Yale Political Union

Parties

The Union is an umbrella organization that currently contains seven Parties: the Liberal Party (Lib), the Party of the Left (PoL), the Independent Party (IP), the Federalist Party (Fed), the Conservative Party (CP), the Tory Party (Tory), and the Party of the Right (POR). These parties are independent debating societies that host their own debates and activities apart from Union activities, though members will come together for weekly Union debates. The Parties are traditionally listed in the order above.

In the past, the Political Union has had other Parties, including a Radical Party, a Bull Moose Party, a Constitutional Union Party, a Labor Party, a Liberal Democrat Party, a Progressive Party, and a group called the "Third Force", but not concurrently. The minimum number of parties has been two, the maximum seven, while four is typical.

Though party size and membership varies greatly over the decades, the Independent Party has consistently been the largest party in the Union for a decade. In recent semesters, the Party of the Left, the Party of the Right, and the Tory Party have each had their turn as the second largest party. The other parties have been comparatively smaller but always met the minimum voting requirement (25 active members).

The Liberal Party

The Liberal Party is one of the three founding constituent parties of the Yale Political Union. The Liberals don’t use parliamentary procedure or dress up for their weekly discussions.

The Party of the Left

The Party of the Left (PoL) was formed in the spring of 2006 by a group of left-leaning students who were looking for more formal philosophical debate on the Left of the Union, emphasizing a synthesis of first principles and policy. PoL debates are more formal than Liberal Party discussions, as they are conducted following parliamentary procedure.

The Independent Party

The Independent Party (IP) covers nearly the entire political spectrum, in accordance with its motto, "Hear All Sides." The IP is one of the founding parties of the YPU and the oldest continuously existing party in the Union. Originally named the Conservative Party, it officially switched to its current name in the 1970s. It has been the largest Party in the Union since 2002. The Party debates policy as well as philosophy and generally adheres to parliamentary procedure.

The Federalist Party

The Federalist Party is the youngest Party in the Union, founded in 2010. It is a group of conservatives that seeks, according to its charter, "to resist the errors of the age and to promote...the tempering of taste, the ennoblement of custom, the correction of judgment, the cultivation of virtue, and the perfection of friendship." It is particularly interested in understanding the institutions—social, economic, religious, and political—essential to preserving the United States and its foundational virtues.

The Conservative Party

The Conservative Party is dedicated to the production of principled and profound leaders. It recognizes the rights and privileges of members and officers of the Conservative Party prior to 1977, though no party by its name existed from 1982 to 1996, when the contemporary Conservative Party was formed. It considers ideas important and logic, practicality, and pragmatism essential. It seeks guidance from the lessons of history, especially from Western civilization.

The Tory Party

The Tory Party calls itself the party of reasoned conservatism at Yale. The Party was founded in 1969 and is known for its alumni network, a strong tendency towards a British aesthetic, and a fondness for speeches delivered with wit and levity.

The Party of the Right

The Party of the Right (POR) is the oldest political Party on the Right of the Yale Political Union. The Party of the Right was founded in 1953 by members of the Union who believed there needed to be a stronger, more intellectually rigorous voice of conservatism within the Union. The POR has been described by the Yale Herald as "at once flamboyant, intellectually elitist, aggressive, mischievously subversive, eccentric, and maniacally eager to challenge anyone and everyone."

The Party of the Right is distinguished from other parties in the Union for the intensity of its debates and the convictions of its members. Whereas most parties' debates end after three hours, the Party of the Right typically debates for five or six. Members pride themselves on being willing to defend conservatism and more radical Rightist beliefs amidst a predominantly liberal and leftist campus. The dominant ideological discourse of the Party of the Right typically strikes a balance between libertarianism and traditionalism. Nevertheless, its membership represents a diverse range of political and philosophical beliefs: members often say of the Party, "We care not what you think, only that you think."

History

Founded in 1934, the Yale Political Union originally had three parties: the Liberal Party, the Radical Party (reorganized as the Labor Party in 1937 - now defunct), and the Conservative Party. It has seen the rise and fall of others since. Over the years, the Union has played a key role on Yale's campus. It has had periods of flourishing, as well as less prosperous spells. Once the only organization devoted to political debate on campus, it remains a primary forum for oratory and political dialogue.

Although the Union has fluctuated in its influence over the years, many claim that the Union is not as influential as it once was. Members note that this is the result of several factors. Many believe that it is simply one of the effects of Yale's metamorphosis from Old Yale into the vibrant modern Yale of the 21st century, which has notably included the rise of activism on campus. Eventually, Union debate came to be a combination of a keynote speaker and ensuing student speeches. This push and pull between outside speakers and student debate has characterized the Union for at least thirty years.

The YPU regained strength throughout the 1970s, during which period the Liberal Party was by far the largest, but then suffered a severe blow shortly after A. Bartlett Giamatti became the Yale President. Giamatti, violating numerous agreements and covenants established with the Union, "repurposed" the YPU building/debate hall. Today, it is used for office space and storage.

After several years of rebuilding, the Union recovered its numerical strength. This recovery moved into rapid gear during Spring term of 1984 (under the presidency of Fareed Zakaria) when membership tripled to 900 during a term highlighted by a nationally televised debate. By the end of 1987, under the presidency of 100th president William Leake, active membership rolls comprised over 1,200 members, nearly 1/4 of the entire student body at Yale, and the YPU successfully launched a Model Congress, a magazine, an annual three-day visit to Washington DC (for meetings with Cabinet Members, Supreme Court Justices, IMF and World Bank heads, foreign Ambassadors and the Director of the National Gallery of Art), and an on-topic debate team (which sent two union members overseas to the world debate championships). Then, the one-vote failure of an attempt to acquire the financially significantly stronger Yale International Relations (Model UN) program at Yale in Spring 1987 (which would have made for a political powerhouse on campus), and the earlier 1980s loss of the YPU's dedicated facilities slowed momentum, and membership declined after a poor recruit in the fall of 1988.

In the early 1990s, membership reached its overall peak. It then fell again, as a series of new political organizations on campus diverted politically active Yalies. Though smaller, the parties were relatively stronger and tighter institutions during this period. Most have remained intimate organizations, though with somewhat larger membership, to the current day.

One of the few enduring YPU spinoff publications, Rumpus Magazine, was founded by members of the Progressive and Tory Parties in 1992. For the first 3–4 years of its publication, Rumpus remained closely linked to the YPU. One of the more sordid scandals of the period, involving a member who misappropriated the YPU's long-distance phone access number for calls to a racy 1-900 number from his senior single, was broken by Rumpus in the Fall of 1994.

As more and more Yale undergraduate organizations were founded, the YPU lost its offices under Bingham Hall. It managed to retain its small office on Crown Street, where it currently resides, although the Union has recently begun a capital campaign to raise funds for a new building. During its various moves, irreplaceable historical archives were lost, although the YPU's collection of paraphernalia signed by noteworthy public figures is sizable. The YPU hit a low point in membership in the late 1990s. The YPU President, an Independent Party member, was impeached in the Fall of 1997, leading to the near collapse of the Independent Party. The effects of this crisis took some time to reverse, though by 2001 the Independent Party was largely restored and began a period of significant growth. Although membership remains roughly 30% of its last peak in the 1990s, the Political Union is the largest undergraduate organization at Yale, with approximately 325 members (as of the end of 2007).

Notable alumni

Notable alumni of the YPU include:

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