This article gives information on liberalism worldwide. It is an overview of parties that adhere to some form of liberalism and is therefore a list of liberal parties around the world.
Not all the parties using the "Liberal" or "Freedom" labels are actually liberal. Moreover, some parties, such as the Freedom Party of Austria, were originally liberal, but have since tilted toward a populist direction and abandoned most of the tenets of liberalism. Finally, some parties, such as the United States Republican Party, Australia's Liberal Party or Norway's Progress Party are liberal mainly from an economic point of view rather than a social point of view (see economic liberalism, libertarianism and right-libertarianism).
Parliamentary parties and other parties with substantial support
This list includes also parties that were represented in the last previous legislature and still exists as well as some banned or exiles parties (Cuba). Liberals might be active in other parties, but that is no reason to include a party.
See the remarks above about the criteria. Minor parties are listed below
Africa
Liberalism is a relatively new current for Africa. Traditionally it only existed more or less in Egypt, Senegal and especially South Africa.
Algeria: There are very few liberal political parties. Ahd 54 and the Algerian Natural Law Party may be considered liberal. The main Berber party, the Rally for Culture and Democracy (French: Rassemblement pour la Culture et la Démocratie) could be considered to embrace some liberal values.
Benin: the Rebirth Party of Benin (French: Parti de la renaissance du Bénin), might be considered a liberal party, but its exact profile is not available. The Cowry Forces for an Emerging Benin (French: Forces Cauris pour un Bénin émergent) are a centrist party alliance with liberal elements.
Malawi: the liberal character of the United Democratic Front is despite its membership of the LI disputable. The Democratic Progressive Party was formed in 2005 by President Bingu wa Mutharika after a dispute with the UDF. There were allegations that members of the former governing UDF did not adequately tackle corruption. It is unclear if the party will be ideological or personalist in style.
Morocco: two center-right parties, the Constitutional Union (French: Union Constitutionnelle) and the Popular Movement (French: Mouvement Populaire) are both member of the LI. However both are conservative in social issues, something abnormal for a true liberal party. The National Rally of Independents (observer LI, member ALN), founded in 1978 as a royalist party, is nowadays a liberal party.
In many Latin American countries, liberalism and radicalism have been associated with generally left-of-center political movements such as Colombia's Liberal Party, historically concerned mostly with effecting government decentralization and regional autonomy (liberals were influential in the total dissolution of at least two defunct countries, the United Provinces of Central America and Gran Colombia) and separation of church and state. At times, the anti-clerical and secularist stances promoted by Latin American liberals have resulted in limitations on the civil rights of clergy or others associated with the Church (as in Mexico, where law still prohibits priests from public office). Liberalism in North America has a different background.
Aruba: the character of the Aruban Liberal Organization (Organisacion Liberal Arubiano) is not clear. The party lost parliamentary representation in the 2005 election.
Brazil: Liberalism (in a general, international acceptance) is represented only by the New Party (Portuguese: Partido Novo). There are no mainstream parties currently holding unambiguous liberal principles nor any members of the Liberal International. While at least three parties label themselves as "liberal", the Liberal Front Party (Partido da Frente Liberal), actually renamed Brazil Union (Portuguese: União Brasil) in 2022, is a populist-conservative party. The Liberal Party (Portuguese: Partido Liberal), is a populist-conservative party with links to religious organizations. (Main article: Liberalism in Brazil).
Canada: Liberal refers mainly to the policies and ideas of the Liberal Party of Canada/French: Parti Libéral du Canada (member LI), the most frequent governing party of Canada for the last century and one of the most successful liberalparties in the world. The Liberal Party of Canada has generally adhered to modern liberalism, supporting a welfare state, and is regarded as a centrist to centre-left party in the Canadian context although some provincial parties such as the Quebec Liberal Party combine liberalism with conservative ideas. (Main article: Liberalism in Canada).
Costa Rica: the Libertarian Movement Party (Spanish: Partido Movimiento Libertario) was originally a classical liberal (libertarian) party but has become conservative on social issues as abortion and same-sex marriage. The Liberal Progressive Party (Spanish: Partido Liberal Progresista) was founded in 2016 is an economically and socially liberal party. (Main article: Liberalism in Costa Rica).
