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	June 4, 1970 (1970-06-04)
Student wing	Collegiate Social Democrats
Youth wing	Young Social Democrats
Women's wing	Union of Social Democratic Women
Overseas wing	Social Democrats Abroad
Membership (2019)	9,557,102
Ideology	Majority:  • Social democracy Factions:  • Nationalism  • Liberalism  • Progressivism  • Left-wing populism
Seats in the Federal Council	48 / 78
Seats in the Chamber of Deputies	283 / 505
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), frequently abbreviated to SDU, is a major social democratic and progressive political party in the Volkian Federative Republic.

The SDU was formed in 1970 as a response to growing political instability and perceived corruption and cronyism in Volkia during the 1960s. Since its foundation, the SDU has been in power in some way either through the Volkian National Assembly or 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 at the end 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 mayorality 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 June 4, 1970 as a response to growing corruption and political instability that was occurring in Volkia during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The SDU framed themselves as the party that could fix the perceived problems in Volkian society. Then-President Matvei Lukyanov attacked the new party in July 1970 and said 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. In the 1972 elections, the SDU swept the elections and established majorities in both the Federal Council and the Chamber of Deputies, and won the presidency. The SDU has since remained in power and is responsible for many fundamental policies of Volkian society.

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 four factions: two major factions and two 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	Progressivism Big tent	Left-wing	Yevgeniy Tulamov	99
Unified Democratic Caucus Объединенное демократическое собрание	Social democracy	Left-wing	Oleg Shevchenko	87
Bridging the Gap Преодоление разрыва	Social liberalism Moderate	Centrist	Ekaterina Vasilyeva	48
Council for National Unity Совет национального единства	Democratic socialism Volkian nationalism	Far-left	Dmitry Kravchenko	32
Independent				67

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