Christian democracy

{{significantly problematic}}{{sources needed}}{{politics}}
'''Christian democracy''' is a political [[ideology]] based on [[Christian]] [[humanism]] and [[Catholic]] social teachings. While generally [[social conservative|socially conservative]], Christian democrats inch toward an [[economic]] model of [[social market economy|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==
As social conservatives, they don't like [[same-sex marriage]] and [[abortion]] all ''that'' much. While Christian democratic [[rhetoric]] revolves around [[family values|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 [[politics|legislation]] and [[culture]], something [[Republican Party|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.&nbsp;g., supporting single families instead of [[nuclear family|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==
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 state]]s, 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 [[Political_parties_of_Germany#Christian_Democratic_Union_of_Germany|CDU]] in [[Germany]], which has adopted many policies from the [[Green Party|Greens]].

==In America==

Many conservative [[Democrat]]s could be labeled Christian democrats, with those reluctant towards [[gay rights]] considered [[DINO]]s. 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 ==
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 ==
Exclude from the list political parties that belong to Centrist Democrat International but do not have strong Christian democratic tendencies.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|- style="height: 4em;"
! Country !! Acronym !! colspan="2"|Party !! Political position
|- style="height: 4em;"
|{{cf|ar}} [[Argentina]] || PDC|| [[File:Logo PDC Argentino.png|40px]] || {{wpl|Christian Democratic Party (Argentina)|Christian Democratic Party}}<br>(Spanish: Partido Demócrata Cristiano) || Center
|- style="height: 4em;"
|{{cf|au}} [[Australia]] || CDP || [[File:Christian_Democratic_Party_of_Australia_Logo.png|40px]] || [[Christian Democratic Party (The Fred Nile Group)|Christian Democratic Party]] || Right-wing to Far-right
|- style="height: 4em;"
|{{cf|at}} [[Austria]] || ÖVP || [[File:Volkspartei_Logo_2022.svg.png|40px]] || {{wpl|Austrian People's Party}}<br>(Austrian: ''Österreichische Volkspartei'') || Centre-right to Right-wing
|- style="height: 4em;"
|{{cf|am}} [[Armenia]] || OY || [[File:Armenian_Renaissance_party_logo.jpg|40px]] || {{wpl|Orinats Yerkir|Rule of Law}}<br>(Armenian: ''Orinats Yerkir'') || Centre-right
|- style="height: 4em;"
|{{cf|be}} [[Belgium]] (Flanders) || CDV || [[File:Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams Logo.svg|40px]] || {{wpl|Christian Democratic and Flemish}}<br>(Flemish-Dutch: ''Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams'') || Centre to Centre-right
|- style="height: 4em;"
|{{cf|br}} [[Brazil]] || DEM || [[File:Democratas_logo.svg.png|40px]] || {{wpl|Democrats (Brazil)|Democrats}}<br>(Portuguese: Democratas) || Centre-right
|- style="height: 4em;"
|{{cf|bg}} [[Bulgaria]] || СДС || [[File:Union_of_Democratic_Forces_(Bulgaria)_logo.svg.png|40px]] || {{wpl|Union of Democratic Forces (Bulgaria)|Union of Democratic Forces}}<br>(Bulgarian: Съюз на демократичните сили) || Centre-right
|- style="height: 4em;"
