Christian Democratic Appeal

Christian Democratic Appeal Christen-Democratisch Appèl
Abbreviation	CDA
Leader	Henri Bontenbal (list)
Chairperson	Jean Wiertz (list)
Leader in the Senate	Theo Bovens
Leader in the House of Representatives	Henri Bontenbal
Leader in the European Parliament	Tom Berendsen
Founded	23 June 1973 (alliance) 11 October 1980 (party)
Merger of	Catholic People's Party Anti-Revolutionary Party Christian Historical Union
Headquarters	Buitenom 18, The Hague
Youth wing	Christian Democratic Youth Appeal
Think tank	Wetenschappelijk Instituut voor het CDA
Membership (2024)	29,721
Ideology	Christian democracy Social conservatism
Political position	Centre to centre-right
Religion	Christianity
Regional affiliation	Christian Group
European affiliation	European People's Party
European Parliament group	European People's Party
International affiliation	Centrist Democrat International
Colours	Green
Senate	6 / 75
House of Representatives	5 / 150
Provincial councils	42 / 570
European Parliament	3 / 31
Benelux Parliament	1 / 21
Website
cda.nl
Politics of Netherlands Political parties Elections

The Christian Democratic Appeal (Template:Lang-nl, pronounced [krɪstə(n)deːmoːkraːtis ɑˈpɛl], CDA) is a Christian democratic and socially conservative political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary Party and the Christian Historical Union; it has participated in all but four of the Dutch cabinets formed since it became a unitary party.

History

Predecessor parties; history before 1977

Since 1880, the Catholics and the Protestant Anti-Revolutionary Party had worked together in the so-called Coalition. They shared a common interest in public funding of religious schools. In 1888, they formed the first Christian democratic government, led by the antirevolutionary Æneas Baron Mackay. The cooperation was not without problems, and in 1894 the more anti-Catholic and aristocratic conservatives left the ARP, to found what would later become the Christian Historical Union (CHU). Within both parties, there had always been some desire to reunite. Meanwhile in 1904 the General League of Roman Catholic Caucuses was formed, which would later turn into the Roman Catholic State Party (RKSP) by 1926, and the Catholic People's Party (KVP) in 1945.

From 1918 to 1967, these three Christian parties had a majority in both houses of the States General. During the Interwar period, always all three were in the cabinet. After the war, the KVP differed from CHU and ARP on issues of economy and independence of Dutch East Indies, and would mostly cooperate with the Labour Party (PvdA) Roman/Red cabinets until 1952.

The CDA's founder and inaugural chairman Piet Steenkamp (left) and inaugural party leader and Prime Minister Dries van Agt (right) in 1977

In the 1960s, Dutch society became more secularised and the pillars faded, and voters began to move away from the three Christian democratic parties. In the 1963 general election the three parties held 51% of the vote, whilst in 1972 general election they held only 32%. This decline forced the three parties to work closer together. In 1967, the Group of Eighteen was formed, a think tank consisting of six prominent politicians per party that planned the future cooperation of the three parties. In 1968 the three political leaders of the parties (Norbert Schmelzer (KVP), Barend Biesheuvel (ARP) and Jur Mellema (CHU)) made a public appearance, stating that the three parties would continue to work together.

This caused progressive forces within the three parties, especially the ARP and KVP, to regret their political affiliation. In 1968, they founded the Political Party of Radicals (PPR), a left-wing party that sought cooperation with the Labour Party (PvdA). Locally and provincially, however, the three parties had long cooperated well, and in some areas they contested with a joint candidate list and formed a joint Christian democratic parliamentary party. In the 1971 general election, the three parties presented a common political programme, which lay the foundation for the first Biesheuvel cabinet.

After the disastrous elections of 1972, the cooperation was given new momentum. Piet Steenkamp, a member of the Senate for the KVP was appointed chairman of a council which was to lay the foundation for a federation of the three parties, and provide a common manifesto of principles. In 1973, this federation was officially formed, with Steenkamp as chairperson.

The cooperation was frustrated by the formation of the Den Uyl cabinet, established by the PvdA leader and Prime Minister of the Netherlands Joop den Uyl. Den Uyl refused to allow members of the CHU in the cabinet that he would lead. This led to a situation where the CHU, ARP and KVP sat as a single parliamentary group in both houses of parliament, but only the KVP and ARP supplied ministers and junior ministers. Den Uyl's cabinet was riddled with political and personal conflicts. Another issue that split the three parties was the place that the Bible would take in the new party.

