Christian democracy

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Christian democracy is a political ideology based on Christian humanism and Catholic social teachings. While generally socially conservative, Christian democrats inch toward an economic model of social markets or social democracy, especially where the political spectrum is leaning towards the left. Therefore, they can be categorized as center to center-right and are found mainly in Europe and Latin America.

The line between Christian democrats and secularism is relatively thin; while most favor human rights over theocracy, the goal of Christian democracy is a democratic society inspired by Christian teachings, especially in an ethical dimension.

The morality plays[edit]

As social conservatives, they don't like same-sex marriage and abortion all that much. While Christian democratic rhetoric revolves around family, community, and Christian values, Christian democrats are generally not fundamentalist yet concerned about a societal breakdown or overuse of what they consider immoral.

Most make a difference between legislation and culture, something American conservatives have problems with. Comparisons can be made with paleolibertarianism, as they believe that just because something is legal, it still doesn't mean you should do it, or if something is illegal, that doesn't mean it's wrong to do it if nobody is harmed. Another big difference with other conservatives is that Christian democrats are not entirely blind towards social change – even though they may not be particularly enamored with it, they may still embrace it (e. g., supporting single families instead of nuclear ones).

Christian democratic parties are also the home of religious minorities because of the heavy overlaps in conservative Christianity with Judaism and Islam.

The economic balancing act[edit]

While most Christian democrats don't think highly of a command economy and democratic socialism, they do not demonize it as much as libertarians or American conservatives do. They generally favor universal health care, state-run unemployment insurance, and welfare states, as they see all of this to be ethically correct and a boon to the community.

In some countries, Christian democratic parties also stand for environmental issues. A prominent example is the CDU in Germany, which has adopted many policies from the Greens.

In America[edit]

Many conservative Democrats could be labeled Christian democrats, with those reluctant towards gay rights considered DINOs. The Republican Party also has a lot of Christian democrats such as Mike Pence, but they are not called RINO's and are considered "True patriots".

Political position[edit]

Usually, Christian democracy is often regarded as a center-right ideology. In fact, many European Christian democratic parties tend to be 'center-right'.

However, Christian democracy has a much wider position, with its weak liberalism, its focus on social conservatism, and its combination with right-wing populism makes it a right-wing to far-right ideology, and when combined with social democracy or socialism, it becomes a center-left ideology. In the former case, it is similar to the Christian right in the U.S., and in the latter case, it is only trying to realize socialism from Christian values, but it is also socially liberal, so it is friendly to same-sex marriage and abortion.

Since Christian democracy is the ideology of mainstream politics in reality, it is hard to conclude that it is a certain tendency mechanically because it has a wide position and various tendencies within Christian democrats. What is common, however, is that they place moderate emphasis on Christian values under a secular liberal democracy.

A representative political party[edit]

Exclude from the list political parties that belong to Centrist Democrat International but do not have strong Christian democratic tendencies.

