Electoral alliance

Anelectoral alliance(also known as abipartisan electoral agreement,electoral pact,electoral agreement,electoral coalitionorelectoral bloc) is an association ofpolitical partiesor individuals that exists solely to stand in elections.

Each of the parties within the alliance has its ownpoliciesbut chooses temporarily to put aside differences in favour of common goals and ideology in order to pool their voters' support and get elected. On occasion, an electoral alliance may be formed by parties with very different policy goals, which agree to pool resources in order to stop a particular candidate or party from gaining power.

Unlike acoalitionformed after an election, the partners in an electoral alliance usually do not run candidates against one another but encourage their supporters to vote for candidates from the other members of the alliance. In some agreements with a larger party enjoying a higher degree of success at the polls, the smaller party fields candidates under the banner of the larger party, with the elected members of the smaller party sitting with the elected members of the larger party in the cabinet or legislature. They usually aim to continue co-operation after the election, for example by campaigning together on issues on which they have common views. If the alliance endures beyond elections, the association is aparliamentary group.

By offering to endorse or nominate a major party's candidate, minor parties may be in position to influence the candidate's platform.

By country

Argentina

TheFrente de Todos(Everybody's Front or Front for All)^[1]^[2]) is a coalition ofPeronist^[3]andKirchnerist^[4]political parties and associations in Argentina formed in 2019 to support the candidacy ofAlberto FernándezandCristina Fernández de Kirchnerin the2019 Argentine general election.

Juntos por el Cambio(Together for Change) is anArgentine big tent^[5]^[6]political coalition.It was created in 2015 asCambiemos(Let's Change), and renamed in 2019.^[7]It is composed ofRepublican Proposal(PRO), theRadical Civic Union(UCR), theCivic Coalition(CC-ARI) and sectors ofFederal Peronismsince the arrival ofMiguel Ángel Pichettoto the national coalition.

Armenia

Prior to the2018 Armenian parliamentary election,theRepublic Partyformed an electoral alliance known as theWe Alliancewith theFree Democrats.Both parties campaigned on a similarPro-Europeanplatform and sought to challenge a competing electoral alliance known as theMy Step Alliance.^[8]

Barbados

TheAlliance Party for Progress(APP) is aChristianandsocial democraticelectoral alliance inBarbados.It was formed on 30 December 2021 by theUnited Progressive Party(UPP) and thePeople's Party for Democracy and Development(PdP) to contest the2022 Barbadian general election.It is headed by the leader of the PdP, BishopJoseph Atherley,with the leader of the UPPLynette Eastmondbecoming deputy head.^[9]

Belgium

In Belgium, the Dutch term for an electoral alliance iskartel.Currentkartelsinclude the following:

Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats,composed of the parties Flemish Liberals and Democrats,Vivant,andLiberal Appeal
Mouvement Réformateur,composed of theLiberal Reformist Party,theCitizens' Movement for Change,and thePartei für Freiheit und Fortschritt
Vlaams BelangandVLOTT

Previouskartelsinclude the following:

Denmark

TheRed-Green Alliancewas formed as an electoral alliance between theCommunist Party(DKP), theLeft Socialists(VS), and theSocialist Workers Party(SAP) in 1989. It reformed itself as a unified party in 1991, but the participating parties continue on their own in some ways (for example by having their own separate party newspapers).

Greece

TheSyrizaParty started out as an electoral alliance but then united into a single party.

Italy

Since 1994, Italian politics has been divided into two main blocs, thecentre-rightand thecentre-left coalitions;which under various forms alternatively led the country for more than two decades.

Center-right coalition

For the2022 general electionthe coalition is composed of four parties, theBrothers of Italy,League (Lega),Forza ItaliaandUs Moderates.

Centre-left coalition

For the2022 general electionthe alliance was formed by four parties;Democratic Party – Democratic and Progressive Italy,More Europe,Civic CommitmentandGreens and Left Alliance.

