The Christian Democratic Parties of Western Europe

Abstract

The Christian Democratic political parties of Western Europe emerged primarily after 1945 in the peculiar climate following the war, and since that time they have played an important, sometimes even decisive, role. Not only are they to be found in most countries of the European Community but in Austria, Switzerland, Spain and Portugal, and the Scandinavian countries as well. Although many appeared to be declining by the 1960s, from the mid-1970s some have recovered much of the electoral strength they were losing. Christian Democracy will continue to be a significant political force in Europe during the 1980s, and it deserves closer study. Thus, Professor Ronald Irving's book, commissioned for Chatham House, is a most timely and welcome addition to the literature on this important and heretofore much neglected subject. Irving suggests that Christian Democracy is not an ideology in the sense of a precise corpus of doctrine or 'coherent view of politics based on a precise programme and objectives' (p 56), though he insists that it can be distinguished from its predecessors such as the German Centre party, as well as from its present competitors on the left and right. In general terms, Christian Democratic parties are 'committed to certain common ideas and principles' (p 29). In response to the spread of communism they support the need to defend Christian values and human rights, and in reaction to Fascism/Nazism come out strongly for a reformed pluralistic society. Christian Democratic parties have usually sought to break out of a narrow confessional framework and to develop into people's parties. The main body of the book (pp 59-233) presents chapter by chapter accounts of Christian Democratic parties in Italy, Germany, Belgium,