Van Agt cabinets, 1977–1982

Ruud Lubbers, party leader and Prime Minister from 1982 until 1994.

In 1976, the three parties announced that they would field a single candidate list at the 1977 general election under the name Christian Democratic Appeal. The KVP minister of Justice, Dries van Agt, was the lead candidate. In the election campaign he made clear the CDA was a centrist party, that would not lean to the left or to the right. The three parties were able to stabilise their proportion of the vote.

After the election, the cabinet formation started with discussions between PvdA, CDA and D66. Although Van Agt had been Deputy Prime Minister in the Den Uyl cabinet, the two had never gotten along well. The animosity between them frustrated the talks. After more than 150 days of negotiations, they finally failed, and Van Agt was able to negotiate a cabinet with the conservative liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). The first Van Agt cabinet had a very narrow majority. The unexpected cabinet with the VVD led to split within the newly founded CDA between more progressive and more conservative members. The progressives remained within the party, and were known as loyalists. On 11 October 1980, the three original parties ceased to exist and the CDA was founded as a unitary party. After the 1981 general election, the VVD and the CDA lost their majority, and the CDA was forced to cooperate with the PvdA. Den Uyl became Deputy Prime Minister under van Agt. The second Van Agt cabinet was troubled by ideological and personal conflicts, and fell after one year.

Lubbers cabinets, 1982–1994

After the 1982 general election, the new CDA leader, Ruud Lubbers (formerly of the KVP), formed a majority coalition with the VVD. The first Lubbers cabinet set an ambitious reform program in motion, which included budget cuts, reform of the old age and disability pensions and liberalisation of public services. Lubbers was reelected in 1986 and in 1989. In 1989 however, the CDA only garnered a minimal majority with the VVD, which they had also gradually fallen out with during the previous cabinet, leading the CDA to instead cooperate with the PvdA in the new government. In the third Lubbers cabinet, a CDA–PvdA coalition, the ambitious reform project was continued, with some adaptations and protests from the PvdA.

Opposition to Purple, 1994–2002

The 1994 general election was fraught with problems for the CDA: personal conflicts between retiring prime minister Lubbers and lead candidate Elco Brinkman, a lack of support for the reforms of old age and disability pensions, and the perceived arrogance of the CDA caused a dramatic defeat at the polls. A new coalition was formed between PvdA and the liberal parties VVD and Democrats 66 (D66), consigning the CDA to opposition for the first time ever. It was also the first government without any Christian Democratic ministers since 1918. The party was marred by subsequent internal battles over leadership. The party also reflected on its principals: the party began to orient itself more toward communitarian ideals.

Balkenende cabinets, 2002–2010

Jan Peter Balkenende, party leader from 2001 until 2010 and Prime Minister from 2002 until 2010.

During the tumultuous 2002 general election, which saw the murder of right-wing politician Pim Fortuyn, many people voted for the CDA, hoping that it could bring some stability to Dutch politics. The CDA led the first Balkenende cabinet, which included the VVD and the Pim Fortuyn List (LPF). This cabinet fell due to internal struggles within the LPF. After the 2003 general election, the Christian Democrats were forced to begin cabinet negotiations with the PvdA. Personal animosity between Balkenende and the leader of the PvdA, Wouter Bos, frustrated these negotiations. Balkenende eventually formed a coalition with the VVD and D66. The coalition proposed an ambitious program of reforms, including more restrictive immigration laws, democratisation of political institutions and reforms of the system of social security and labour laws.

After the 2006 general election the CDA changed their course radically: they formed a new fourth cabinet Balkenende still led by Balkenende, but now with the PvdA and the Christian Union (CU). The cabinet was more progressive, entailing increased government spending.

Rutte cabinets, 2010–2023

In the 2010 general election, the CDA lost half of its seats. Balkenende announced his resignation as party leader and was replaced by Maxime Verhagen. At first, Verhagen was aiming for opposition during the 2010 cabinet formation. However, after talks between purple plus collapsed, CDA entered negotiations with VVD and Party for Freedom (PVV), the latter would be providing confidence and supply. Within the party, some opposed a coalition with the radical right PVV. Verhagen's co-negotiator resigned over the negotiations and two other MPs threatened to oppose the coalition, which would make it lose its majority. A party congress was held to approve the result of the negotiations, which 68% of the record 4,700 members did. On 14 October, the first Rutte cabinet was sworn in with Verhagen as Deputy Prime Minister.

