| This page contains too many unsourced statements and needs to be improved. * * * Christian democracy could use some help. Please research the article's assertions. Whatever is credible should be sourced, and what is not should be removed. | How the sausage is made Politics Theory * Political spectrum * Political party * Government (forms of) Practice * International relations * Propaganda * War Philosophies * Laissez-faire * Zionism * Social democracy Terms * Strike * Affirmative action * Islamophobia As usual * Horseshoe theory * Entitlement program * Political binary Country sections v \- t \- e 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. ## Contents * 1 The morality plays * 2 The economic balancing act * 3 In America * 4 Political position * 5 A representative political party * 6 See also * 7 References ## 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 | PDC | | Christian Democratic Party (Spanish: Partido Demócrata Cristiano) | Center Australia | CDP | | Christian Democratic Party | Right-wing to Far-right Austria | ÖVP | | Austrian People's Party (Austrian: Österreichische Volkspartei) | Centre-right to Right-wing Armenia | OY | | Rule of Law (Armenian: Orinats Yerkir) | Centre-right Belgium (Flanders) | CDV | | Christian Democratic and Flemish (Flemish-Dutch: Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams) | Centre to Centre-right Brazil | DEM | | Democrats (Portuguese: Democratas) | Centre-right Bulgaria | СДС | | Union of Democratic Forces (Bulgarian: Съюз на демократичните сили) | Centre-right Chile | PDC | | Christian Democratic Party (Spanish: Partido Demócrata Cristiano) | Centre to Centre-left Colombia | PCC | | Colombian Conservative Party (Spanish: Partido Conservador Colombiano) | Right-wing Costa Rica | PUSC | | Social Christian Unity Party (Spanish: Partido Unidad Social Cristiana) | Centre-right Czech Republic | KDU–ČSL | | Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party (Czech: Křesťanská a demokratická unie – Československá strana lidová) | Centre to Centre-right Denmark | KD | | Christian Democrats (Danish: Kristendemokraterne) | Centre-right Dominican Republic | PRSC | | Social Christian Reformist Party (Spanish: Partido Reformista Social Cristiano) | Centre-right to Right-wing Ecuador | UDC | | Christian Democratic Union (Spanish: Unión Demócrata Cristiana) | Centre-right El Salvador | PDC | | Christian Democratic Party (Spanish: Partido Demócrata Cristiano) | Centre Finland | KD | | Christian Democrats (Finnish: Suomen Kristillisdemokraatit) | Centre-right France | LR | | The Republicans (French: Les Républicains) | Centre-right France | MoDem | | Democratic Movement (French: Mouvement démocrate) | Centre to Centre-right Germany | CDU | | Christian Democratic Union of Germany (German: Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands) | Centre-right Greece | ND | | New Democracy (Greek:Νέα Δημοκρατία) | Centre-right to Right-wing Hungary | FIDESZ | | Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance (Hungarian: Fidesz – Magyar Polgári Szövetség) | Right-wing to Far-right Lebanon | Phalange | | Kataeb Party (Arabic: حزب الكتائب اللبنانية) | Centre-right to Right-wing Malta | PN | | Nationalist Party (Arabic: Partit Nazzjonalista) | Centre-right Mexico | PAN | | National Action Party (Spanish: Partido Acción Nacional) | Centre-right to Right-wing Netherlands | CDA | | Christian Democratic Appeal (Dutch: Christen-Democratisch Appèl) | Centre to Centr-right Norway | KrF | | Christian Democratic Party (Bokmål-Norwegian: Kristelig Folkeparti) | Centre to Center-right Philippines | Lakas–CMD | | Lakas–Christian Muslim Democrats | Centre to Centre-right Poland | PiS | | Law and Justice | Right-wing to Far-right Romania | PNȚ-CD | | Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party (Romanian: Partidul Național Țărănesc Creștin Democrat) | Centre-right Slovakia | SDKÚ-DS | | Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party (Slovak: Slovenská demokratická a kresťanská únia – Demokratická strana) | Centre-right Slovenia | NSi | | New Slovenia (Slovene:Nova Slovenija – Krščanski demokrati) | Centre-right Spain | PP | | People's Party (Spanish: Partido Popular) | Centre-right to Right-wing Sweden | KD | | Christian Democrats (Swedish: Kristdemokraterna) | Centre-right Switzerland | SP / PS | | Evangelical People's Party of Switzerland (German: Evangelische Volkspartei der Schweiz, French: Parti évangelique suisse, Italian: Partito Evangelico Svizzero) | Centre to Centre-right Ukraine | SP / PS | | Christian Democratic Union (Ukrainian: Християнсько-демократичний союз) | Centre-right ## See also[edit] * Angela Merkel (She is a representative Christian democratic politician.) * Liberal conservatism * Social conservatism * Asian values ## References[edit]