Democratic-Farmer-Labor
Miss Teri
The Queen
- Location
- West
- Pronouns
- She/Her
| Abbreviation | DFLP |
| Founded | 1919 |
| Predecessor | Democratic Party (Anti-Bourbon, Longist-Rooseveltist), Republican Party (LaFollettists), Farmer-Labor Party, Non-Partisan League. |
| Secretary-General | Chris Hedges |
| Leader | Ro Khanna |
| Ideology | Christian Marxism Utopian Socialism Religious socialism Left-wing pacifism Populism Agrarianism (historical) Cultural conservatism (historical) Fractions Communism Trinitarianism Chrisian anarchism |
| Political Position | Center-left (UASR), Left-wing (International) |
| Color | Orange |
The Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party is the largest of the "Minor League" political parties of the United Republics.
It is the oldest extant party in the Union, dating back prior to the Revolution in 1919, when a group of Midwestern and Northeastern Democrats, led by Burton K. Wheeler, split with the predominantly Bourbon, conservative leadership. This dissident group joined up with a fellow dissident group of Republicans and the nascent, Midwestern parties, the Farmer-Labor Party and the Non-Partisan League (formed by former SLP organizer Arthur Townley) to form the DFLP ahead of the 1920 election.
The party would be a prominent fourth party during the early 20's, but would achieve national influence in 1924, when they entered the "Alignment" with the Republican Party, under progressive Leonard Wood, whereupon one party would not run against another and effectively, the Republican nominee would also be the DFL nominee. This new alliance would ensure the victory of much of Leonard Wood's progressive agenda, but suffered greatly following his assassination and the rise of moderate Herbert Hoover.
Hoover's choice of newspaper magnate and anti-progressive William Randolph Hearst as Vice President and his handling of the Depression would sour relations, culminating in the election season of 1932, when, with the help of its growing left-wing constituency, it broke the alignment and endorsed Norman Thomas of the Workers' Party for President.
During the Revolution, DFL militias, especially the Minutemen, would distinguish themselves in the United Democratic Front, formed by the WCPA, DFLP, and other anti-MacArthur parties. After the war, the UDF (with DFL heavyweight Robert LaFollette, Jr. as Deputy Premier) would be the transition government before the election of 1936, where LaFollette and Party Chairman Roosevelt would lose to the dominant Workers' Party.
Following the defeat of the party and LaFollette's exit following a suicide attempt, the party would be under the lead of Minutemen hero Harry S. Truman, who would be regarded as the modernizer of the party. Truman pushed the party gradually left, embracing socialist economics in conjunction with moderate cultural policies, forming a closer working relationship with the Workers' Party, and reformed the UDF in the form of the Revolutionary Unity Government during World War II, with Truman as Deputy Premier.
Truman would continue to serve under Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, where he would enact his "Truman Plan" for post-war rebuilding. The inclusion of the Franco-British Union in this plan, and their subsequent betrayal of postwar agreements would reflect poorly on the party following the end of the Revolutionary Unity Government in 1950, and Truman's promotion to General Secretary (leading to the blowback to new party leader Phillip LaFollette.)
The DFLP would eventually form an alliance with previous rivals the DRP, hoping eventually for the parties to merge to form a counterbalance with the Workers' Party. These hopes were dashed with the dissolution of the Workers' Party, and the defeat of the DFLP-DRP candidates.
The DFLP's cultural conservatism would not endear them to the New Left, and from 1970 onwards, the DFLP would retreat into its Midwestern strongholds and would decline elsewhere, with only pockets in the Northeast and South. The rise of Social Ecology didn't help. The 80's would see a permanent shift to the left, discarding cultural moderation in favor of support for whatever the status quo is on social issues and becoming full-on Marxist, with a Christian perspective. It has also become more urbanized, corresponding to the collapse of the rural-urban divide, and has also made inroads with some immigrant communities.
However, unlike its minor league political party counterparts, it has maintained a steady and relatively large presence in the Congress of Soviets and is the only Minor League party in the CEC(albeit with only a few members at a time).This is partially because of the Party's strong ties with the Trinitarian Church, with even some church leaders having served as DFL leaders.
Currently, the party acts primarily to bolster alliances, which it does for the Opposition led by Social Ecology. Journalist and former Congressperson Chris Hedges now leads the Party as GenSec, and Rohit Khanna is the Congressional Leader. The inclusion of the Northeastern, Presbyterian-born Hedges and a Northeastern Hindu Indian immigrant Khanna is an indication that they are attempting to appeal beyond their Midwestern base, though this has only been marginally successful.
Ideology
The DFL was founded on the principle of progressivism. The Bourbon Democrats had become increasingly corrupt, focused on enrichment and the status quo over helping the common man. The group embraced a range of ideologies, ranging from populism to socialism in the vein of the Socialist Party, in service of the average person.
They would find common cause with Leonard Wood's progressive administration in the 20's, and worked to get major agrarian reforms passed. However, the rightward turn taken by the Republicans after Wood's assassination, including the appointment of WR Hearst as VP and the Red Scare led by Republican Hamilton Fish, would sour their relationship. A growing constituency embraced socialism and collaboration with the Workers' Party.
