No Party Affiliation
In politics, an independent or nonpartisan politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent.
Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties. Sometimes they hold a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do not feel that any major party addresses.
Other independent politicians may be associated with a political party, be former members of it, or have views that align with it, but choose not to stand under its label. Others may belong to or support a political party but believe they should not formally represent it and thus be subject to its policies.
Some independents choose to form an alliance rather than a party and have formally registered their "independents" group.
In some countries (for example, Kuwait) political parties are illegal and all candidates effectively stand as independents.
Finally, some independent candidates may form a political party for the purposes of running for public office.
Read more about No Party Affiliation: Australia, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Malaysia, New Zealand, Niue, Poland, Philippines, Russia, United Kingdom, Yugoslavia, See Also, Notes and References
Famous quotes containing the words party and/or affiliation:
“At the moment when a man openly makes known his difference of opinion from a well-known party leader, the whole world thinks that he must be angry with the latter. Sometimes, however, he is just on the point of ceasing to be angry with him. He ventures to put himself on the same plane as his opponent, and is free from the tortures of suppressed envy.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“Men seem more bound to the wheel of success than women do. That women are trained to get satisfaction from affiliation rather than achievement has tended to keep them from great achievement. But it has also freed them from unreasonable expectations about the satisfactions that professional achievement brings.”
—Phyllis Rose (b. 1942)