1991–1996 The party grew out of the Independent Members of Parliament Caucus (IMPC), known as "the club", of the
National Assembly of Republika Srpska (NSRS) in 1996. The club was in opposition to the
Serb Democratic Party (SDS) during the
Bosnian War (1992–96). The IMPC was established from the caucus of
ethnic Serb members of the Parliament of the
Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina elected in 1990 from the election list of the
Union of Reform Forces. The Serb members of the Parliament of
SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, the majority of the
Serb Democratic Party (SDS), including the members of the IMPC, established the Assembly of the Serb People of Bosnia and Herzegovina on 24 October 1991 (later renamed National Assembly of the Republika Srpska), following the majority of the parliament (mostly
Croats and
Bosniaks) approved the "Memorandum on Sovereignty" on 15 October 1991. In 1992, the Bosnian parliament held
an independence referendum which led to the declaration of the
Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. has been the party's president since its foundation in 1996 The absolute majority of the newly founded NSRS was from the SDS. The IMPC was the only parliamentary opposition from the founding of the National Assembly through the first post-war
elections in September 1996. The Party of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) participated in the elections in the "Union for Peace and Progress" coalition along with the
Socialist Party of RS (SPRS) and a minor party. The club and later party (SNSD) was chaired by Milorad Dodik.
1997–2004 By the time of the next local elections in 1997, about twenty municipal committees had been formed. It ran independently in 24 municipalities of the Republic of Srpska, mainly in Krajina and Posavina. In 1997, there was a split in the Serb Democratic Party, in which
Biljana Plavšić, the president of Repubika Srpska left the party following internal clashes. The People’s Assembly of Republika Srpska was dissolved. Parliamentary elections were held simultaneously with local elections. The Party of Independent Social Democrats received twice as much support compared to the previous elections just a year earlier. In the party's early years it was active in the "Sloga" (
unity) coalition with Plavšić's
Serb National Alliance and the
Socialist Party, whose leader at the time was
Živko Radišić. In 1998, another parliamentary election was held. In the elections for the People’s Assembly of Republika Srpska, the Party of Independent Social Democrats won 6 parliamentary seats. In the General Elections of 2010, the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats repeated their good result from 2006, and at all levels defeated the united opposition in the coalition Zajedno za Srpska (Serb Democratic Party-Party of Democratic Progress-Serb Radical Party of Republic of Srpska). The joint candidate of the "Alliance of Independent Social Democrats-Democratic People's Alliance-Socialist Party" coalition for the Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nebojša Radmanović, received 295,629 votes, i.e. 48.92% of the total number of valid votes. The most significant opponent, the candidate of the Zajedno za Srpska coalition,
Mladen Ivanić, received 285,951 votes, or 47.31% of valid votes. A large number of invalid ballots, and a small difference between the two most important candidates, resulted in a complaint by Mladen Ivanić and his Party of Democratic Progress about irregularities during the counting of ballots. The Central Election Commission put an end to such doubts by recognizing the election results. Milorad Dodik, the candidate of the coalition "Alliance of Independent Social Democrats-Democratic People's Alliance-Socialist Party" for the president of Republika Srpska achieved a convincing victory, receiving the support of 50.52% of voters, i.e. 319,618 valid votes. In the elections for the People’s Assembly of the Republic of Srpska, the party won 38% of the valid votes cast (240,727 votes) and received 37 parliamentary mandates, which was enough for the party to preserve the parliamentary majority in the coalition with the Democratic People's Alliance and the Socialist Party. In the elections for the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the party in the Republic of Srpska won 43.30% of the votes or 8 representatives. The
2014 general elections saw the SNSD enter the race with a coalition of smaller parties; the Democratic People's Alliance and the Socialist Party. The SNSD became the main ruling party of Republika Srpska for the third consecutive time, gaining 29 seats in the Assembly with Dodik re-elected. After the
2018 general elections, for the Serb member of the Presidency, Dodik received a record number of votes, i.e. 368,210 votes or 53.88%, while candidate Alliance for Victory Mladen Ivanić received 292,065 or 42.74%. In the People’s Assembly of Republika Srpska, SNSD remained the strongest political entity with 218,201 (31.87%) votes and 28 seats. ==Ideology==