International Democracy Union
Abbreviation | IDU |
---|---|
Formation | 24 June 1983 |
Purpose | World federation of right-of-centre/moderate-to-conservative political parties |
Headquarters | Munich, Bavaria, Germany |
Region served | Worldwide |
Membership | 84 political parties and 8 organizations |
Official language | English |
Chairman | Stephen Harper (Conservative) |
Deputy Chairman | Brian Loughnane (Liberal) |
Website | idu |
Part of a series on |
Conservatism |
---|
The International Democracy Union (IDU; known as the International Democrat Union until September 2023) is an international alliance of centre-right political parties. Headquartered in Munich, Germany, the IDU consists of 84 full and associate members from 65 countries. It is chaired by Stephen Harper, former prime minister of Canada. It has two affiliated international organizations (International Young Democrat Union and International Women's Democracy Union) and six affiliated regional organizations (Union of Latin American Parties, Asia Pacific Democrat Union, Caribbean Democrat Union, Democrat Union of Africa, European People's Party and European Conservatives and Reformists Party).
The IDU allows centre-right conservative political parties around the world to establish contacts and discuss different views on public policy and related matters. Their stated goal is the promotion of "democracy and [of] center-right policies around the globe". The IDU has some overlap of member parties with the Centrist Democrat International (CDI), but the CDI is more centrist and communitarian than the IDU.
The group was founded in 1983 as the umbrella organisation for the European Democrat Union (EDU), Caribbean Democrat Union (CDU), and the Asia Pacific Democrat Union (APDU). Created at the instigation of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and U.S. Vice President George H. W. Bush, the organisation was founded at a joint meeting of the EDU and APDU in London, United Kingdom.
Founding
The IDU was founded in London on 24 June 1983. According to Richard V. Allen, to be admitted as a member, a party must qualify as a "mainstream conservative" party influenced by classical liberalism.
The founding declaration was signed by 19 persons:
Member parties
Full members
Country | Party | Abbreviation | Government | Lower Chamber | Upper Chamber |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Albania | Democratic Party of Albania | PD | Opposition | 59 / 140 (42%)
| |
Argentina | Republican Proposal | PRO | Government | 37 / 257 (14%)
|
9 / 72 (13%)
|
Australia | Liberal Party of Australia | LIB | Opposition | 42 / 151 (28%)
|
31 / 76 (41%)
|
Austria | Austrian People's Party | ÖVP | Government | 71 / 183 (39%)
|
26 / 61 (43%)
|
Azerbaijan | Azerbaijan National Independence Party | AMIP | Extraparliamentary opposition | 0 / 125 (0%)
| |
Bolivia | Democrat Social Movement | MDS | Extraparliamentary opposition | 0 / 130 (0%)
|
0 / 36 (0%)
|
Bosnia and Herzegovina | Party of Democratic Progress | PDP | Opposition | 2 / 42 (5%)
|
0 / 15 (0%)
|
Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina | HDZ | Government | 4 / 42 (10%)
|
3 / 15 (20%)
| |
Belgium | New Flemish Alliance | N-VA | Independent | ||
Brazil | Brazil Union | UB | Independent | 59 / 513 (12%)
|
9 / 81 (11%)
|
Bulgaria | GERB | GERB | Government | 66 / 240 (28%)
| |
Union of Democratic Forces | SDS | Government | 2 / 240 (0.8%)
| ||
Canada | Conservative Party of Canada | CPC / PCC | Opposition | 117 / 338 (35%)
|
15 / 105 (14%)
|
Costa Rica | Social Christian Unity Party | PUSC | |||
Chile | Independent Democratic Union | UDI | Opposition | 23 / 155 (15%)
|
9 / 43 (21%)
|
National Renewal | RN | Opposition | 23 / 155 (15%)
|
11 / 43 (26%)
| |
Colombia | Colombian Conservative Party | PCC | Government | 28 / 187 (15%)
|
15 / 108 (14%)
|
Croatia | Croatian Democratic Union | HDZ | Government | 62 / 151 (41%)
| |
Cyprus | Democratic Rally | DISY | Government | 17 / 56 (30%)
| |
Czech Republic | Civic Democratic Party | ODS | Government | 34 / 200 (17%)
|
23 / 81 (28%)
|
TOP 09 | TOP 09 | Government | 14 / 200 (7%)
|
6 / 81 (7%)
| |
Denmark | Conservative People's Party | DKF | Opposition | 10 / 179 (6%)
| |
Dominican Republic | National Progressive Force | FNP | Extraparliamentary opposition | 0 / 190 (0%)
|
0 / 32 (0%)
|
Ecuador | Social Christian Party | PSC | Opposition | 14 / 137 (10%)
| |
El Salvador | Nationalist Republican Alliance | ARENA | Opposition | 11 / 84 (13%)
| |
Estonia | Isamaa | Opposition | 10 / 101 (10%)
| ||
Finland | National Coalition Party | Kok | Government | 48 / 200 (24%)
| |
Georgia | United National Movement | ENM | Opposition | 23 / 150 (15%)
| |
Germany | Christian Democratic Union of Germany | CDU | Opposition | 152 / 736 (21%)
|
22 / 69 (32%)
|
Christian Social Union in Bavaria | CSU | Opposition | 45 / 736
|
