Christian-democracy: A short introduction
By: Sam Volkers
Ever since I started getting involved in politics, I noticed that if there is one political ideology that is most misunderstood it is christian-democracy and the political parties that adhere to it. Unlike liberalism and socialism/social-democracy, the ideas of christian-democracy are a great unknown to most people. This is peculiar, since christian-democracy is prevalent throughout most of Europe and has been just as important in shaping our politics as liberalism and socialism/social-democracy have been. With this article, I hope to clear up the confusion surrounding christian-democracy and provide a short overview of christian-democracy’s most important foundations and their practical application.
Short history of christian-democracy
Christian-democracy as a political movement was born in mid-late 19th century Europe, as a response to the great social, economic, political, and cultural changes of that era. Its roots can be found in both the social teachings of the Catholic Church and Protestant political thinking, both of which had spawned political organizations (e.g. labour unions) to promote their ideas. These organizations would also form the base for christian-democratic political parties that were founded not much later (Grabow et al. 2011: 7). Although these parties did relatively well during the period between the late 1800s and the 1940s, it was after World War II was over that they would take centre-stage in most of Europe.
After WWII, christian-democratic parties would dominate European politics. Across Europe, christian-democrats would take a centrist position on the political spectrum and work with both social-democrats and/or liberals to form the coalitions that ruled their countries. In some countries, Italy in particular, the christian-democrats held a near-monopoly on government power, being the main (and sometimes only) political party occupying the important governmental positions (e.g. important ministerial posts).
However, this dominance would not last. Although the christian-democrats survived the process of secularization during the years of the Cold War, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent collapse of the Eastern Block would drastically reshape the European political landscape and create a political earthquake that would, amongst other things, mean a slow decline of christian-democratic dominance. With the Soviet-Union gone, christian-democrats could no longer rely on their reputation as centrist ruling parties protecting their nations against communism and had to find a new message, which was complicated in a world dominated by neoliberal thinking, secularization, and rising populist sentiment. Christian-democratic parties would slowly lose their dominance across Europe, with Democrazia Cristiana in Italy being an early victim and imploding due to corruption scandals, while CDA regained dominance over Dutch politics under Balkenende only to lose it again after the 2010 national elections.
Ideological foundations
Although christian-democratic parties have lost their dominant position, it does not mean that they are not relevant anymore. Much of our current politics and society (e.g. the welfare state) was shaped with the help of christian-democrats and continues to be influenced by christian-democratic thinking. This is why it is important to understand christian-democracy and what its ideological foundations are.
To start, it is important to note that christian-democracy is not a theocratic movement that seeks to achieve governance according to Biblical laws, but rather a political ideology inspired by Christian ideas and values. Most christian-democratic parties do not see themselves as parties representing Christians only. As Imran Cherradi Benssebahe, vice-chairman of the North-Holland branch of CDJA (CDA’s youth-wing) and a Muslim himself, explains in a recent interview (Volkers 2022):
“Although some people see CDA as a religious party that is solely for Christians, CDA is not actually a religious party, but rather a party based on Christian values. However, these values are also Judaic, Islamic, and even Humanistic values. Everybody kind of shares those values.”
Rather than taking direct inspiration from the Bible, the foundations of christian-democracy can be found in the social ethics of Christian churches, the liberal tradition of the enlightenment, and the civic values where the smallest (and most important) social unit is understood to be the family (Grabow et al. 2011: 7). The German political scientist Karsten Grabow defines the founding principle of christian-democracy as follows (Grabow et al. 2011: 7):
“Christian-democracy’s founding belief is the Christian view of humanity. Thus, in such a belief, every individual is considered unique and must be treated with dignity. According to the Christian view of humanity, man is certainly not a mere indistinct member of a particular social class as expounded by Marxism as he is unique. Moreover, in contrast to totalitarian ideologies, the Christian idea of humanity does not strive to form a ‘new man’ but accepts each person as he is including all his strengths, weaknesses and limitations. The belief in the inviolable dignity of the individual should not lead one to think that man is atomistic and unsociable. On the contrary, the Christian view of humanity emphasises man’s dual nature: Man is both an individual with inalienable rights and a social being that can only realise his potential through coexisting with other people. The individual’s right to participate actively, equally and responsibly in politics and society is derived from christian-democracy’s understanding of man’s dual nature.”
In this founding principle, the origin of christian-democracy’s five main ideological values can be found:
1. Public justice: Christian-democrats recognize free and constitutional democracy as the only political system within which the fundamental values of christian-democracy can be realized (Grabow et al. 2011: 9). Rule of law and democracy must always be respected and the government must protect its citizens, maintain law and order, and care for the vulnerable of society (CDA n.d.).