Sybrand van Haersma Buma, party leader from 2012 until 2019.

After the fall of the short-lived first Rutte cabinet in 2012, held a leadership election. On 18 May 2012, the party announced that the leadership elections were won by Sybrand Buma, with runner-up Mona Keijzer receiving 26% of the votes. Buma would bring calm to the party, while following an explicitly right-conservative course, but would not lead to electoral recovery. In the general election on 12 September 2012, the CDA fell to 13 seats and fell outside the second Rutte cabinet after the 2012 cabinet formation. In the 2017 general election, the CDA gained sixed seats and would join the third Rutte cabinet, with the VVD, D66 and CU.

Buma resigned in May 2019 and was replaced as parliamentary leader by Pieter Heerma. A leadership election did not take place until July 2020. The chaotically election was barely won by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport Hugo de Jonge, with MP Pieter Omtzigt as runner-up. De Jonge withdrew as lead candidate in December, because he could not combine it with his duties during the COVID-19 pandemic. In his place, the party board appointed Minister of Finance Wopke Hoekstra. The party lost four seats in the March 2021 election. After the longest cabinet formation the party continued in fourth Rutte cabinet, which had the same composition as the previous. During the formation, Omtzigt had left the party, alleging he had been treated unfairly in the party, and later started the party New Social Contract (NSC). During the cabinet period, the party struggled with its position in the nitrogen crisis and the farmers' protests that followed. The party faced electoral competition from the new political party Farmer–Citizen Movement (BBB) on this issue.

Opposition, 2023–present

Henri Bontenbal, party leader since August 2023.

For the November 2023 general election, MP Henri Bontenbal was selected as party leader. The party received its worst result ever, securing only five seats.

Ideology

The CDA is a centre to centre-right Christian democratic and socially conservative party. Christian values are seen as only one source of inspiration for individual members of the States General. The party also has Jewish, Muslim and Hindu members of parliament and favours the integration of minorities into Dutch culture.

The party has four main ideals: stewardship, solidarity, shared responsibility and public justice. Shared responsibility refers to the way society should be organised: not one organisation should control all society, instead the state, the market, and social institutions, like churches and unions should work together. This is called sphere sovereignty, a core concept of neo-Calvinist political philosophy. Furthermore, this refers to the way the state should be organised. Not one level of the state should have total control; instead, responsibility should be shared between local, provincial, national and European governments. This is called subsidiarity in Catholic political thought. With stewardship the Christian Democrats refer to the way the planet ought to be treated: the Earth is a gift from God. Therefore, we should try to preserve our environment.

Practically, this means the CDA is a centrist party. The party also has a considerable centre-left wing that supports eco-friendly politics, a strong pro-European policy and favours centre-left coalitions. The position of the centre-left group within the party has been weakened since the party's participation in the centre-right minority cabinet with the VVD (the first Rutte cabinet), a cabinet that strongly depended on the parliamentary support of the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV). CDA politicians that can be considered centrist or centre-left: Jack Biskop (MP), Ad Koppejan (MP), Kathleen Ferrier (MP; daughter of the late Johan Ferrier, president of Suriname 1975–1980), Dries van Agt (former Prime Minister), Ruud Lubbers (former Prime Minister) and Herman Wijffels (former chairman of the Social Economic Council, former informateur). Although the CDA supports European Union membership, it also has developed a smaller but visible eurosceptic faction, which included former CDA parliamentarian Pieter Omtzigt, who, in 2020, encouraged the party to support the Netherlands opting-out of unpopular EU programs.

In the past, Maxime Verhagen, then informal leader of the CDA and deputy Prime Minister, strongly denied the claim that the CDA is a right-wing party. Verhagen made it clear to the media that his party is a centrist and moderate party, and that the CDA participates in a centre-right coalition (with the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) as the right-wing component and the CDA as the centrist component). Instead, his former colleague in the cabinet, minister of Defence Hans Hillen, was a strong proponent of a conservative CDA.

Election results

House of Representatives

Seats in the House of Representatives of the CDA and its predecessors since 1956, based on the election results.

