wing	Yevgeniy Tulamov	99
Unified Democratic Alliance Единый демократический альянс	Social liberalism	Left-wing	Oleg Shevchenko	87
Bridging the Gap Преодоление разрыва	Liberal conservatism Moderate	Centrist	Ekaterina Vasilyeva	38
Council for National Unity Совет национального единства	Democratic socialism Volkian nationalism	Far-left	Dmitry Kravchenko	22
Unity for Progress Единство ради прогресса	Conservative liberalism	Centrist	Nikolai Kovalchuk	16
Independent				71

Logos and symbols

	Volkian Federative Republic
Main article: Volkia
Important Topics: Culture ♦ Lupine ♦ Volkian language ♦ Lunarism ♦ Volkian korona ♦ Defense Forces
Government: Federal Government ♦ President ♦ Cabinet ♦ National Assembly ♦ Federal Supreme Court ♦ Political Parties
History: Grand Principality of Volkia ♦ Duchy of Volkia ♦ Kingdom of Volkia ♦ Volkian Civil War ♦ Northern Revolt ♦ Volkian Revolution
Important Figures (Past and Present): Yuliya Surkova ♦ Aleksey Pushkarev ♦ Stefan Gurkovsky ♦ Ivan Ogarkov ♦ Vasily Tolmachyov ♦ Yulian Lebedev