Christian democracy

For other uses, see Christian democracy (disambiguation).

Christian democracy (sometimes named Conservative democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism.

It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ideas and traditional Christian values, incorporating social justice and the social teachings espoused by the Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed, Pentecostal, and other denominational traditions of Christianity in various parts of the world.

After World War II, Catholic and Protestant movements of neo-scholasticism and the Social Gospel shaped Christian democracy.

Christian democracy is often considered center-right on cultural, social, and moral issues but center-left "with respect to economic and labor issues, civil rights, and foreign policy" and the environment. Christian democrats support a social market economy.

Worldwide, many Christian democratic parties are members of the Centrist Democrat International and some also of the International Democrat Union. Examples of major Christian democratic parties include the Spanish People's Party, the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, Ireland's Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, the Dutch Christian Democratic Appeal, the Mexican National Action Party, the Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland, the Austrian People's Party, the Christian Democratic Party of Chile, the Aruban People's Party, and a faction of the British Conservative Party.

Christian democracy continues to be influential in Europe and Latin America, although it is also present in other parts of the world. Many European Christian democratic parties are affiliated with the European People's Party. Compared to the pro-European EPP, those with Eurosceptic views may be members of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party. Many Christian democratic parties in the Americas are affiliated with the Christian Democrat Organization of America.

Political viewpoints

As a generalization, it can be said that Christian democratic parties in Europe tend to be moderately conservative and, in several cases, form the main conservative party in their respective countries (e.g., in Germany, Spain, Belgium, and Switzerland), such as the Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland, the Christian Social Party, the Evangelical People's Party of Switzerland and the Federal Democratic Union of Switzerland. By contrast, Christian democratic parties in Latin America tend to be left-leaning and, to some degree, influenced by liberation theology. Christian democracy includes elements common to other political ideologies, including conservatism, liberalism, and social democracy.

Christian democracy can trace its philosophical roots to Thomas Aquinas and his thoughts on Aristotelian ontology and the Christian tradition. According to Aquinas, human rights are based on natural law and are defined as the things humans need to function correctly. For example, food is a human right because, without food, humans cannot function properly. Christian Democratic initiatives based on its philosophy also have practical and political results in the movement's direction. Christian Democrats believe in the importance of intermediary organizations that operate between the individual and the state. Therefore, they support labor unions but, in many countries, organized Christian trade unions separate from socialist unions. These unions, in turn, formed the strong left wing of many CD parties. Christian democratic opposition to secularism and support of religious organizations as intermediary organizations led to support for church-operated schools, hospitals, charities, and even social insurance funds. This resulted in strong Christian Democratic support for the government (or mandatory payroll tax) social welfare funding of these institutions.

Modern authors critical to forming Christian democratic ideology include Emmanuel Mounier and Jacques Maritain. John Witte, explaining the origin of Christian democracy, states:

Both Protestant and Catholic parties inveighed against the reductionist extremes and social failures of liberal democracies and social democracies. Liberal democracies, they believed, had sacrificed the community for the individual; social democracies had sacrificed the individual for the community. Both parties returned to a traditional Christian teaching of "social pluralism" or "subsidiarity," which stressed the dependence and participation of the individual in family, church, school, business, and other associations. Both parties stressed the responsibility of the state to respect and protect the "individual in community."

Academics have noted a few ideas key to Christian Democracy, including, Personalism, Solidarity (or some variant of social capitalism), Popularism (or some variant on it's catch-all nature), and notions of "Pluralism", which in a vertical sense link to Subsidiarity, and in a horizontal sense link to Sphere Sovereignty.

Economics

Initially, many Catholic political movements in the 19th century opposed capitalism and socialism equally, as both were based on materialism and social conflict. They instead preferred the ideal of self-sufficient peasants and the guild-organized artisans that many Catholic encyclicals advocated. However, many of these movements had later reconciled themselves to capitalism as the prevailing economic system by 1914 while at the same time helping to organize Catholic workers and peasants within that system, as socialism came to be seen as the greater threat.