Election	Lead candidate	List	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	Government
1977	Dries van Agt	List	2,653,416	31.9	49 / 150	1	Coalition
1981		List	2,677,259	30.8	48 / 150	1	Coalition
1982		List	2,420,441	29.4	45 / 150	3	Coalition
1986	Ruud Lubbers	List	3,172,918	34.6	54 / 150	9	Coalition
1989		List	3,140,502	35.3	54 / 150		Coalition
1994	Elco Brinkman	List	1,996,418	22.2	34 / 150	20	Opposition
1998	Jaap de Hoop Scheffer	List	1,581,053	18.4	29 / 150	5	Opposition
2002	Jan Peter Balkenende	List	2,653,723	27.9	43 / 150	14	Coalition
2003		List	2,763,480	28.6	44 / 150	1	Coalition
2006		List	2,608,573	26.5	41 / 150	3	Coalition
2010		List	1,281,886	13.6	21 / 150	20	Coalition
2012	Sybrand Buma	List	801,620	8.5	13 / 150	8	Opposition
2017		List	1,301,796	12.4	19 / 150	6	Coalition
2021	Wopke Hoekstra	List	989,385	9.5	15 / 150	4	Coalition
2023	Henri Bontenbal	List	345,822	3.3	5 / 150	10	Opposition

Senate

Election	Votes	Weight	%	Seats	+/–
1977				24 / 75	5
1980				27 / 75	3
1981				28 / 75	1
1983				26 / 75	2
1986				26 / 75
1987				26 / 75
1991				27 / 75	1
1995				19 / 75	8
1999				20 / 75	1
2003		46,848	29.0	23 / 75	3
2007		43,501	26.7	21 / 75	2
2011	86	24,260	14.6	11 / 75	10
2015	89	25,145	14.9	12 / 75	1
2019	76	19,756	11.4	9 / 75	3
2023	47	13,136	7.3	6 / 75	3

European Parliament

Election	List	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	EP Group
1979	List	2,017,743	35.60	10 / 25	New	EPP
1984	List	1,590,218	30.02	8 / 25	2
1989	List	1,813,035	34.60	10 / 25	2
1994	List	1,271,840	30.77	10 / 31	0
1999	List	951,898	26.94	9 / 31	1	EPP–ED
2004	List	1,164,431	24.43	7 / 27	2
2009	List	913,233	20.05	5 / 25	2	EPP
				5 / 26	0
2014	List	721,766	15.18	5 / 26	0
2019	List	669,555	12.18	4 / 26	1
				5 / 29	1
2024	List	589,205	9.45	3 / 31	2

Representation

Members of the House of Representatives

Main article: List of members of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands, 2023–present

Members of the Senate

Further information: List of members of the Senate of the Netherlands, 2023–2027

Members of the European Parliament

The CDA has been a member of the European People's Party (EPP) since its founding in 1976; CDA MEPs sit in the EPP group.

Current members

Main article: List of members of the European Parliament for the Netherlands, 2024–2029

Electorate

The CDA is mainly supported by religious voters, both Catholics and Protestants. These tend to live in rural areas and tend to be elderly. In some periods, however, the CDA has functioned as a centrist party, attracting people from all classes and religions.

Geographically, the CDA is particularly strong in the provinces of North Brabant, Limburg and Overijssel and in the Veluwe and the Westland areas. In the 2006 elections the CDA received the highest percentage of votes in the municipality of Tubbergen, Overijssel (66.59% of the vote). The CDA is weaker in the four major cities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht) and in Groningen and Drenthe.

Voter surveys held after the March 2021 general election and the March 2023 provincial elections showed that the average CDA voter's self-placement on a left-right axis was slightly to the right of the average voter. They were slightly less supportive of euthanasia and climate policy. CDA voters were more opposed to immigration than the average voter in 2021, but this difference had disappeared by 2023. 2023 CDA voters also had more trust in political parties than the average voter. The average CDA voter was older than the average voter, at 63 in 2021 (compared to 55 among all voters) and 61 in 2023 (compared to 56 among all voters). Around 60% of CDA voters described themselves as religious, a proportion twice as high as the proportion among all voters. Around 60 to 70% of CDA voters lived in rural areas, compared to roughly half of all voters. CDA voters felt considerably more connected to other people than voters of other parties and, in 2023, were slightly happier about their life.