United States: the primary use of the term liberal is at some variance with European and worldwide usage. In the United States today, it is most associated with the definition of modern liberalism, which is a combination of social liberalism, public welfare and a mixed economy,[12] which is in contrast to classical liberalism. In the Third Party System, the primary liberal groups (which by that point still meant classical liberal) were the Bourbon Democrats and the Liberal Republicans, the latter of which evolved into the Mugwumps;[13] they both supported free trade and free markets, and opposed political corruption. By 1884, both groups had come to support the Democratic Party under the leadership of the liberal Bourbon Grover Cleveland. However, when William Jennings Bryan took over the Democratic Party, there was a substantial move towards populism and progressivism;[14] the last hurrah of the Bourbons was the nomination of Alton Parker in 1904. Despite this, most Democrats, including Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt, continued to call themselves liberals, framing social liberal ideas as positive liberties, in contrast to the negative liberties that can only be avoided through a lack of government intervention.[15] Starting in the 1980s, the conservatives and modern liberals began to adopt more classically-liberal economic perspectives through fusionism and the Third Way respectively. Today, the Democratic Party is sometimes identified as the liberal party within the broader definition of liberalism thus putting it in contrast with most other parties listed here. Democrats advocate for more social freedoms, affirmative action, and a mixed economy (and therefore modern liberalism). The Republican Party experiences a somewhat fractured economic viewpoint with some members supporting strong free-market and libertarian views (and therefore economic liberalism) and others championing pro-business and economic nationalist stances, though both sectors typically mix their fiscal views with strong aspects of social conservatism. The Libertarian Party is the third largest political party in the United States, (though still only getting 1–2% of the vote in congressional elections), and particularly centers itself on free markets and individual liberty, which is more in line with classical liberalism. (Main article: Liberalism in the United States and Modern liberalism in the United States)
Uruguay: liberalism organized itself in the nineteenth century in the Colorado Party (Spanish: Partido Colorado) nowadays a heterogeneous party, divided in factions ranging from conservative to social-democratic; however, its general profile is more or less liberal. (Main article: Liberalism in Uruguay).
Venezuela: liberalism was a strong force in the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century. Nowadays there are three important classical liberal movements (still no parties): Organization for the Liberal Democracy in Venezuela (Spanish: Organización por la Democracia Liberal en Venezuela), a classical liberal, pro-capitalism think-tank; Liberal Democratic Movement (Movimiento Demócrata Liberal) and "Rumbo Propio para el Zulia" from Maracaibo, Zulia, a classical liberal autonomist movement. They are going to create together a political party in the next years. (Main article: Liberalism in Venezuela).
Asia
Liberalism has or had some tradition in some countries. Nowadays it is a growing current in East Asia, but in many of these countries liberals tend not to use the label liberal.
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Georgia, Russia, and Turkey are listed under Europe.
Cambodia: the Candlelight Party ([គណបក្សភ្លើងទៀន] Error: {{Lang}}: invalid parameter: |translit= (help), member CALD), claims to be a more or less liberal party, though some dispute this and consider it a xenophobic party.
Hong Kong: the Democratic Party is a liberal party, strongly emphasizing the need of democratic reforms. The Civic Party is also a liberal party. The Liberal Party is often considered to be a conservative, pro-business party.
India: Liberalism is currently unrepresented. However two centrist parties, INC and NCP have been described as liberal.[17](Main article: Liberalism in India).
Iran: liberalism is forbidden and its members have been killed in the past. The Liberal Democratic Party of Iran is forced to exist in exile (based in Sweden). (Main article: Liberalism in Iran).
Israel: Yesh Atid (Hebrew: יש עתיד, lit. 'There Is a Future', member of LI) is the second biggest party in the Israeli Parliament with a strongly anti-clerical, liberal ideology. In the early 2000s, some Likud and Labor members formed a new liberal party called Kadima. The center-right Likud calls itself a National-Liberal Party.
Mongolia: the Civil Will–Green Party (Irgenii Zorig-Nogoon Nam, member LI, CALD, GG) was founded in 2012 by a merger of the market liberal Civil Will Party (Irgenii Zorig Nam) and the Mongolian Green Party (Mongolyn Nogoon Nam) who both had worked for protecting human rights and democracy. The new party combines market liberal and green values.