Consequently, this has led to the social market economy, widely influential across much of continental Europe. The social market is an essentially free market economy based on a free price system and private property. However, it supports government activity to promote competitive markets with a comprehensive social welfare system and effective public services to address social inequalities resulting from free market outcomes. The market is seen not as an end but as a means of generating wealth to achieve broader social goals and maintain societal cohesion. This model of capitalism, sometimes called Rhine–Alpine capitalism or social capitalism, is contrasted with Anglo-American capitalism or enterprise capitalism. Whereas the former is more likely to endorse unions and cooperations, the latter aims for fewer restrictions on the workings of market economics. As a consequence, there is a willingness on the part of Christian democratic parties to practice Keynesian and welfarist policies.

In recent decades, some right-leaning Christian democratic parties in Europe have adopted policies consistent with an economically liberal point of view but still support a regulated economy with a welfare state. By contrast, other Christian democrats sometimes seem to hold views similar to Christian socialism or the economic system of distributism. The promotion of the Christian democratic concepts of sphere sovereignty and subsidiarity led to the creation of corporatist welfare states throughout the world that continue to exist to this day. In keeping with the Christian Democratic concepts of the cultural mandate and the preferential option for the poor, Christian justice is viewed as demanding that the welfare of all people, especially the poor and vulnerable, must be protected because every human being has dignity, being made in the image of God. In many countries, Christian Democrats organized labor unions that competed with Communist and social democratic unions, in contrast to conservativism's stance against worker organizations. In solidarity with these labor unions, in Belgium, for example, Christian Democrats have lobbied for Sunday blue laws that guarantee workers and civil servants a day of rest in line with historic Christian Sabbath principles.

Social policies

Christian democrats are usually socially conservative and generally have a relatively skeptical stance towards abortion and same-sex marriage; although some Christian democratic parties have accepted the limited legalization of both; they advocate for a consistent life ethic with regard to their opposition to capital punishment and assisted suicide. Christian Democrats have also supported the prohibition of drugs. Christian democratic parties are often likely to assert their country's Christian and explicitly affirm Christian ethics rather than adopting a more liberal or secular stance; at the same time, Christian Democratic parties enshrine confessional liberty. Christian Democracy fosters an "ecumenical unity achieved on the religious level against the atheism of the government in the Communist countries."

Christian democrats' views include traditional moral values (on marriage, abortion, prohibition of drugs, etc.), opposition to secularization, opposition to state atheism, a view of the evolutionary (as opposed to revolutionary) development of society, an emphasis on law and order, and a rejection of communism. Christian democrats are open to change (for example, in the structure of society) and not necessarily supportive of the social status quo, and have an emphasis on human rights and individual initiative. A rejection of secularism and an emphasis on the fact that the individual is part of a community and has duties towards it. An emphasis on the community, social justice and solidarity, support for a welfare state, labor unions, and support for regulation of market forces. Most European Christian Democrats reject the concept of class struggle (although less so in some Latin American countries, which have been influenced by liberation theology), opposing both excessive State institutions and unregulated capitalism in favor of robust non-governmental, non-profit, intermediary institutions to deliver social services and social insurance.

Geoffrey K. Roberts and Patricia Hogwood have noted that "Christian democracy has incorporated many of the views held by liberals, conservatives and socialists within a wider framework of moral and Christian principles."

Christian democrats hold that the various sectors of society (such as education, family, economy, and state) have autonomy and responsibility over their sphere, a concept known as sphere sovereignty. One sphere ought not to dictate the obligations of another social entity; for example, the sphere of the state is not permitted to interfere with raising children, a role that belongs to the sphere of the family. Within the sphere of government, Christian democrats maintain that civil issues should first be addressed at the lowest level of government before being examined at a higher level, a doctrine known as subsidiarity. These concepts of sphere sovereignty and subsidiarity are considered cornerstones of Christian Democracy political ideology.