Organisation

Leadership

See also: Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal and List of party chairs of the Christian Democratic Appeal

• Parliamentary leaders in the Senate
  • Johan van Hulst (8 June 1977 – 10 June 1981)
  • Jan Christiaanse (10 June 1981 – 25 October 1988)
  • Ad Kaland (25 October 1988 – 1 January 1994)
  • Luck van Leeuwen (1 January 1994 – 8 June 1999)
  • Gerrit Braks (8 June 1999 – 2 October 2001)
  • Yvonne Timmerman-Buck (2 October 2001 – 17 June 2003)
  • Jos Werner (1 July 2003 – 7 June 2011)
  • Elco Brinkman (7 June 2011 – 11 June 2019)
  • Ben Knapen (11 June 2019 – 24 September 2021)
  • Niek Jan van Kesteren (since 28 September 2021)

• Parliamentary leaders in the House of Representatives
  • Dries van Agt (8 June 1977 – 19 December 1977)
  • Willem Aantjes (19 December 1977 – 7 November 1978)
  • Ruud Lubbers (7 November 1978 – 10 June 1981)
  • Dries van Agt (10 June 1981 – 24 August 1981)
  • Ruud Lubbers (24 Augustus 1981 – 4 November 1982)
  • Bert de Vries (4 November 1982 – 3 June 1986)
  • Ruud Lubbers (3 June 1986 – 14 July 1986)
  • Bert de Vries (14 July 1986 – 14 September 1989)
  • Ruud Lubbers (14 September 1989 – 7 November 1989)
  • Elco Brinkman (7 November 1989 – 16 August 1994)
  • Enneüs Heerma (16 Augustus 1994 – 27 March 1997)
  • Jaap de Hoop Scheffer (27 March 1997 – 1 October 2001)
  • Jan Peter Balkenende (1 October 2001 – 11 July 2002)
  • Maxime Verhagen (11 July 2002 – 30 January 2003)
  • Jan Peter Balkenende (30 January 2003 – 21 May 2003)
  • Maxime Verhagen (21 May 2003 – 30 November 2006)
  • Jan Peter Balkenende (30 November 2006 – 9 February 2007)
  • Maxime Verhagen (9 February 2007 – 22 February 2007)
  • Pieter van Geel (22 February 2007 – 17 June 2010)
  • Maxime Verhagen (17 June 2010 – 14 October 2010)
  • Sybrand van Haersma Buma (14 October 2010 – 21 May 2019)
  • Pieter Heerma (21 May 2019 – 31 March 2021)
  • Wopke Hoekstra (31 March 2021 – 10 January 2022)
  • Pieter Heerma (since 10 January 2022 – 5 September 2023)
  • Henri Bontenbal (since 5 September 2023)

Linked organisations

The youth movement of the CDA is the Christian Democratic Youth Appeal (CDJA). The CDA publishes a monthly magazine, and its scientific bureau publishes the Christian Democratic Explorations (Template:Lang-nl).

As an effect of pillarisation, the CDA still has many personal and ideological ties with religious organisations, such as the broadcasting societies KRO and NCRV, the newspaper Trouw, the employers organisations NCW and the union CNV.

The CDA participates in the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy, a democracy assistance organisation of seven Dutch political parties.

International organisations

The CDA is a member of the European People's Party and the Centrist Democrat International.

References

• Gradus, Raymond; Harinck, George; Hoentjen, Karin; Van Kessel, Alexander; ten Napel, Hans-Martien (2012). Canon van de Christendemocratie (PDF) (in Dutch). Wetenschappelijk Instituut voor het CDA. ISBN 9789074493796.
• Lucardie, Paul (2004). Van Hecke, Steven; Gerard, Emmanuel (eds.). Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained? Christian Democracy in the Netherlands. Christian Democratic Parties in Europe Since the End of the Cold War. Leuven University Press. pp. 159–177. ISBN 90-5867-377-4.
• Ten Napel, H.-M.T.D. (1992). 'Een eigen weg' De totstandkoming van het CDA (1952-1980). Kampen: J.H. Kok. ISBN 9789024266258.

Further reading

• Bosmans, Jac (2004). Michael Gehler; Wolfram Kaiser (eds.). The Primacy of Domestic Politics: Christian Democracy in the Netherlands. Christian Democracy in Europe since 1945. Routledge. pp. 47–58. ISBN 0-7146-5662-3.
• Kroeger, Pieter Gerrit (2020). Tand des tijds (in Dutch). Prometheus. ISBN 9789044633665.
• Voerman, Gerrit (2011). De conjunctuur van de macht (in Dutch). Boom. ISBN 9789461051073.

External links

• Media related to Christen Democratisch Appèl at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website
• Documentation Centre Dutch Political Parties about CDA (in Dutch)