Myanmar: the National League for Democracy, observer CALD, a party with liberal democratic elements, became the biggest parliamentary party at the latest election. It won a parliamentary majority in the 1990 election but the result was not recognised by the military and the party was suppressed until 2012.
Taiwan: the Democratic Progressive Party (Min-chu Chin-pu Tang, member LI, CALD) is a left-liberal party. The Taiwan Solidarity Union is a characterised primarily by its Taiwanese nationalism and derives its membership from both the Chinese Nationalist Party's former moderate and Taiwan-oriented fringe and DPP supporters disgruntled by the party's moderation on the question of Taiwanese sovereignty. Its liberal character is questionable, although it is part of the DPP's left-of-centre and pro-Taiwanese Independence Pan-Green alliance (in contrast with the conservative Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) and People First Party.) (Main article: Liberalism in Taiwan).
Andorra: the Liberal Party of Andorra (Catalan: Partit Liberal d'Andorra, member LI, ALDE) is a centre-right liberal party and currently the second-largest political party by parliamentary representation.
Austria: the NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum (German: NEOS – Das Neue Österreich und Liberales Forum, member ALDE) was formed in 2014 as a merger of NEOS formed in 2012 and the Liberal Forum (German: Liberales Forum, LiF) formed in 1993. The Liberal Forum had split from the Freedom Party of Austria (German: Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ), which had become a right-wing nationalist party, but was previously liberal or national-liberal, and was a member of the Liberal International until 1993. (Main article: Liberalism in Austria.)
Bosnia and Herzegovina: liberalism is weak, because of the domination by ethnic parties. A small and rather unsuccessful liberal party is the Liberal Democratic Party (Liberalno demokratska stranka, associate ALDE). More successful is the social liberaI and multi-ethnic Our Party (Naša stranka, associate ALDE).
Finland: the dominant LI and ALDE member party is the centrist and agrarian Centre Party (Suomen Keskusta), however the liberal character of this party is questioned. In actuality, the Centre Party has long since become socially more conservative than the liberal-conservative National Coalition Party, since it opted not to support same-sex marriage. The Swedish minority party Swedish People's Party (Svenska Folkpartiet i Finland, member LI, ALDE) has a clearer liberal profile. The original liberal current was until 2011 organized in the Liberals (Liberaalit), after 1995 a very small extra-parliamentary party. At the autonomous islands of Åland the Liberals for Åland (Liberalerna på Åland) and the centrist agrarian Ålandic Centre (Åländsk Center, member ALDE) are the dominant forces. (Main article: Liberalism and centrism in Finland).
Germany: the Free Democratic Party (Freie Demokratische Partei, member LI, ALDE) is a centre to centre-right classical liberal party. It supports laissez-faire and free market economics and is seen to be closer to the centre-right conservative CDU/CSU alliance on economic issues than the centre-left SPD, but closer to the SPD and the Greens on issues such as civil liberties, education, defense, and foreign policy. (Main article: Liberalism in Germany).
Greece: the liberal current disappeared, leading to liberals joining the centre-right New Democracy, est. in 1974 and the centre-left PASOK, est. in 1974. Smaller parties such as the social-liberal The River (Greek: Το Ποτάμι, To Potami) and the Union of Centrists (Greek:Ένωση Κεντρώων, EDP member, Enosi Kentroon), claimer of Venizelist heritage, became the leading liberal forces. Meanwhile, new liberal initiatives have been taken, like e.g. the purely liberal Liberal Alliance (Greek: «Φιλελεύθερη Συμμαχία», Fileleftheri Simmakhia), est. in 2007. (Main article: Liberalism in Greece).
Ireland: Fine Gael (member CDI and EPP) is a centre-right, liberal-conservative party whose platform encompasses low-tax economic policies and socially liberal stances on issues such as same-sex marriage, abortion, divorce, medical cannabis, and assisted dying. In recent years the traditionally Irish nationalist centrist Fianna Fáil (member LI and ALDE) has adopted liberal politics on both social and economic ones; however, the party membership remains conservative on social issues. The Progressive Democrats were a liberal party with an emphasis on market economics in existence from 1985 to 2009.
