To provide Yale with a non-partisan forum for parliamentary debate and to encourage the discussion of matters of public interest by other suitable means[1]
The Yale Political Union (YPU) is a debate society at Yale University, founded in 1934 by Alfred Whitney Griswold. It was modeled on the Cambridge Union and Oxford Union and the party system of the defunct Yale Unions of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which were in turn inspired by the great literary debating societies of Linonia and Brothers in Unity. Members of the YPU have reciprocal rights at sister societies in England.[2]
The union is an umbrella organization that currently contains seven parties: the Party of the Left (PoL), the Progressive Party (Progs), the Independent Party (IP), the Federalist Party (Feds), the Conservative Party (CP), the Tory Party (Tories), and the Party of the Right (PoR).[3][4][5]
History
This Union can be of undoubted value to nation and to the University, provided it maintains independence and voices the true thoughts of those participating...honest debates will help in the search for truthful answers. — Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1935[6]
Founded in 1934, the Yale Political Union originally had three parties: the Liberal Party, the Radical Party, and the Conservative Party. It has seen the rise and fall of others since. The Radical Party reorganized into the Labor Party in 1937, but it has since become entirely defunct. In 1953, the Party of the Right was founded, contributing to a shift in the union's political landscape, and in 1969, the Tory Party emerged out of the Party of the Right, focusing on traditionalist conservatism.[7][8] The Liberal Party changed its name to the Socialist Party in 2019, subsequently left the union in 2020 and has since become defunct.[9][10] The Progressive Party was founded in 1962, dissolved in the 2000s, and was reconstructed in 2020.[11] The Conservative Party renamed itself the Independent Party in 1977. The modern Conservative Party, established in 1996, considers itself a reconstitution of the original Conservative Party.[12] There remains debate over which party—the Independent Party or the modern Conservative Party—holds the true legacy of the original Conservative Party, with both claiming alumni from the pre-1977 era.[4] 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.[citation needed]
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 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 D.C. 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.[citation needed]
In the early 1990s, membership reached another high point, but it then fell again, as a series of new political organizations on campus diverted politically active Yalies.[4] 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.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed]
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.[13] 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. Now, the Independent Party is consistently the largest party in the Political Union. Although membership remains roughly 30% of its last peak in the late 1980s, the Political Union remains one of the largest undergraduate organizations at Yale, with approximately 325 members.[citation needed]
Although the union has fluctuated in its influence over the years, membership has generally been in decline since the 1980s. This is the result of the increase in outside political and activist groups that compete with the union for members. In addition, the intellectual rigor of the debates is generally considered to have decreased.[14] Concerns have been raised about the union's relevance and effectiveness, pointing to declining guest quality and diminishing student engagement. However, defenders argue that the union's core mission of fostering open political dialogue remains vital in an ever-evolving campus landscape.[15][16]
John Watson Lungstrum (party chair, fall 1964 and spring 1965; speaker, fall 1966), judge for the United States District Court for the District of Kansas
Edwin Meese (party chair, spring 1951; YPU president, fall 1951), United States Attorney General
George Pataki (party chair, fall 1965), Governor of New York
The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies (FedSoc) is an American conservative and libertarian legal organization that advocates for a textualist and originalist interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., it has chapters at more than 200 law schools and features student, lawyer, and faculty divisions; the lawyers division comprises more than 70,000 practicing attorneys in ninety cities. Through speaking events, lectures, and other activities, it provides a forum for legal experts of opposing conservative views to interact with members of the legal profession, the judiciary, and the legal academy. It is one of the most influential legal organizations in the United States.
The Bruges Group is a think tank based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1989, it advocates for a restructuring of Britain's relationship with the European Union and other European countries. Its members and staff campaign against the notion of an "ever-closer union" in Europe and, above all, against British involvement in a single European state. The group is often associated with the Conservative Party, including MPs such as Iain Duncan Smith, Daniel Hannan, John Redwood, and Norman Lamont. However, it is formally an independent all-party think tank, and some Labour MPs and peers have cited the publications or attended the meetings of the Bruges Group through the years, such as Frank Field, Gisela Stuart, Lord Stoddart of Swindon and Lord Shore of Stepney.
Conservative Future (CF) was the youth movement of the Conservative Party in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The organisation was made up of all members of the Conservative Party who were 30 years old or younger.