As advocates of environmentalism, many Christian democrats support the principle of stewardship, which upholds the idea that humans should safeguard the planet for future generations of life. Christian democrats also tend to have a conciliatory view concerning immigration.

History

19th century

The origins of Christian democracy go back to the French Revolution, where initially, French republicanism and the Catholic Church were deeply hostile to one another as the revolutionary government had attacked the church, confiscated the church's lands, persecuted its priests, and attempted to establish a new religion around reason and the supreme being. After the decades following the French revolution, the Catholic church saw the rise of liberalism as a threat to catholic values. The rise of capitalism and the resulting industrialization and urbanization of society was seen to be destroying traditional communal and family life. According to the Catholic Church, liberal economics promoted selfishness and materialism with the liberal emphasis on individualism, tolerance, and free expression, enabling all kinds of self-indulgence and permissiveness to thrive. Consequently, for much of the 19th century, the Catholic Church was hostile to democracy and liberalism.

Around this time, Catholic theologians and activists took to advocating the interests of workers in society, developing what would become the catholic social thought. One of the more influential theologians in Germany was Wilhelm von Ketteler, who encouraged Catholics to accept the modern state. Some activists, such as Frédéric Ozanam, the Society of St Vincent de Paul founder, were more amenable to liberal democracy. Italian Popular Party leader Luigi Sturzo credits Ozanam as the first Christian Democrat.

In the 1870s, Catholic political movements arose independently of the Catholic Church to defend Catholic interests from the liberal states. In Europe, generally, the liberal states desired to wrestle control over the Catholic education system; however, in Germany and Italy, this was a direct attack against the church. The Catholic political movements specifically opposed liberal secularism and state control of education; the parties that came out of these movements include the Centre Party (Germany), the Catholic Party (Belgium), various catholic parties in the Netherlands, and the Christian Social Party (Austria). Initially, most of these parties accepted the anti-liberal beliefs of the catholic church at the time; many Catholics behind these movements believed all spheres of life should be regulated by religion. These movements were initially built by ultramontanes[54], were against the liberal view that church and state must be separated, and used the term "Christian Democracy" in opposition to liberal democracy. The Centre Party in Germany seems to be an exception to this trend in that they defended the Catholic Church through an appeal to liberal freedoms and democracy. Additionally, the Centre Party, inspired by Ketteler, supported social legislation.

Despite the thoroughly pro-Catholic position of these movements, the church itself resisted the movements, seeing them as a challenge to the church's control of the laity. Over time, the impact of electoral politics on these parties pushed them to be more accepting of liberal democracy. To form effective political coalitions, these parties evolved from Catholic parties to parties inspired by Christianity and turned to voters, not the Catholic Church, for legitimacy. During this time, the Catholic parties took an inter-class nature, such that they comprised trade unionists, landlords, industrialists, peasants, and artisans, which academics have linked to the notion of Popularism.

Protestant confessional politics was more wide and varied. The most significant movement was in the Netherlands, where Reformed, Neo-Calvinist protestants founded the Anti-Revolutionary Party. Similarly to the Catholics, this party was formed out of similar concerns with liberal control of education. The party was against the ideas of the French revolution, and its founder, Abraham Kuyper, held that the government derived its authority from God, not from the people. However, Kuyper and the anti-revolutionary party did support organic democratic representation and promoted universal household suffrage. In Germany, this element came from the Lutheran Adolf Stocker, who established the Christian Social Party, and those who followed him, such as Friedrich Naumann. The Christian Social movement aimed to challenge Marxist socialism, so Stoecker supported pro-worker economic policies to win over the working class. However, when this failed, Stoecker turned to anti-Semitism. Comparatively, Friedrich Naumann's initiatives for Christian Socialism devolved into the idea of a "national-social" ideal. In Switzerland, Stoecker and Naumann caused some interest in political organization, but Protestants largely accepted the predominance of liberalism, and so there was only minor growth of a protestant political movement.

