Wikipedia:Naming conventions (political parties)

Convention: For articles on organizations (like political parties) the general rule applies. That means: Name your pages with the English translation and place the original native name on the first line of the article.

Exceptions

Exceptions to this rule are (note that many parties fit into more than one category):

1. Countries in which English is (at least partially) used in national media. Examples of this are countries like India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, UK, Ireland, Canada, etc. In such cases the name used in national media is prefered. Thus Bangladesh Nationalist Party is named in English (as opposed to its Bangla name Bangladesher Jatiyobadi Dal) whilst Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh is not translated (since 'Islamic Assembly of Bangladesh' is never used in any English-language newsmedia, neither in Bangladesh nor outside the country). For Quebec parties, French names are to be used since they are generally not translated into English in Canadian English-language newsmedia.

2. Names of parties and organizations which are commonly used in their native form in international newsmedia. Prominent examples are many Israeli political parties, like Likud and Kadima.

3. Parties whose name is more commonly known by acronyms than their full name in international newsmedia. For example, Fatah is a far more known name than Palestinian National Liberation Movement. A similar example is Golkar.

4. Parties whose names are always kept in one language in a multilingual country. In Spain, the name of some Basque parties (Aralar, Herri Batasuna, Eusko Alkartasuna) are never translated into Spanish (or Catalan, Galician, etc.), and should thus not be translated into English. The name of the Basque Nationalist Party is however translated into both Spanish and Basque, and thus can also be translated into English. A similiar example could be Greenlandic parties, whose names are not translated into Danish in Danish newsmedia.

5. Parties whose name make no sense if translated into English. ¡Alfaro Vive, Carajo! does make some sense in Spanish, but the name 'Alfaro Lives, Dammit!' doesn't make much sense at all in English. Likewise parties whose accronym have a meaning in the original language but not in English. MIGATO ('My cat') is an indirect reference to the nick-name of the party leader, a connotation lost if translated.

6. Parties whose names are composites of different languages. Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party contains both English and Urdu elements, and if translated that composition is lost.

These guidelines are not always completely clearcut. Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna is sometimes translated into English as 'People's Liberation Front', but that is very uncommon. In such cases a redirect can be created from the less commonly used name to the more commonly used one.

Disambiguating name use

If more than one party has an identical name, there are several ways to disambiguate the usage. If two parties from different countries have identical names, then the name of the country could be put into a bracket (like Socialist Party (France) and Socialist Party (Argentina)). If two parties in the same country have identical names then they could be differentiated by year of foundation, like Communist Party of Sweden (1924) and Communist Party of Sweden (1995). If necessary, there could be a combition of both, first country and then year of foundation. Example Socialist Party (Sweden, 1929) and Socialist Party (Sweden, 1971). In some cases political parties can be differentiated by the name of their party leader, like Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (Mahadev Mukherjee) and Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (Kanu Sanyal). More subjective descriptions, like adding political epithets which are actually not used in newsmedia should be avoided as it would create confusion over the actual name of the party. If the hypotetically existing Social Democratic Party of Upper Ingolia would split into two, wikipedians should not add bracketted comments like '(radical)', '(democratic)', '(moderate)', etc. as such additions would depend largely upon the subjective perception of the wikipedians themselves.

Generally, if one can differentiate between the original inventor of a party name and later inheritors, then the original party could be named without disambiguating brackets. However, if a later party is considerably more notable than the original one then that party could own the name without clarifying brackets.

Translation of party names

The general rule is that English translations of party name ought to be used in the name of an article. But in many cases a variety of translations are possible. In some cases guidance can be taken from websites of a party or organization, or from promotional material of the party in question.

In the case of most parties of non-English speaking countries no well-established naming convention is present in international English-language newsmedia. The party name ought to be translated into English with the generical meaning intact, even if such a translation is different from the English-language name presented at the website of the party. Translations imported from party websites should only be used in cases were the generic meaning remains unchanged (like whether to use 'Labour' or 'Labor', 'Popular' or 'People's', etc.).

Labour Parties, etc.

Romance languages

There are a variety of political party names with similar generic meanings (Labour party, Workers Party, etc.). The usage, however, often carries a clear political connotation. In regards to Latin languages, the following scheme should be used (examples given in Spanish, but similar usage can be found in other Latin languages as well):

• Partido Obrero - Labour Party
• Partido de los Trabajadores - Workers Party
• Partido del Trabajo - Party of Labour
• Partido Socialista de los Trabajadores - Socialist Workers Party
• Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores - Workers Revolutionary Party
• Partido Obrero Revolucionario - Revolutionary Workers Party

Some comments concerning this scheme:

• Parties called 'Labour Party' in English (like the British, Israeli, Norwegian, etc.) are often translated as 'Partido Laborista' in Spanish newspapers and litterature.

• In the case of PST/SWP, POR/RWP and PRT/WRP these are names commonly associated with the Trotskyist tradition. In all cases groups exists using these names both in the English-speaking and Spanish-speaking worlds. It is clear that the usage of names correspond to international naming convention within that political movement. Of course, PST could literally mean 'Workers Socialist Party', but such usage is absent in the English-speaking world.

• In the case of 'Party of Labour', this is a naming often associated with the communist tradition. It is a name that appeared in several countries simultaneously after WWII. It carries a somewhat different generic meaning than the naming 'Labour Party', commonly associated with the Social Democratic tradition.

Arabic and Middle Eastern languages

When translation from Arabic, the word عمل, when used in names of political movements is sometimes translated as 'Action' whereas its often translated as 'Labour'. If there is any official translation to any other language shedding light on how the party presents the meaning of the name, that translation should be preferred.

The Arabic word الشغّيلة and Persian/Kurdish زحمتکشان should be translated as 'Toilers', although one may come across websites using translations like 'Workers' or 'Labourers'.

When translating Turkish names 'Emek' should be translated as 'Labour' whereas 'İşçi' should be translated as 'Workers'.