This branch would form the core of the Third Republican incarnation of the party, power sharing with a group of pro-Huey Long Democrats. The new party would initially push for "moderate socialism", arguing for a more moderate program aimed at rebuilding the wartorn country, and moderate reforms in contrast to the WCPA's radical restructuring, which was partially responsible for the collapse of the United Democratic Front by 1934.
La Follette and Roosevelt attempted to continue this, but the failure of the 1936 campaign led to the rise of Harry S. Truman, who proceeded to at least officially embrace some form of economic communism, endorsing the WCPA's policies. However, the DFL was differentiated by two key planks: an embrace of Christian Socialism, exemplified by the growing relationship with the Trinitarian Church (Truman, whilst a Protestant, used his rapport with Catholics dating back to the Great War to cultivate this relationship) and "cultural moderation", attempting to appeal to its rural audience by highlighting the "debauchery" of urban communism.
After decades of this status quo, the 70's and 80's would see the party turn even more leftward. They dropped the "cultural moderation" plank as a major element (preferring to "let people utilize their freedom of speech, but provide an alternative") and more importantly, turn gradually from Christian socialism to full-on Christian Marxism, fully backing lower stage communism.
A big part of this shift was the steady integration of urban and rural areas, making the agrarian focus of the party seem narrow. Thus, a wider net needed to be cast to gain newer voters.
In the present, the DFLP has a strong identity as a Christian communist and anarchist party. In fact, it is the only such party that is a constituent member of Comintern. However, the "Christian" portion is a misnomer, referring only to using Christ's secular teachings and anti-capitalist rhetoric, instead of being theocratic.
Indeed, the DFLP is heavily tied to the Trinitarian Church which deemphasizes the overtly spiritual elements of Jesus in favor of emphasizing his charity and kindness. While church leaders like Dorothy Day and Diane Drufenbrock have been members, the DFLP is not the political wing of the Trinitarians. In fact, there have been many politicians of different faiths, including Jews (Barry Commoner and Paul Wellstone), a Muslim (Keith Ellison), and a Hindu (Rohit Khanna) that have led the party. The idea isn't to establish a Christian socialist theocracy, as critics like Margaret Atwood have held, but to use the basic, secular tenets of Christianity to justify and guide the transition to full communism.
After years primarily representing the rural population, as said population became increasingly urbanized and the divide between the two more nebulous, parts of the agenda (including opposition to libertinism) were dropped to appeal to this urbanized audience, but they still strongly advocate for the rights of farm workers and for supporting the rural population and traditions in some capacity.
Indeed, the DFLP has recently grown to become an anti-state party, arguing that it has outlived its function and should be replaced by some form of localized soviet system, whether it be councilist or municipalist. However, it should be gradual and come with the advent of upper-stage communism.
In recent years, the DFLP has found common ground with the SEU, both for this anti-state gradualism, and their shared beliefs in environmentalism and pacifism. The "Alliance of Peace" has been a steady part of Congress since the mid-80's. However, unlike the SEU, the DFLP has neither plank as a key issue, instead focusing more on transitioning to full communism.
A growing fraction seeks to enact a Christian anarchist agenda, merge with the SEU, and eliminate the Union government in favor of a municipality system. Whilst non-violent like their main party, it does support fiscal support for non-violent radical groups as well internationally.
Fractions
Communists- Dominant faction as of the present, Christian Marxist, believes in full communism done through Christian pacifism and with an emphasis on environmentalism. Supportive of cultural libertinism "within reason".
Trinitarianism- The "Trinitarian Worker" portion, largely consisting of Trinitarians. More moderate than the communists and less politically oriented, instead choosing to operate charitably, helping people and building alternative communities in different countries.
Anarchists- Christian anarchists, believe in the abolition of the state, non-violent resistance, and environmental reconstruction. 'Nuff said.
General Secretaries (1933-2020)
Floyd B. Olson (1933-1936)
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1936-1946)
Earl Long (1946-1950)
Glen H. Taylor (1950-1952)
Vincent Hallinan (1952-1960)
William H. Meyer (1960-1962)
Edmund Muskie (1962-1968)
Wayne Morse (1968-1970)
Russell B. Long (1970-1974)
Sonia Johnson (1974-1976)
Eugene McCarthy (1976-1980)
Barry Commoner (1980-1992)
Michael Parenti (1992-1996)
Al Franken (1996-2000)
Diane Drufenbrock (2000-2013) (Died in office)
Keith Ellison (2013-2015)
Chris Hedges (2015- present)
Leaders (1919-2020)
Burton K. Wheeler (1919-1933)
Robert M. La Follette Jr. (1933-1937)
Harry Truman (1937-1950)
Philip La Follette (1950-1952)
Glen H. Taylor (1952-1958)
Dorothy Day (1958-1968)
Frank Zeidler (1968-1970)
Rosemary Radford Ruether (1970-1976)
Russell B. Long (1976-1980)
Caesar Chavez (1980-1986)
Diane Drufenbrock (1986-1992)
Paul Wellstone (1992-2000)
Al Franken (2000-2001)
Michael Moore (2001-2006)
Amy Klobuchar (2006-2010)
Keith Ellison (2010-2017)
Elizabeth Breuig (2017-2020)
Ro Khanna (2020- present)
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Special thanks to @rajavlitra for the logo and @SpookyBoy for some of the leaders
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