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	PROGRESSIVE PARTY

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The Progressive Party is a centrist party dedicated to social progress and liberalism. It believes strongly in the desirability of social change, aiming to create "a better society", and strongly supports causes such as multiculturalism, gender equality, and secularism. It is critical of what it sees as calls for people to be "chained" to traditional values by the state. Unlike the Balance Party, another group that promotes a progressive vision of social justice, the Progressive Party does not believe that progress can by obtained by legislation - rather, it believes that progress is obtained by "leaving people to their own devices", and that governmental attempts to control people are the main thing holding society back from improvement.

The Progressive Party holds eleven seats in the present Senate. The party is led by Juano Magelo, the current Administrator of Welfare. The deputy leader is Charlotte Rousselle. The party's Secretary is Turo Taviki.

Colour and Emblem

The Progressives use brown as their official colour. Their official emblem is a set of upward-pointing arrowheads fitted togeter into a column - this symbol, known in Lendosa as the tribarica, was originally a symbol of revolution, but has since become a sign of change and advancement.

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The Lendian language name of the party is "lo Partido Progresiano", or sometimes simply "los Progresianos".

Quote

"There is no problem in society that society itself cannot solve, just so long as the government stops trying to control people's lives in adherance to some outdated, patronising dogma. The state should not be trying to remake people - it should be helping people remake themselves."

Key Policies

Liberalism
The Progressive Party believes that "chaining people to an arbitrary values system" holds back the advancement both of the individual and society. It believes that "leaving people to their own devices" will inevitably lead to change and progress, and that attempting to regulate society (even if the regulation is in support of progressive causes) is harmful.

• Reduce the powers of the police and intelligence agencies to monitor the behaviour of ordinary citizens.
• Fight any attempts to regulate marriage, particularly attempts by religious groups to restrict same-sex marriage.
• Fight any attempts to tighten censorship laws.
• Institute better guarantees of free speech, even for harmful viewpoints such as racism and sexism. While some views may be abhorrent, attempting to suppress them does more harm than good.

Social Problems
The Progressive Party is highly supportive of getting the state involved in social work, and believes that in order for the country to do well, it is necessary for it to have a healthy and properly ordered society behind it. It regards social well-being as one of the government's most important tasks.

• Establish support groups and counselling services to help resolve domestic and family-related issues.
• Act to assist people with problems such as alcoholism, drug abuse, or gambling addictions.
• Provide training schemes to help unemployed people find work.

Education
The Progressive Party believes that the education system is seriously neglected at present, and believes that the provision of education should always be a major focus of the government's attention. According to the Progressive Party, a well-educated society is much more likely to be a tolerant society.

• Increase the funding given to Lendosa's education system, and ensure that no schools remain under-resourced.
• Improve the quality of education in Lendosa by attracting better teaching staff, making use of higher wages and other such incentives.

Issues Facing the Party

The Progressive Party is, by and large, working well with itself, and has few internal problems, although there is growing tension between the centrists and the left-wingers in the group. The Progressive Party, while focusing on social issues rather than economics, was founded as a centrist party, but has slowly been drifting leftwards since that point. Policies such as those advocated by the Progressive Party have traditionally been in the domain of the left-wing parties, and so many people drawn to Progressive views also have left-wing economic sentiments, and have been attempting to pull the party leftwards. For the most part, the party has resisted, and is only slightly left-leaning, but some small tensions still exist.

Subparties

The Progressive Party does not have any subparties.

History of the Party

The Progressive Party was founded in 296 AP, following the collapse of the Democracy Party. The Democracy Party was a broad alliance established to bring about the abolition of the Empire (a goal in which it was successful), but following the assassination of its leader, Prospero da Sava, the movement splintered. The majority, led by Aranezo Galazo, established themselves as the Balance Party, but a number of smaller groups attempted to form their own parties. The Progressive Party was among them.

Juano Magelo, a former Democracy Party senator, disliked Galazo's views regarding order and stability, saying that the Balance Party would sacrifice social progress for safety. He criticised the Balance Party for what he called "political correctness at gunpoint", referring to their "determination to persue justice and equality, whatever the cost in freedom and happiness might be". Magelo claimed that the government should nurture social progress carefully rather than "chaining society down" with rules and regulations designed to increase the state's power.

In its first election, the Progressive Party won two seats, with Juano Magelo and Turo Taviki becoming the party's first senators. Despite its earlier rift with the Balance Party, the Progressives found that Balance was still closer to their views than any other group, and the two were often allied.

In the following election, the Progressives won only a single seat, mostly due to changes in the electoral system rather than loss of popularity. This occured again in the next election. In 302 AP, however, the Progressives managed to win three seats, including a regional seat in Lavaium. Their ongoing association with the Balance Party enabled them to gain an Administrator post for their leader, holding more influence than their numbers suggest. The party has since gathered momentum, and is the largest party outside the "big four".

List of Past Leaders

• Juano Magelo (296 - )