Italy: liberals are now divided over the centre-right Forza Italia (originally a merger of liberal and Christian-democratic forces in 1994, and reconstituted in 2013 from The People of Freedom), the Civic Choice party founded in 2013 to support then-Prime Minister Mario Monti, Democratic Centre and Alliance for Italy, small social-liberal parties, and various minor extra-parliamentary movements including the libertarian Act to Stop the Decline and Italian Radicals (member ALDE Party). Also the centrist-populist Italy of Values is a member ALDE Party, although it is not classifiable as a liberal party in whichever sense. Most members of the late Italian Liberal Party (refounded as a very small party in 2004) and many former members of the Italian Republican Party joined Forza Italia, which is often presented and defined in Italy as a liberal party. This is the reason why the term 'liberals' is more often used when speaking of the centre-right coalition, dominated by Forza Italia, which combines economic liberalism with freedom of conscience on ethical matters. (Main article: Liberalism and radicalism in Italy).
Poland: the Democratic Party (member ALDE) was a centre-liberal party. It did not succeed in entering parliament in the 2005 election. Civic Platform is considered economically liberal or conservative-liberal, however, it is conservative in terms of ideology. Created in 2015, liberal Modern (member ALDE) entered parliament in 2015 elections. In Poland, there is also conservative and liberal party KORWiN, which was established in 2015 by Janusz Korwin-Mikke. It possesses two deputies in the European Parliament and also two MEPs in polish parliament. (Main article: Liberalism in Poland)
Slovenia: the largest liberal party is the List of Marjan Šarec, member of the ALDE, a centrist liberal party. The second largest is the Party of Alenka Bratušek (member ALDE), a liberal spin-off from centre-left Positive Slovenia that went a more social democratic direction. The third largest is the classical-liberal Civic List (member ALDE). Two minor extra-parliamentary liberal parties in Slovenia are the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia (Slovene: Liberalna demokracija Slovenije, former member of both LI and ALDE), a centrist liberal party, and Zares, a social-liberal party, and also a former ALDE member. (Main article: Liberalism in Slovenia).
Turkey: liberalism was never a strong force. There is no popular support for liberalism. Populism is the dominant rhetoric. Liberal Democratic Party (Turkish: Liberal Demokrat Parti), a classical liberal party, was founded in 1994. It received very few votes in every election it participated in. (Main article: Liberalism in Turkey).
United Kingdom: liberalism is now represented mainly by the Liberal Democrats (member LI and ALDE), formed in 1988 from a merger of the Liberal Party formed in 1859 and the Social Democratic Party formed in 1981. The Liberal Democrats, which has over 3,000 councillors and 72 Members of Parliament, were the junior party in a governing coalition with the Conservative Party in 2010–2015. The Liberal Party was re-founded in 1989 and has several councillors in Britain, but no parliamentary representation.
Australia: the Liberal Party of Australia is considered to be centre-right, and largely the bastion of liberalism in Australia. Within the Liberal Party, there is a fusion of liberal and conservative views, a tradition which began by the party's predecessors in the early 20th century. The fusion has led to the party having a big tent membership, bound by an anti-Labor position. Many would argue that this party is a classical liberal party and that the perception of what liberalism is has changed, not the Liberal Party (which promotes the free market approach). Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, a member of the Liberal Party, said that his party is "not a conservative party". The term small-l liberal generally refers to someone who champions civil liberties and progressive causes such as reconciliation with Indigenous Australians. These views are represented strongly within the broad Liberal Party, as well as in parties such as the Australian Democrats, which began its life as a group of social-liberals disaffected with the Liberal Party. The Libertarian Party is a classical liberal and libertarian party. (Main article: Liberalism in Australia).
New Zealand: there is no longer a pure liberal party, as in the past the Liberal Party was the first organised political party, and the Liberal Government from 1891 to 1912 was responsible for many reforms. Similarly to Australia, this party merged with more conservative and free market forces to form the National Party of New Zealand, in order to oppose the advancement of the democratic socialist New Zealand Labour Party. Liberalism nowadays refers to a support for individual liberties and limited government. The term is generally used with a reference to a particular policy area, e.g. "market liberalism" or "social liberalism". Unqualified liberalism is less common; in its extreme form it is known by the American term libertarianism. The left of centre New Zealand Democratic Party took a more or less progressive liberal position in the spectrum, but lost popular support. ACT New Zealand is a classical liberal or libertarian party. (Main article: Liberalism in New Zealand).
