European Democratic and Social Rally group

European Democratic and Social Rally group Groupe du Rassemblement démocratique et social européen
Chamber	Senate
Previous name(s)	Democratic Left group (1959–89) Groupe de la Gauche démocratique Democratic and European Rally group (1989–95) Groupe du Rassemblement démocratique et européen
Member parties	PRG
President	Gilbert Barbier
Representation	16 / 348
Ideology	Radicalism
Website	http://www.rdse-senat.fr/

The European Democratic and Social Rally group (French: groupe du Rassemblement démocratique et social européen, abbreviated RDSE), formerly the Democratic and European Rally group (French: groupe du Rassemblement démocratique et européen), is a parliamentary group in the Senate including representatives of the Radical Party of the Left (PRG) that historically consisted of radicals of both the left and right. Before 1989, the group was known as the Democratic Left group (French: groupe de la Gauche démocratique).

The Democratic Left group in the Senate of the Third Republic was founded on 26 October 1891 in a meeting of some forty senators organized by Émile Combes during which Arthur Ranc was elected its first president. It is often considered "the first effort of unification of the radicals which will end in 1901 with the formation of the Radical Party", which was officially founded as the Republican, Radical and Radical-Socialist Party, the group uniting the radicals of the upper chamber even before the establishment of a political party. In 1907, the group adopted the denomination of the Democratic, Radical, and Radical-Socialist Left group (groupe de la Gauche démocratique radicale et radicale-socialiste), and rapidly became the majority group in the Senate, with 166 members by 1912. After the formal recognition of parliamentary groups in the Senate in 1921, the group consisted of 158 members following the renewal, and was presided over by Gaston Doumergue.

The group remained dominant through the end of the Third Republic, with 164 members under Jean-Baptiste Bienvenu-Martin following the 1924 renewal, 146 members after the 1927 renewal, 150 members after the 1929 renewal, 167 members after the 1932 renewal, 164 members after the 1935 renewal, and 151 members after the 1938 renewal. The group was highly influential in the politics of the Third Republic, defending the fundamental freedoms – freedom of expression, freedom of the press, and freedom of association – and produced a number of prominent political personalities, including Georges Clémenceau, Léon Bourgeois, Edouard Herriot, Gaston Doumergue, Joseph Caillaux, Albert Sarraut, and Henri Queuille, as well as four of the six senators who went on to become presidents of the Third Republic (Emile Loubet, Armand Fallières, Gaston Doumergue, and Paul Doumer).