20th century

The papacy of Pope Leo XIII was a turning point in the development of Christian Democracy, and he attempted to infuse Democracy and liberalism with Catholic values. In the papal encyclical Rerum novarum in 1891 , Pope Leo XIII recognized workers' misery and argued for means to improve workers' conditions. He also attacked economic liberalism and condemned the rise of socialism, and generally encouraged a corporatist approach to labor relations. This would provide Catholic labor movements with an intellectual platform, and would coincide with the rise of Christian trade unions across Europe. It was the catalyst for the beginning of Christian Democracy in France Italy and Austria. The position of the Roman Catholic Church on this matter was further clarified in subsequent encyclicals, such as Quadragesimo anno, by Pope Pius XI in 1931, Populorum progressio by Pope Paul VI in 1967, Centesimus annus, by Pope John Paul II in 1991, and Caritas in veritate by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009. The same year as the release of Rerum Novarum, Abraham Kuyper organized the Christian Social Congress alongside the Protestant workers' movement, where Kuyper outlined their social principles and policy. These actions reinforced the push for Christian social action in the Netherlands. In Graves de communi re Pope would protest against the use of Christian Democracy as a political label, preferring it merely describe a social movement.

Some academics consider the Catholic political parties around this time to be essentially Catholic and not Christian Democratic. However, others consider the new Italian People's Party and the Popular Democratic Party (France) Christian Democratic. These parties advocated political liberties, religious liberties, economic reform and social partnership, policies to support democracy and internationalism. The Italian People's Party also advocated for Regionalism and proportional representation.[91-94] At the beginning of the Weimar Republic, Adam Stegerwald attempted to reform the Centre Party into a Christian Democratic party. As a result of the Centre Party's participation in the establishment of the Weimar Republic would lead Bavarian Catholics to break away and form the Bavarian People's Party.

In the early 20th century, Protestant confessional politics developed further. In Weimar Germany, Stoecker's Christian social party would join the German National People's Party as its labor wing in 1918. The Christian social parliamentarians from this party would then leave in 1929 to form the Christian Social People's Service (CSVD). Protestant workers' movements in Switzerland gradually developed mutual aid funds into an independent trade union movement. Around this time, Swiss protestants formed the Evangelical People's Party. The 1930s saw the rise of the Christian People's Party in Norway. It was built on the work of Pietist Lutherans, and the party was initially founded to defend the country's Christian heritage against the rise of secularization. There was cooperation between the Protestant and Catholic parties during this period. The Catholic and Protestant parties would form joint governments in the Netherlands and Germany. However, this cooperation did not challenge the underlying differences between the movements; in Germany, there was tension from cooperation with protestants, while in the Netherlands, the Anti-Revolutionaries would not support pro-Vatican policies.

Across Europe, the Catholic and Protestant parties faced the threat of Fascism. Amidst the rise of Fascism in Italy, The Italian People's Party, under Stuzo, attempted to challenge Mussolini by forming a coalition with the socialist party[87]. Luigi Sturzo was given orders by the Catholic Church in 1923 to disband his Italian People's Party and exit politics. Poor Electoral performance in the 1924 would make Sturzo give party leadership to Alcide De Gasperi, and go into exile. Once in power the Fascists disbanded the Italian People's party. This would precede the signing of the Lateran Treaty between the Catholic Church and the Italian Fascists in 1929.

