Created By: Jay P. Hailey (and political tradition)
Number of Members: Several million
Nature of Members: Politically active citizens of the Federation who agree with the Conservative's platforms.
Organization: Distributed base with a hierarchical structure culminating in the UFP Conservative Party Board of Directors, and high office holders.
Game Role: To provide a viable pro-militaristic and pro-confrontational opinion in the Federation's political structure. Reference the Republican attitude towards the Eastern block in the 1980's
World Role: A political party, to allow collective action by people of similar political philosophies to get their way.
Relative Influence: Large, they are competitive for the top posts in the Federation and there by influence politics and stellar relations across known space.
Public or Secret?: Very public
Publicly Stated Goal: To increase the security of the Federation, and enhance it's relative economic and industrial strength compared to other powers in the region.
Relative Wealth: Large, they can afford large scale publicity, starship tours, and such like stunts.
Group advantages: Large money, large influence, large favors.
Contacts: Anyone in a wide Political spectrum. High ranking members of the conservative party
Special Abilities: Since the Conservatives are strong supporters of Starfleet and often generous with the purse strings when in office they have contacts within Starfleet and often know things that that have not been publicly released yet.
Group disadvantages: As a very public group if any of their members mess up it tends to stick to others. In times of peace they tend to be the opposition party.
Special Disadvantages: Often the goals of this group can seem limited to winning the next set of elections. They have a hard time taking a broader view, depending on old statesmen and party personalities to do this for them.
Who belongs: Anyone who agrees with the conservative platform, and votes that way. Supporters who are active in their community, candidates and office holders who run under the conservative banner.
Those who favor them: Hawks, people who see Galactic relations as a large rough and tumble game. People who see the "gentlebeing" head as too "touchy-feely" to be realistic.
Those opposed to them: The Federation progressive party is their institutional opposition, although more extreme fringe parties actively hate them.
Area of Operation: The United Federation of Planets.
Headquarters Location: None. Specifically, although the Terran Conservative Party is the strongest and handles outreach and networking between other branches of the party.
Public Face: People favoring a strong, competitive Federation.
Notable Members: Harve Bennett, founder and early proponent of conservative values. It is rumored and widely held as true that James T. Kirk voted conservative, although this can not be verified. James T. Kirk voted by secret ballot!
Adm. Robert Leyton (Retired) Current representative of Earth to the Federation Council, considered the "great white hope" of the Conservative party to break long standing Progressive strangle holds on the Presidency.
Kyle Riker, North American Union representative, king maker and pundit for the Conservative Party.
History of the Group: Formed in the wake of the foundation of the Federation, this party advocated a strong, active defense and an aggressive economic policy. This party languished somewhat in the time following the Romulan War when it was felt that space war was
hopefully a thing of the past. They experienced a large revival when the Klingons were encountered, and grew more hawk like until the 2290's when the public tired of the threat of war and supported the Progressive sponsored Khitomer Peace Accords.
       The balance of political power has shifted several times usually with the conservatives on the smaller side of it, playing opposition party and providing a counter point to the progressive point of view until war threatened.
       The Constitution class starship project was a Progressive sponsored initiative, the Saladin class Destroyers and federation class dreadnoughts, based on the technology base of the Constitution were Conservative reponses to this.
       The Galaxy Class Starship project is a Progressive statement about what Starfleet Should be. The accompanying New Orleans class frigates were the Conservative response. The new perimeter response classes of ships (the Akira, Norway, saber, Steamrunner, Sovereign etc classes) are the Conservative view of Starfleet. The Intrepid class is the Progressive response.
       The Progressive and Conservative parties are not the only parties in the UFP, which I see as borrowing more from the parliamentary style of government. But they are the 800 pound gorillas of Federation politics.

Garry's Notes:    I don't see monolithic political parties that span the Federation, mainly because politics is local. However the attitude of the Conservative Party as presented does represent an attitude within the Federation Council and on various Federation Worlds. I do not see the Federation as a big country. Rather I see the Federation as something different.
       The Federation is a meta government. It is a body that handles relations between states that agree to have said relations so handled. It is not a projection of the Nation State, the Untied States writ large with the planets standing in for the states of the Union. The Federation is not a Federal organization.
       It is something new. It's an interstellar club. If I join a club, and I am a member of several, that club has a charter that defines what the club is about, and the limits of the club. The Federation has such a charter.
       A Club may hold property in common for the use of the club. The Federation sponsors colonies and has Starfleet.
       A club has no call on your time or money outside of what you have agreed on. This is so with the Federation. It doesn't involve itself in internal affairs of any Planet or multi-planet union that is a member.
       You can quit a club at any time. No member will be held within the Federation.
       If you fail to meet the requirements of club membership, you can be asked to leave the club. Same with the Federation.
       Like a club the limits of the Federation are strictly defined.
       I take this further than Jay does. I don't have general elections for Federation president. The President is elected by the Council. "President" means you chair the council. It is a position of some responsibility and prestige, but is is not the political equivalent of POTUS. More like president of the intergalactic Rotary Club.
       Joe Federation doesn't even consider himself "Joe Federation". He is Joe Earth, or Joe Vulcan, or Joe Teller. Joe Federation is not likely to ever come in contact with anyone that is a direct agent of the Federation.
       Tip O'Neil said, "All politics are local." I take that to heart.