Political parties with misleading names

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Obviously "Liberal Democratic" is a very vague term, but I find it very hard to describe the Japanese LDP - that weird, sprawling, authoritarian party which exists simply to maintain and consolidate power in those organisations that already have power (civil service, Yakuza, farmers) as a particularly liberal party. They're not even very free market - remember the crazy shenanigans when Koizumi agonisingly privatised the post office? More liberal and Democratic than the Russian lib dems to be fair.

Irish Labour has become ironic seeing as it is now the SocLib wing of Fine Gael. I would argue that Greek politics is victim to the same phenomenon - the Panhellic a socialists of what now? ; and "New" Democracy are very silly names all things considered in these bad times.

I think the Institutional Revolutinary Party is misleading. It brings to mind some sort of crazy awesome steampunk communist party, rather than the dull corrupt morose organisation than it is (oh yeah and their allies the Greens are, erm, definitely using the wrong name; they don't give two craps about the environment). Add to that the seriously badass translation of Fianna Fáil (Soldiers of Destiny!) which makes them sound more like a WoW guild than the horrendous reality (although I will admit, there is nothing misleading about that party containing the word "fail" in its name.)

Very fun fact: in India there is a party allied to Narenda Modi's party that calls itself something like "the Marxist-Lenininst Communist Party of Kerala". That that is misleading, and so very Indian.

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Economic Freedom Fighters in South Africa, a party that doesn't even support what's in its own title!

Yes, your average impoverished South African black guy has probably not taken an AP PolSci class, so I think he would probably believe "Economic Freedom" to be something rather different than marginally lower tax rates and lower minimum wages.

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Yeah isn't PP (Spain) sometimes translated as the "Popular Party"? That's gotta be kinda ironic atm.

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Oh yeah how could we forget: "Venstre" (Left)

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Um, the term "economic freedom" is very loose. Don't read this as me supporting Malema, who is a corrupt goon, but I think you're being a bit obtuse. Here, I lifted this off some socialist website:

Under socialism, all authority will originate from the workers, integrally united in Socialist Industrial Unions. In each workplace, the rank and file will elect whatever committees or representatives are needed to facilitate production. Within each shop or office division of a plant, the rank and file will participate directly in formulating and implementing all plans necessary for efficient operations.

Besides electing all necessary shop officers, the workers will also elect representatives to a local and national council of their industry or service and to a central congress representing all the industries and services. This all- industrial congress will plan and coordinate production in all areas of the economy. All persons elected to any post in the socialist government, from the lowest to the highest level, will be directly accountable to the rank and file. They will be subject to removal at any time that a majority of those who elected them decide it is necessary.

Such a system would make possible the fullest democracy and freedom. It would be a society based on the most primary freedom, economic freedom.



Yes I know leftists are quite tedious, but their definition of economic freedom makes just as much sense (especially from the perspective of the EFF's target audience) as the classical liberal interpretation.

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http://nytlive.nytimes.com/womenintheworld/2015/12/30/brazil-gets-first-political-party-specifically-for-women-dominated-by-men/

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Has anybody heard of the "Worker' Party of Social Justice" of Czech Republic? Apparantly they aren't, as, err, Tumblr as you may think.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workers%27_Party_(Czech_Republic)

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