The Centre Party and (CSVD) would face the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany. Once the Nazis got to power in 1933, the Party attempted to take total power with the Enabling Act in 1923. Internally, the Centre Party was divided on the Enabling Act, but many became persuaded that Hitler would not eliminate the Reichstag. Comparatively, the historical anti-Semitism of the Protestant Christian Social movement left the Christian Socials susceptible to Nazism. The Nazi Party would infiltrate the Protestant unions linked to CSVD in 1931. Eventually, both parties would sign the Enabling Act, and both parties would summarily dissolve. Outside of Germany and Italy, many Catholic and Protestant parties would ultimately be dissolved when Nazi Germany invaded the rest of Europe in World War II. After World War II, "both Protestant and Catholic political activists helped to restore democracy to war-torn Europe and extend it overseas". (In Germany, for example, the Christian Democratic Party emerged as a grouping dominated by Rhenish and Westphalian Catholics but also encompassed the more conservative elements of the Protestant population.) Following World War II, Christian democracy was seen as a neutral and unifying voice of compassionate conservatism and distinguished itself from the far right. It gave a voice to "conservatives of the heart", particularly in Germany, who had detested Adolf Hitler's regime yet agreed with the right on many issues.

Protestant Christian Democracy developed in multifaced ways in the post-war period. In Germany, it arose amongst the Lutheran Ordoliberals. These Lutherans looked to Christian Theologians such as Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer to path a way that obeyed worldly authority but also challenged the Nazi Regime. The core of the ordoliberal ideology was a strong state that enabled market competition. During the war, the ordoliberals worked with Bonhoeffer to develop a political and socio-economic plan for the post-war period, and after the war, they joined with Catholics to form the Christian Democratic Union. The Ordoliberals termed their vision a ‘social market economy’, a vision the Catholics would also come to champion. In Sweden, it arose amongst the Pentecostals, where it formed in the Christian Democrats, which was founded as a reaction to secularization.

21st century

Some Christian democratic parties, particularly in Europe, no longer emphasize religion and have become much more secular in recent years.

Recently, many minor Christian democratic parties, such as the Christian Union, and others across Europe, did not feel represented in the existing political establishment, so they formed a political organization in the European Christian Political Movement. These parties stressed the Christian history of Europe alongside advocating for traditional Christian values and Economic and Environmental Justice.

Many Muslim parties in Muslim countries have looked to the Christian Democratic tradition for Inspiration. The most notable is Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (usually known by the Turkish acronym AKP, for Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi), which is Islamic and has moved towards the tradition. However, this link is questioned, given that AKP’s movement towards Christian Democracy may be to curry the favor of European parties in European Integration, something the European Christian Democrats ultimately shot down. Other Islamic groups that have been linked include the Democratic League of Kosovo and Mohammad Morsi in Egypt. Some Muslim democratic parties embraced by Christian democrats are the National Awakening Party (Indonesia) and the Lakas–Christian Muslim Democrats (Phillippines), who have joined the Centrist Democrat International.

Christian democracy around the world

Main article: List of Christian democratic parties

The international organization of Christian democratic parties, the Centrist Democrat International (CDI), formerly known as the Christian Democratic International, is the second largest international political organization in the world (second only to the Socialist International). European Christian democratic parties have a regional organization called the European People's Party, which forms the largest group in the European Parliament, the European People's Party Group.

Latin America

Christian Democracy in Latin America has its roots in the early 20th century when some Catholic political parties were founded in various countries. These parties were generally conservative, and their main aim was to protect the interests of the Catholic Church. However, they also advocated social reform and democracy and were opposed to the authoritarian regimes in Latin America then. In the 1930s, Christian Democracy began to take on a more left-wing character as some parties adopted socialist policies. This was in response to the Great Depression, which had hit Latin America particularly hard. Christian Democracy remained a significant force in Latin American politics throughout the 20th century and played an important role in the region's transition to democracy in the 1980s and 1990s. Christian Democracy is still a significant political force in many Latin American countries. It has typically adopted a more centrist position and is now generally supportive of free-market policies. However, it still advocates social justice and equality and is important in the region's political debate.