Netherlands

Combination of lists

Dutch electionsfrom 1973 to 2017 allowed for electoral alliances between two parties where both parties would nominate a combinedparty list.This practice, called thelijstverbinding,was abolished in June 2017 after being earlier abandoned for Senate elections.^[10]

In the Netherlands, seats in parliament are allocated by theD'Hondt method,aproportional representationmethod that tends to favor larger parties (seehighest averages method). Thelijstverbindingorkartelallowed two parties to pool their votes together when calculating representation, effectively treating them as a single, larger party when handing out seats.

Typically, the parties in a coalition are ideologically related. For example, in the2003 general elections,theSocialist PartyandGreenLeftformed alijstverbinding.In the2004 European electionsthe social-democraticPvdAand GreenLeft formed alijstverbinding.The Orthodox ProtestantReformed Political PartyandChristian Unionhave also formed alijstverbindingin the past^{[citation needed]}.

Common list

In a common list two or more political parties share a list and often have a common political programme for the election. The participating political parties are identifiable for the voters because the names of these parties are mentioned on the voting paper. It is similar toelectoral fusion.

Turkey

Holy Alliance

An electoral alliance called "holy alliance" was formed byWelfare Party,Nationalist Task PartyandReformist Democracy Partyto contest in the1991 Turkish general election.^[11]

SHP-HEP Alliance

Before the 1991 Turkish general election, social democraticSHPand pro-KurdishHEPformed an electoral alliance.^[12]

Nation Alliance

The Nation Alliance (Turkish:Millet İttifakı) is an electoral alliance in Turkey made up of some of the major Turkish opposition parties to contest under a common banner in the country's 2018 general-presidential election, later for the 2019 local elections, and presently for the upcoming2023 presidentialandparliamentaryelections in June. The alliance consists ofRepublican People's Party,Good Party,Felicity Party,andDemocrat Party.

People's Alliance

The People's Alliance (Turkish:Cumhur İttifakı) is an electoral alliance in Turkey, established in February 2018 between the rulingJustice and Development Partyand the formerly oppositionNationalist Movement Party.The alliance was formed to contest the2018 general election,and brings together the political parties supporting the re-election of PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Labour and Freedom Alliance

The Labour and Freedom Alliance (Turkish:Emek ve Özgürlük İttifakı,Kurdish:Hevkariya Ked û Azadiyê) is formed byPeoples' Democratic Party,Workers' Party of Turkey,Labour Party,Labourist Movement Party,Social Freedom Partyand Federation of Socialist Councils to contest the2023 presidentialandparliamentaryelections.

Union of Socialist Forces

Made up by theCommunist Party of Turkey,Communist Movement of Turkey,Revolution Movement and theLeft Partyto contest the2023 presidentialandparliamentaryelections.

Ancestor Alliance

Made up byVictory Party,Justice Party,Turkey Alliance PartyandMy Country Partyto contest the2023 presidentialandparliamentaryelections.^[13]

United Kingdom

Labour and Co-operative

An electoral alliance survives to this day between theLabour Partyand theCo-operative Party,which fieldsLabour Co-operativecandidates in general elections in several constituencies, and in some local council elections. They have jointly contested elections since the 1927 Cheltenham Agreement. As of the2019 general election,there are 38 Labour Co-operative MPs, the fourth-largest political grouping in theCommons(after theConservative Party,Labour and the Scottish National Party).

SDP–Liberal Alliance

The SDP–Liberal Alliance began in 1981, shortly after theLimehouse Declaration.The Alliance contested the1983and1987elections, and became defunct in 1988, when the parties merged into theLiberal Democrats.In the first few years of the alliance, Liberals and Social Democrats were very confident it would be a success,David Steeleven suggesting that Alliance could form the next government.^[14]Later on, however, the alliance faced difficulty with political and personal clashes between Steel andDavid Owen,as well as presentation issues (such as contradiction on policy). When the parties merged in 1988, Owen did not join the Liberal Democrats.

TUSC

A socialist coalition comprisingRMT,Socialist Party,Solidarity,&c. candidates, the TUSC formed to contest the2010 general election.The alliance has been consistently electorally unsuccessful, also contesting the2015 general election,but endorsing Labour in2017.

