Centre of Social Democrats
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| Centre of Social Democrats Centre des démocrates sociaux |
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|---|---|
| President | Jean Lecanuet (first) François Bayrou (last) |
| Secretary-General | Jacques Barrot (first) Philippe Douste-Blazy (last) |
| Founded | 23 May 1976 |
| Dissolved | 25 November 1995 |
| Merger of | Democratic Centre, CDP |
| Merged into | Democratic Force |
| Ideology | Christian democracy, Centrism |
| Political position | Centre |
| National affiliation | Union for French Democracy |
| International affiliation | Christian Democrat International |
| European affiliation | European People's Party |
| European Parliament Group | European People's Party (Christian Democrats) |
| Politics of France Political parties Elections |
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The Centre of Social Democrats[1][2] (Centre des démocrates sociaux, CDS; also translated as Democratic and Social Centre[3]) was a French Christian-democratic and centrist party.[4] It existed from 1976 to 1995 and was based directly and indirectly on the tradition of the Popular Republican Movement (MRP). The CDS merged into the Democratic Force.
[edit] History
It was founded on May 23, 1976 by the merger of the Democratic Centre, Centre, Democracy and Progress, and former members of the MRP, the CNIP, and the UDSR.
On February 1, 1978, the CDS was a founding member of the Union for French Democracy (UDF), alongside the Republican Party of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and the Radical Party of Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber. It was the centrist and Christian democratic component of the UDF. Its leader Jean Lecanuet was the first president of the UDF confederation. It supported the UDF candidates in presidential elections: the incumbent president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in 1981 and the former Prime Minister Raymond Barre in 1988.
Within the UDF, the CDS was the component which was the less enthusiastic about the alliance with the Neo-Gaullist RPR and after 1988, its leader Pierre Méhaignerie negotiated with the Socialist Prime Minister Michel Rocard to form a governmental coalition with the Socialist Party, which failed. In 1993, Neo-Gaullist Prime Minister Edouard Balladur gave CDS politicians numerous positions in his cabinet. In return, and in due to the incapacity of the UDF confederation to nominate a candidate in the 1995 presidential election, the most part of the CDS politicians supported the candidacy of Balladur. But, he was eliminated in the first round. Under the presidency of Jacques Chirac, the place of CDS in the cabinet reduced.
On November 25, 1995, it merged with the Social Democratic Party to form the Democratic Force, under the leadership of François Bayrou, founding component of the New UDF on September 16, 1998.
[edit] Presidents
- Jean Lecanuet (1976-82)
- Pierre Méhaignerie (1982-94)
- François Bayrou (1994-95)
[edit] References
- ^ Gildea, Robert (2002), France since 1945, Oxford University Press, p. 210, http://books.google.de/books?id=Zvnpb8zW_BkC&pg=PA210&lpg=PA210&dq=%22centre+of+social+democrats%22+France&source=bl&ots=kYYvwyI42I&sig=xa3KinqbVPDT2vZPVJ6XmnxaRCw&hl=de&ei=HUjGTtXgOcPLtAbKscSCBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22centre%20of%20social%20democrats%22%20France&f=false, retrieved 18 November 2011
- ^ Vigneaux, Emmanuelle (2003), "French Political Parties and Cleavages: Why is there no Christian Democratic Party?", Political leadership in a global age (Ashgate Publishing): p. 75, http://books.google.de/books?id=OMn-Upk4tpYC&pg=PA75&lpg=PA75&dq=%22centre+of+social+democrats%22+France&source=bl&ots=39IEFmGrG6&sig=4jP-TOmOfn6QeIvKcsGLC_yBWaY&hl=de&ei=HUjGTtXgOcPLtAbKscSCBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22centre%20of%20social%20democrats%22%20France&f=false, retrieved 18 November 2011
- ^ Jansen, Thomas; Van Hencke (2011), At Europe's Service: The Origins and Evolution of the European People's Party, Springer, http://books.google.de/books?id=kXEA8XGdEb8C&pg=PA65&dq=%22democratic+and+social+centre%22+france&hl=de&ei=7nLGTqDrEczNsgaG6syfBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=%22democratic%20and%20social%20centre%22%20france&f=false, retrieved 18 November 2011
- ^ Van Hecke, Steven; Gerard, Emmanuel (2004), Christian democratic parties in Europe since the end of the Cold War, Leuven University Press, p. 271, http://books.google.de/books?id=QJ6x8zmRAaEC&pg=PA335&dq=Democratic+and+Social+Centre+France&hl=de&ei=nkbGTv-aMIHltQbMopmEBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA#v=snippet&q=Centre%20des%20democrates%20sociaux&f=false
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