Christian democracy has been especially important in Chile (see Christian Democratic Party of Chile) and Venezuela (see COPEI – Christian Democratic Party of Venezuela), among others, and partly also in Mexico, starting with the ascendancy of President Vicente Fox in 2000, followed by Felipe Calderón (see National Action Party (Mexico)). Cuba counts several Christian democratic political associations on the island and in exile. Perhaps the most significant is Movimiento Cristiano de Liberación (MCL), led by Cuban dissident Oswaldo Payá, who was killed in a tragic automobile accident in the summer of 2012 and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. In Uruguay, the Christian Democratic Party of Uruguay, although numerically small, was instrumental in creating the leftist Broad Front in 1971.

Central and Eastern Europe

After the end of the socialist experience in Central and Eastern Europe, and especially with European integration, many parties from former socialist countries become members of the Christian democratic umbrella organization, the European People's Party (EPP). Examples include the KDU-ČSL in the Czech Republic, the Croatian Democratic Union in Croatia, the Civic Platform in Poland, etc. Hungary's Fidesz was part of the EPP from 2004 to 2021; its leader, Viktor Orbán, claimed Hungary to be a “Christian democracy". Many of those parties pushed for a re-traditionalization of society, pro-family policies, a Bismarckian welfare state, and identity politics based on Christianity while maintaining a pro-European integration attitude. The ideals of Christian Democracy also inspire other Euroskeptic parties, and they are grouped under the umbrella of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party; an example is Law and Justice in Poland.

Britain

Christian Democracy in the UK was sporadic and un-unified. One group was the Catholic Social Guild, which was established, set up in 1909 to propagate a Catholic alternative to Socialism. They encouraged Catholics to Work within the UK Labour party, and push policies for families, a living wage, social partnership in industry and property diffusion. Another group was the People and Freedom group, which was established during Luigi Sturzo's exile in the UK. They were a largely middle class organization set up in response to pain felt by Catholics with the Spanish civil war. They published their Manifesto, "For Democracy" in 1939. The Catholic worker was another Christian democratic group at the time. In general, British Christian Democrats, especially those in the People and Freedom group, attempted to push the UK Labour Party towards Christian Democracy, and there was a significant attempt by them to portray Christian Democracy as left wing to do so. Ultimately the People and Freedom group failed to do so and became disillusioned with the Labour Party. The Catholic Worker, on the other hand, aimed to making Labour policies acceptable to Catholics.

Australia

Christian democratic parties in Australia include the Democratic Labor Party and arguably the Christian Democratic Party.

The Democratic Labor Party was formed in 1955 as a split from the Australian Labor Party (ALP). In Victoria and New South Wales, state executive members, parliamentarians, and branch members associated with the Industrial Groups or B. A. Santamaria and "The Movement" (and therefore strongly identified with Roman Catholicism) were expelled from the party. They formed the Democratic Labor Party (DLP). Later in 1957, a similar split occurred in Queensland, with the resulting group joining the DLP. The party also had sitting members from Tasmania and New South Wales at various times, though it was much stronger in the states mentioned above. The Democratic Labor Party (DLP) did not claim to be a Christian Democratic party, but it has been considered such by historians of Christian democracy, and B. A. Santamaria was himself a Christian Democrat. The party's goals were anti-communism, the decentralization of industry, population, administration, and ownership. In its view that the ALP was filled with communists, the party decided it would prefer the ruling conservative Liberal and Country parties over the ALP. However, it was more morally conservative, militantly anti-communist, and socially compassionate than the Liberals. The DLP heavily lost ground in the federal election of 1974 that saw its primary vote cut by nearly two-thirds and the election of an ALP government. The DLP never regained its previous support in subsequent elections and formally disbanded in 1978, but a small group within the party refused to accept this decision and created a small, reformed successor party (now the Democratic Labour Party). Though his party was effectively gone, Santamaria and his National Civic Council took a strong, opposed stance to dominant Third Way/neoliberal/New Right tendencies within the ALP and Liberal parties throughout the eighties and early nineties.