2. Subsidiarity: Higher authorities should only be assigned the responsibilities that lower authorities cannot exercise, and vice versa (Encyclo n.d.). In practice, this means that christian-democrats strive for a communitarian society in which neither the state nor the market takes precedence, but rather society itself, usually combining forms of state support with support from civil society.
3. Solidarity: Christian-democrats believe people do not only live for themselves, but also for others. We are humans only by living with each other. In this vision there needs to be solidarity between different generations and between rich and poor and the government provides the basics of social security, health care, education, and income for all people, while also not forgetting the importance of individual responsibilities and the responsibilities of the family and the community (CDA n.d.). In contrast to the socialist view on class relations, which states that social classes are inherently opposed to each other and will always be locked in a state of (near) conflict, christian-democrats argue that cooperation between social classes in an effort to achieve social harmony and consensus is preferable. According to christian-democratic thought, society needs the different social classes to work together in order to function, much like a body needs its different parts to work together to function.
4. Stewardship: According to christian-democracy, culture and nature are passed down from generation to generation and need to be maintained for future generations (CDA n.d.). Based on this value, christian-democrats seek to maintain important cultural traditions, norms and values, and institutions, giving the ideology a conservative bend. It is also the value that forms the basis of christian-democracy’s environmentalist tradition focussing on the conservation of nature.
5. Human dignity: Christian-democrats believe in human dignity, meaning that all people should be allowed the legal right to freely strive for political and economic self-realisation and personal happiness while acting responsibly towards oneself and towards others (Grabow et al. 2011: 9).
Christian-democracy in practice
In practice, the ideological foundations of christian-democracy translate into a form of politics that is placed at the political centre, usually leaning to the centre-right, but also sometimes more centre-left.
On matters such as culture, most christian-democratic parties are social conservative. They support a form of moderate cultural conservatism, striving to maintain conservative norms and values (e.g. christian values and/or family values), placing family and community at the centre of society (communitarianism), maintaining law and order, and looking to reduce things like drug use and prostitution, while also respecting individual liberties such as religious freedom. Depending on the party, this can also include a more progressive attitude towards topics like LGBT-rights and abortion.
When it comes to economics, christian-democratic parties strive towards finding a middle-ground between capitalism and socialism. They find this in the form of the social market economy, which is an attempt to combine market economics with social cohesion and solidarity (Heywood 2017: 81). When put into practice, this often means support for a mixed-economy combining a market-economy and private corporations with state-owned enterprises, market regulations, a welfare state, and a corporatist model of cooperation, deliberation and compromise between labour unions, employer’s organizations, and the state, to find a solution that works for all and to try to prevent class-conflict.
On other matters christian-democratic parties are more divided. While most christian-democrats share a sense of support for environmentalism due to the important value of (environmental) stewardship, the forms this takes differ greatly between parties. While some christian-democratic parties take a strong green stance, others are more conservative in their environmental politics. The same goes for international politics. Most christian-democrats support a pro-Western and Atlanticist international policy while differing on issues surrounding European integration and migration. Some support more European integration and less restrictive migration policies, while others take a more soft-Eurosceptic position towards European integration (or the EU in general) and support stricter migration policies. When we look further than Europe, this diversity in opinion between christian-democratic parties on topics such as international relations becomes even greater, with christian-democratic parties in for example Latin America having a different focus than their christian-democratic counterparts in Europe. This also shows that christian-democracy is a flexible movement able to adapt to the political culture and the political situation of different countries.
Conclusion
The dominance of christian-democratic parties has been declining for over a decade now, leading to serious debates about the future path the christian-democratic movement needs to take to maintain a position of relevance in politics. Only time will tell what path this will be and if it can turn the tide in favour of christian-democracy again.
Sources
Agethem, M., Beckmann, C., Galetti, N., Grabow, K., Grunwald, D.J., Henry-Huthmacher, C., Kallweit, T., Keller, P., Reifeld, H., Schäfer, M., Stock, W., Uertz, R., Willig, R. and Wirtz, A. (2011). “Christian Democracy: Principles and policy-making”, https://www.kas.de/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=55536daf-5505-e7f2-cbf5-b484578b31b8&groupId=252038. Accessed on 24/04/2022.
CDA. (n.d.). “Uitgangspunten”, https://www.cda.nl/standpunten/uitgangspunten. Accessed on 26/04/2022.
Encyclo.nl. (n.d.). “Subsidiariteit”, https://www.encyclo.nl/begrip/subsidiariteit. Accessed on 26/04/2022.
Heywood, A. (2017). Political ideologies: An introduction. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Volkers, S. (2022). “Voting with Volkers — Imran Cherradi Benssebahe: CDA’s new generation”, https://www.youvatoday.nl/voting-with-volkers-imran-cherradi-benssebahe-cdas-new-generation/. Accessed on 26/04/2022.
Note: This article was originally written on 26/04/2022 and will be published in the upcoming edition of De Derde Dinsdag magazine.