4 / 69
| |
Ghana | New Patriotic Party | NPP | Government | 137 / 275 (50%)
| |
Greece | New Democracy | ND | Government | 158 / 300 (53%)
| |
Grenada | New National Party | NNP | Opposition | 5 / 15 (33%)
|
3 / 13 (23%)
|
Guatemala | Unionist Party | PU | Government | 5 / 160 (3%)
| |
Hungary | Fidesz | Government | 116 / 199 (58%)
| ||
Iceland | Independence Party | XD | Government | 17 / 63 (27%)
| |
Israel | Likud | Likud | Government | 32 / 120 (27%)
| |
Kenya | Democratic Party of Kenya | DP | Extraparliamentary opposition | 0 / 394 (0%)
|
0 / 67 (0%)
|
Lebanon | Lebanese Forces | LF | Opposition | 19 / 128 (15%)
| |
Lithuania | Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats | TS–LKD | Government | 50 / 141 (35%)
| |
Maldives | Maldivian Democratic Party | MDP | Opposition | 43 / 80 (54%)
| |
Malta | Nationalist Party | PN | Opposition | 35 / 79 (44%)
| |
Moldova | Party of Action and Solidarity | PAS | Government | 63 / 101 (62%)
| |
Mongolia | Democratic Party | DP | Opposition | 12 / 76 (16%)
| |
Montenegro | Movement for Changes | PzP | Extraparliamentary opposition | 0 / 81 (0%)
| |
Morocco | Istiqlal Party | Government | 81 / 395 (21%)
|
24 / 120 (20%)
| |
New Zealand | National Party | NAT | Government | 49 / 123 (40%)
| |
North Macedonia | VMRO-DPMNE | Opposition | 37 / 120 (31%)
| ||
Nepal | Rastriya Prajatantra Party | RPP | Government | 14 / 275 (5%)
|
0 / 59 (0%)
|
Norway | Conservative Party | H | Opposition | 36 / 169 (21%)
| |
Panama | Democratic Change | CD | Opposition | 18 / 71 (25%)
| |
Paraguay | Partido Colorado | ANR-PC | Government | 48 / 80 (60%)
|
23 / 45 (51%)
|
Peru | Christian People's Party | PPC | Extraparliamentary opposition | 0 / 130 (0%)
| |
Portugal | CDS – People's Party | CDS–PP | Extraparliamentary opposition | 0 / 230 (0%)
| |
Romania | National Liberal Party | PNL | Government | 79 / 330 (24%)
|
36 / 136 (26%)
|
Saint Lucia | United Workers Party | UWP | Opposition | 2 / 17 (12%)
|
3 / 11 (27%)
|
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | New Democratic Party | NDP | Opposition | 6 / 15 (40%)
| |
Serbia | Serbian Progressive Party | SNS | Government | 103 / 250 (41%)
| |
Slovenia | Slovenian Democratic Party | SDS | Opposition | 27 / 90 (30%)
| |
South Korea | People Power Party | PPP | Government | 112 / 300 (37%)
| |
Spain | People's Party | PP | Opposition | 137 / 350 (39%)
|
140 / 266 (53%)
|
Sri Lanka | United National Party | UNP | Government | 3 / 225 (1%)
| |
Sweden | Moderate Party | M | Government | 68 / 349 (19%)
| |
Republic of China | Kuomintang | KMT | Opposition | 38 / 113 (34%)
| |
Tanzania | Chama Cha Demokrasia Na Maendeleo | CHADEMA | Opposition | 20 / 393 (5%)
| |
Turks and Caicos Islands | People's Democratic Movement | PDM | Opposition | 1 / 15 (7%)
| |
Uganda | Forum for Democratic Change | FDC | Opposition | 32 / 529 (6%)
| |
Ukraine | European Solidarity | YeS | Opposition | 27 / 450 (6%)
| |
United Kingdom | Conservative and Unionist Party | CON | Government | 350 / 650 (54%)
|
270 / 786 (34%)
|
United States | Republican Party | R / GOP | Opposition | 221 / 434 (51%)
|
49 / 100 (49%)
|
Venezuela | Project Venezuela | PV | Extraparliamentary opposition | 0 / 167 (0%)
|
Former members
- Argentina – Justicialist Party
- Bosnia and Herzegovina – Party of Democratic Action
- Bosnia and Herzegovina – Croatian Democratic Union 1990
- Brazil – Democrats
- Canada – Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
- Dominican Republic – Social Christian Reformist Party
- France – Rally for the Republic
- France – Union for a Popular Movement
- Guatemala – National Advancement Party
- Honduras – National Party of Honduras
- India – Bharatiya Janata Party
- Japan – Liberal Democratic Party
- Moldova – Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova
- Nicaragua – Conservative Party
- Portugal – Social Democratic Party
- Russia – Union of Right Forces
- Serbia – Democratic Party of Serbia
- Serbia – United Regions of Serbia
- Spain – People's Alliance
- Spain – People's Democratic Party
Chairmen
Chairperson | Term Start | Term End | Political Affiliation | Country |
---|---|---|---|---|
William Hague | 1997 | 2002 | Conservative Party (UK) | UK |
John Howard | 2002 | 2014 | Liberal Party of Australia | Australia |
Sir John Key | 2014 | 2018 | New Zealand National Party | New Zealand |
Stephen Harper | 2018 | incumbent | Conservative Party of Canada | Canada |
See also
- European Conservatives and Reformists Party
- Asia Pacific Democrat Union
- Caribbean Democrat Union
- Centrist Democrat International
- Democracy Union of Africa
- European People's Party
- European Conservatives and Reformists
- International Women's Democracy Union
- International Young Democrat Union
- Union of Latin America
- Political internationals: such as the Liberal International and the Socialist International