Confederate political parties

[Statilius the Epicurean]

There would probably be a (con)federalist pro-tariff mercantile party, and a states rights anti-industrial planter party. Kind of like a continuation of Cotton Whigs vs Jacksonian Democrats mixed with Federalist/Republican (or more Federales/Unitarios like in 19th century Argentina) debates over centralisation of the government, which would be necessary for the CSA to survive in the long term. One party would be isolationist/pro-British and another more pro-French and slavery expansionist in Mexico and possibly Cuba.

[Statilius the Epicurean]

I doubt the Confederacy would have been real democracy, slavery and democracy are incompatible

Tbf the initial Athenian democracy was built on slavery.

And Roman.

The Roman Republic was an oligarchy, not a democracy.

[Statilius the Epicurean]

Aren't most states that call themselves democracies by fact oligarchies? Philosophical question.

Just going by Plato-Aristotle-Polybius' definitions of constitutions. The Senate held day-to-day power and was made up of ex-magistrates that were themselves elected by an aristocratic assembly.    

I don't know what Aristotle would call today's representative democracies. Probably categorise them as moderate democracy.

I get there's the whole patrician vs. plebeian discussion, but we have patrician vs. plebeian separations in all of the western world today even if it's not codified in law.

Patrician/plebeian wasn't really a meaningful distinction by the late Republic. Plenty of wealthy plebeian families had forced their way into the Senatorial class by then.