Country Acronym Party Political position
Argentina Argentina PDC Logo PDC Argentino.png Christian Democratic PartyWikipedia
(Spanish: Partido Demócrata Cristiano)
Center
Australia Australia CDP Christian Democratic Party of Australia Logo.png Christian Democratic Party Right-wing to Far-right
Austria Austria ÖVP Volkspartei Logo 2022.svg.png Austrian People's PartyWikipedia
(Austrian: Österreichische Volkspartei)
Centre-right to Right-wing
Armenia Armenia OY Armenian Renaissance party logo.jpg Rule of LawWikipedia
(Armenian: Orinats Yerkir)
Centre-right
Belgium Belgium (Flanders) CDV Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams Logo.svg Christian Democratic and FlemishWikipedia
(Flemish-Dutch: Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams)
Centre to Centre-right
Brazil Brazil DEM Democratas logo.svg.png DemocratsWikipedia
(Portuguese: Democratas)
Centre-right
Bulgaria Bulgaria СДС Union of Democratic Forces (Bulgaria) logo.svg.png Union of Democratic ForcesWikipedia
(Bulgarian: Съюз на демократичните сили)
Centre-right
Chile Chile PDC Emblem of the Christian Democrat Party of Chile.svg.png Christian Democratic PartyWikipedia
(Spanish: Partido Demócrata Cristiano)
Centre to Centre-left
Colombia Colombia PCC Bandera del Partido Conservador Colombiano.svg Colombian Conservative PartyWikipedia
(Spanish: Partido Conservador Colombiano)
Right-wing
Costa Rica Costa Rica PUSC Logo del Partido Unidad Social Cristiana.svg Social Christian Unity PartyWikipedia
(Spanish: Partido Unidad Social Cristiana)
Centre-right
Czechia Czech Republic KDU–ČSL KDU-CSL Logo 2012.svg Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's PartyWikipedia
(Czech: Křesťanská a demokratická unie – Československá strana lidová)
Centre to Centre-right
Denmark Denmark KD Christian Democrats Denmark.png Christian DemocratsWikipedia
(Danish: Kristendemokraterne)
Centre-right
Dominican Republic Dominican Republic PRSC Social Christian Reformist Party.png Social Christian Reformist PartyWikipedia
(Spanish: Partido Reformista Social Cristiano)
Centre-right to Right-wing
Ecuador Ecuador UDC Christian Democratic UnionWikipedia
(Spanish: Unión Demócrata Cristiana)
Centre-right
El Salvador El Salvador PDC Christian Democratic PartyWikipedia
(Spanish: Partido Demócrata Cristiano)
Centre
Finland Finland KD Christian DemocratsWikipedia
(Finnish: Suomen Kristillisdemokraatit)
Centre-right
France France LR LesRépublicains15logo.svg The RepublicansWikipedia
(French: Les Républicains)
Centre-right
France France MoDem MoDem logo 2019.svg Democratic MovementWikipedia
(French: Mouvement démocrate)
Centre to Centre-right
Germany Germany CDU Cdu-logo.svg Christian Democratic Union of Germany
(German: Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands)
Centre-right
Greece Greece ND New DemocracyWikipedia
(Greek:Νέα Δημοκρατία)
Centre-right to Right-wing
Hungary Hungary FIDESZ Fidesz – Hungarian Civic AllianceWikipedia
(Hungarian: Fidesz – Magyar Polgári Szövetség)
Right-wing to Far-right
Lebanon Lebanon Phalange Kataeb Party logo.svg Kataeb PartyWikipedia
(Arabic: حزب الكتائب اللبنانية)
Centre-right to Right-wing
Malta Malta PN Nationalist PartyWikipedia
(Arabic: Partit Nazzjonalista)
Centre-right
Mexico Mexico PAN PAN logo (Mexico).svg National Action PartyWikipedia
(Spanish: Partido Acción Nacional)
Centre-right to Right-wing
Netherlands Netherlands CDA CDA logo 2021.svg Christian Democratic AppealWikipedia
(Dutch: Christen-Democratisch Appèl)
Centre to Centr-right
Norway Norway KrF Christian Democratic PartyWikipedia
(Bokmål-Norwegian: Kristelig Folkeparti)
Centre to Center-right
Philippines Philippines Lakas–CMD Lakas–Christian Muslim DemocratsWikipedia Centre to Centre-right
Poland Poland PiS Law and JusticeWikipedia Right-wing to Far-right
Romania Romania PNȚ-CD Christian Democratic National Peasants' PartyWikipedia
(Romanian: Partidul Național Țărănesc Creștin Democrat)
Centre-right
Slovakia Slovakia SDKÚ-DS Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic PartyWikipedia
(Slovak: Slovenská demokratická a kresťanská únia – Demokratická strana)
Centre-right
Slovenia Slovenia NSi Logo nsi small.png New SloveniaWikipedia
(Slovene:Nova Slovenija – Krščanski demokrati)
Centre-right
Spain Spain PP PP icono 2019.svg People's PartyWikipedia
(Spanish: Partido Popular)
Centre-right to Right-wing
Sweden Sweden KD Christian Democrats Sweden logo 2017.svg Christian DemocratsWikipedia
(Swedish: Kristdemokraterna)
Centre-right
Switzerland Switzerland SP / PS Evangelical People's Party of SwitzerlandWikipedia
(German: Evangelische Volkspartei der Schweiz,
French: Parti évangelique suisse, Italian: Partito Evangelico Svizzero)
Centre to Centre-right
Ukraine Ukraine SP / PS XDC без фону-01.png Christian Democratic UnionWikipedia
(Ukrainian: Християнсько-демократичний союз)
Centre-right

See also[edit]

References[edit]