Unite to Remain

In the2019 United Kingdom general election,pro-EUparties formed a pact in English and Welsh seats.

Other examples

United Torah JudaisminIsrael
Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc,which functioned inUkraine,2001-2011
Unitary Democratic Coalition(Unitarian Democratic Coalition) inPortugal
Labour and Co-operativein the United Kingdom
Ulster Conservatives and Unionistsin theUnited Kingdom
Socialist Alliance inEngland
Tripartite Alliance(including theANCandSACP) inSouth Africa
Democratic Unity RoundtableinVenezuela
National Democratic AllianceinIndia
National Democratic PoleinArmenia
Pakatan Harapan(Alliance of Hope) inMalaysia
Progressive alliancein theUnited Kingdom
Solidarity–People Before ProfitinIreland
Junts pel SíinCatalonia,Spain
Unidas PodemosinSpain
UniTeam Alliancein thePhilippines

References

^"If the Peronists win in Argentina, which Fernández will be in charge?".The Economist.October 17, 2019.Archivedfrom the original on May 7, 2020.RetrievedMay 14,2020.
^Goñi, Uki (October 28, 2019)."Argentina election: Macri out as Cristina Fernández de Kirchner returns to office as VP".The Guardian.Archivedfrom the original on December 1, 2019.RetrievedMay 14,2020.
^"Fernández pidió al Partido Justicialista" no desunirse "".Télam(in Spanish). October 8, 2019.Archivedfrom the original on November 19, 2019.RetrievedMay 14,2020.
^Smink, Verónica (October 28, 2019)."Elecciones en Argentina: por qué el peronismo se fortalece cada vez que el país entra en crisis".BBC Mundo(in Spanish).Archivedfrom the original on October 29, 2019.RetrievedMay 14,2020.
^"El desafío que la nueva alianza opositora debe pasar en Diputados".www.ambito.com.Archivedfrom the original on September 27, 2023.RetrievedSeptember 27,2023.
^Cué, Carlos E. (November 23, 2015)."Macri victory signals shift to the right in Argentina".EL PAÍS English.Archivedfrom the original on August 25, 2023.RetrievedSeptember 27,2023.
^"La coalición oficialista tiene nuevo nombre: Juntos por el cambio"[The official coalition has a new name: Juntos por el cambio].La Nacion(in Spanish). June 12, 2019.Archivedfrom the original on June 13, 2019.RetrievedJune 12,2019.
^""Հանրապետությունը" և "Ազատ դեմոկրատները" հուշագիր ստորագրեցին․ արտահերթին կմասնակցեն միասին՝ "Մենք" դաշինքով ".news.am(in Armenian).Archivedfrom the original on May 7, 2023.RetrievedNovember 15,2019.
^"New APP in town! PdP and UPP merge | Loop Barbados".Loop News.Archivedfrom the original on September 28, 2023.RetrievedJanuary 18,2022.
^Gijs Herderscheê (June 20, 2017)."Fenomeen politieke lijstverbinding sneuvelt in Eerste Kamer".Volkskrant.Archivedfrom the original on January 3, 2018.RetrievedJune 20,2017.
^Akgun, Birol (March 2002)."Twins or Enemies: Comparing Nationalist and Islamist Traditions in Turkish Politics"(PDF).Middle East Review of International Affairs.6(1).Archived(PDF)from the original on January 17, 2023.RetrievedJanuary 17,2023.
^Watts, Nicole F. (1999)."Allies and Enemies: Pro-Kurdish Parties in Turkish Politics, 1990–94".International Journal of Middle East Studies.31(4): 631–656.doi:10.1017/S0020743800057123.Archivedfrom the original on September 28, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 28,2023.
^"Ümit Özdağ duyurdu: Ata ittifakı kuruldu".Independent Türkçe(in Turkish). March 10, 2023.Archivedfrom the original on March 30, 2023.RetrievedMarch 11,2023.
^"Conference season's greatest hits".September 10, 2003.Archivedfrom the original on January 23, 2020.RetrievedFebruary 12,2018.

Authority control databases
International	FAST
National	United States Israel