The Democratic Party of South Tyrol is a minor regionalist

Regionalism (politics)

Regionalism is a term used in international relations. Regionalism also constitutes one of the three constituents of the international commercial system...

 liberal

Liberalism

Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...

, green

Green politics

Green politics is a political ideology that aims for the creation of an ecologically sustainable society rooted in environmentalism, social liberalism, and grassroots democracy...

 and social-democratic

Social democracy

Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...

 political party active in South Tyrol

South Tyrol

South Tyrol , also known by its Italian name Alto Adige, is an autonomous province in northern Italy. It is one of the two autonomous provinces that make up the autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. The province has an area of and a total population of more than 500,000 inhabitants...

.

The party was founded in 1997, as a continuation of the Social Democratic Party of South Tyrol

Social Democratic Party of South Tyrol

The Social Democratic Party of South Tyrol was a regionalist social-democratic and hard-line German-speaking political party active in South Tyrol, Italy....

, and was led by Roland Girardi. For the 1998 provincial election

Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol regional election, 1998

The Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol regional election of 1998 took place on 22 November 1998.The South Tyrolean People's Party and the Daisy Civic List resulted the two most voted parties at the regional level. The SVP retained its outright majority in South Tyrol, while the Civica became the...

 DPS formed a joint list with the Ladins Political Movement

Ladins Political Movement

The Ladins Political Movement is a minor regionalist political party representing the Ladin minority in South Tyrol....

, while five years later they supported the Greens

Greens (Province of Bolzano-Bozen)

The Greens are a green and social-democratic Italian political party active in the South Tyrol.They are the provincial section of the Italian Federation of the Greens, although being much more moderate and mainstream...

. As of 2008 most of its members have joined the Greens and thus the future of the party is unclear.