In 2006, the new DLP experienced a resurgence. The successor party struggled through decades of Victorian elections before finally gaining a parliamentary seat when the Victorian upper house was redesigned. Nevertheless, its electoral support is still minimal in Victoria (around 2%). It has recently reformed state parties in Queensland and New South Wales. In the 2010 Australian federal election, the DLP won the sixth senate seat in Victoria, giving it representation in the Australian Senate.

The former Christian Democratic Party (initially known as the "Call to Australia" party) is identified with the strongly religious conservative end of the Australian political spectrum. It is associated in the media with the Christian Right over Christian Democracy.

South Korea

South Korean "liberals" historically refer to political forces that have supported political liberal democracy against Japan's colonial rule and far-right dictatorship but disagree with socialism.

Christianity is generally regarded as an outside religion in East Asia, so no major party advocates "Christian democracy" in South Korea. However, some South Korean liberals, like those in the Democratic Party of Korea, show a little social liberal tendency economically, but in consideration of the conservative South Korean society are generally socially conservative and are affected by Christianity. This is distinct from the Confucian social conservatism of South Korean "conservatives".

North America

The American Solidarity Party is a minor third party in the United States that identifies as a Christian democratic party.

The Center for Public Justice is a Christian democratic public policy organization that advocates to "bring the principles of a Christian worldview to bear on the political realm."

British Isles

In the United Kingdom, the Christian Peoples Alliance is a Christian democratic party which emphasizes the country's Christian heritage and advocates for the principles of "active compassion, respect for life, social justice, wise stewardship, empowerment, and reconciliation."

See also

• List of Christian democratic parties around the world

International Christian democratic organizations

• Centrist Democrat International (CDI) – formerly Christian Democratic International
• Christian Democratic Organization of America (ODCA) – a CDI regional organization for the Americas
• European Christian Political Movement (ECPM) – a European party (non-CDI)
• European Democratic Party (EDP) – a European party (non-CDI)
• European People's Party (EPP) – the largest transnational European party of Christian democratic and conservative parties (a CDI and IDU regional)

Related concepts

• Catholic social teaching
• Centrism
• Christian libertarianism
• Christian nationalism
• Christian reconstructionism
• Christian republic
• Christian right
• Christian socialism
• Christian state
• Christian values
• Christianity and politics
• Communitarianism
• Compassionate conservatism
• Cultural conservatism
• Distributism
• Dominion Theology
• Georgism
• Islamic democracy
• Liberation theology
• Moderation theory
• Neo-Calvinism
• One-nation conservatism
• Ordoliberalism
• Paleolibertarianism
• Political Catholicism
• Radical centrism
• Social conservatism
• Social credit
• Social democracy
• Social market economy
• Theodemocracy
• Third Way

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Further reading

• Gehler, Michael; Kaiser, Wolfram (2004a), Political Catholicism in Europe 1918–1945, Routledge, ISBN 0-7146-5650-X
• Gehler, Michael; Kaiser, Wolfram (2004b), Christian Democracy in Europe since 1945, Routledge, ISBN 0-7146-5662-3
• Gehler, Michael; Kaiser, Wolfram; Wohnout, Helmut, eds. (2001), Christdemokratie in Europa im 20. Jahrhundert / Christian Democracy in 20th Century Europe, Böhlau Verlag, ISBN 3-205-99360-8
• Kaiser, Wolfram (2007), Christian Democracy and the Origins of European Union, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-88310-8
• Kaiser, Wolfram; Kosicki, Piotr (2021). Political Exile in the Global Twentieth Century: Catholic Christian Democrats in Europe and the Americas. Belgium: S.l.: LEUVEN UNIVERSITY PRESS. p. 21. ISBN 978-946-27030-70.

External links

• New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia – an article on Christian Democracy
• Christian Democracy in Western Europe: 1820–1953 – a book by Michael Fogarty
• 'Conservativism and Christian Democracy' – an essay by former (1992–2015) UK Conservative MP David Willetts
• 'Blue Labour + Red Tory = Christian Democracy?' – an article by Nicholas Townsend, April 2015