The Ohio Democratic Party (ODP) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Ohio. Summit County Council President Elizabeth Walters has been the party's chairwoman since January 2021.
David Martin McIntosh is an American attorney and Republican Party politician who served as the U.S. representative for Indiana's 2nd congressional district from 1995 to 2001. He is a co-founder of two conservative political groups, The Federalist Society and The Club for Growth.
Sir Charles Ashley Rupert Walker is a British politician who served as chair of the House of Commons Procedure Committee from 2012 to 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, he was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Broxbourne in Hertfordshire from 2005 to 2024.
The American Constitution Society (ACS) is a progressive legal organization. ACS was created as a counterweight to, and is modeled after, the Federalist Society, and is often described as its progressive counterpart.
The Phi Kappa Literary Society is a college literary society, located at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, and is one of the few active literary societies left in America. Originally founded in 1820, the society has disbanded several times and was and most recently refounded in 1991, remaining active since. It continues to hold regular meetings at Phi Kappa Hall on the University of Georgia's North Campus. The Phi Kappa Literary Society holds formal debates and a forum for creative writings and orations as well as poetry.
Peter Douglas Keisler is an American lawyer whose 2006 nomination by President George W. Bush to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit became embroiled in partisan controversy. He is a partner at the firm of Sidley Austin in Washington, D.C., and used to be the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Civil Division at the U.S. Department of Justice. Upon the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, until November 9, 2007, he was also the Acting Attorney General of the United States.
In a governmental system, a party leader acts as the official representative of their political party, either to a legislature or to the electorate. Depending on the country, the individual colloquially referred to as the "leader" of a political party may officially be party chair, secretary, or the highest political office.
The Philodemic Society is a student debating society at Georgetown University founded in 1830 by Father James Ryder, S.J. The Philodemic is among the oldest such societies in the United States, and is the oldest secular student organization at Georgetown. The society's motto, "Eloquentiam Libertati Devinctam" reminds its members that they are pursuing Eloquence in Defense of Liberty.
The European Movement UK is an independent all-party pressure group in the United Kingdom which campaigns for a close relationship with the European Union, and to ensure that European values, standards, and rights are upheld in British law post-Brexit. It is part of the European Movement International which is a pan-European network of national and pan-European organisations that seeks to promote new ideas about the future of Europe. It is the most prominent pro-Europe group in Britain.
The Conservative Science & Technology Forum is a United Kingdom think tank and policy advisory body that consults industry, academia and other key figures on important technological and societal issues and puts these into mainstream political context.
The European Conservatives and Reformists Group is a soft Eurosceptic, anti-federalist political group of the European Parliament. The ECR is the parliamentary group of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party European political party, but also includes MEPs from other European parties and MEPs without European party affiliation.
The Yale Debate Association (YDA) is Yale University's only competitive intercollegiate debate team. Founded in 1908, it is the most prolific winner of the American Parliamentary Debate Association's Club of the Year award. The YDA was also the first American team to win and have the top speaker at the modern World Championships. Currently, the YDA is the fourth-ranked collegiate debate society in the world, and as of January 2024, the highest ranked in North America.
The Calliopean Society, also known as the Fraternity of Phi Epsilon Mu, is a literary and debating society at Yale College founded in 1819, disbanded in 1853, and revived in 1950. Its name refers to Calliope, chief of the muses and muse of epic poetry, daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne (memory).
Elizabeth Lee "Lisa" Branch is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. She was a judge of the Georgia Court of Appeals from 2012 to 2018.
James Chiun-Yue Ho is a Taiwanese-born American lawyer and jurist serving since 2018 as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He was appointed by President Donald Trump, becoming the Fifth Circuit's only Asian-American judge and the only judge to be an immigrant.
↑ "TWO YALE GROUPS TURN TO POLITICS; New Union's Plan to Train an Intelligent Minority for Leadership Is Approved", The New York Times, December 9, 1934.
↑ "Parties". ypu.sites.yale.edu. Retrieved July 5, 2024.
1 2 3 "Can the YPU bring back its glory days?" The Yale Herald, September 9, 2005 Vol. XL, No. 2.
↑ "Party of the Left seeks to leave no leftist behind" The Yale Herald, March 31, 2006 Vol. XLI, No. 10.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