|{{cf|cl}} [[Chile]] || PDC || [[File:Emblem_of_the_Christian_Democrat_Party_of_Chile.svg.png|40px]] || {{wpl|Christian Democratic Party (Chile)|Christian Democratic Party}}<br>(Spanish: Partido Demócrata Cristiano) || Centre to Centre-left
|- style="height: 4em;"
|{{cf|co}} [[Colombia]] || PCC || [[File:Bandera del Partido Conservador Colombiano.svg|40px]] || {{wpl|Colombian Conservative Party}}<br>(Spanish: Partido Conservador Colombiano) || Right-wing
|- style="height: 4em;"
|{{cf|cr}} [[Costa Rica]] || PUSC || [[File:Logo del Partido Unidad Social Cristiana.svg|40px]] || {{wpl|Social Christian Unity Party}}<br>(Spanish: Partido Unidad Social Cristiana) || Centre-right
|- style="height: 4em;"
|{{cf|cz}} [[Czech Republic]] || KDU–ČSL || [[File:KDU-CSL Logo 2012.svg|40px]] || {{wpl|KDU-ČSL|Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party}}<br>(Czech: Křesťanská a demokratická unie – Československá strana lidová) || Centre to Centre-right
|- style="height: 4em;"
|{{cf|dk}} [[Denmark]] || KD || [[File:Christian_Democrats_Denmark.png|40px]] || {{wpl|Christian Democrats (Denmark)|Christian Democrats}}<br>(Danish: ''Kristendemokraterne'') || Centre-right
|- style="height: 4em;"
|{{cf|do}} [[Dominican Republic]] || PRSC || [[File:Social_Christian_Reformist_Party.png|40px]] || {{wpl|Social Christian Reformist Party}}<br>(''Spanish: Partido Reformista Social Cristiano'') || Centre-right to Right-wing
|- style="height: 4em;"
|{{cf|ec}} [[Ecuador]] || UDC || || {{wpl|Christian Democratic Union (Ecuador)|Christian Democratic Union}}<br>(''Spanish: Unión Demócrata Cristiana'') || Centre-right
|- style="height: 4em;"
|{{cf|sv}} [[El Salvador]] || PDC || || {{wpl|Christian Democratic Party (El Salvador)|Christian Democratic Party}}<br>(''Spanish: Partido Demócrata Cristiano'') || Centre
|- style="height: 4em;"
|{{cf|fi}} [[Finland]] || KD || || {{wpl|Christian Democrats (Finland)|Christian Democrats}}<br>(Finnish: ''Suomen Kristillisdemokraatit'') || Centre-right
|- style="height: 4em;"
|{{cf|fr}} [[France]] || LR || [[File:LesRépublicains15logo.svg|40px]] || {{wpl|The Republicans (France)|The Republicans}}<br>(French: ''Les Républicains'') || Centre-right
|- style="height: 4em;"
|{{cf|fr}} [[France]] || MoDem || [[File:MoDem logo 2019.svg|40px]] || {{wpl|Democratic Movement (France)|Democratic Movement}}<br>(French: ''Mouvement démocrate'') || Centre to Centre-right
|- style="height: 4em;"
|{{cf|de}} [[Germany]] || CDU || [[File:Cdu-logo.svg|40px]] || [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany]]<br>(German: ''Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands'') || Centre-right
|- style="height: 4em;"
|{{cf|gr}} [[Greece]] || ND || || {{wpl|New Democracy (Greece)|New Democracy}}<br>(Greek:''Νέα Δημοκρατία'') || Centre-right to Right-wing
|- style="height: 4em;"
|{{cf|hu}} [[Hungary]] || FIDESZ || || {{wpl|Fidesz|Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance }}<br>(Hungarian: ''Fidesz – Magyar Polgári Szövetség'') || Right-wing to Far-right
|- style="height: 4em;"
|{{cf|lb}} [[Lebanon]] || Phalange || [[File:Kataeb Party logo.svg|40px]] || {{wpl|Kataeb Party|Kataeb Party}}<br>(Arabic: ''حزب الكتائب اللبنانية'') || Centre-right to Right-wing
|- style="height: 4em;"
|{{cf|mt}} [[Malta]] || PN || || {{wpl|Nationalist Party (Malta)|Nationalist Party}}<br>(Arabic: ''Partit Nazzjonalista'') || Centre-right
|- style="height: 4em;"
|{{cf|mx}} [[Mexico]] || PAN || [[File:PAN logo (Mexico).svg|40px]] || {{wpl|National Action Party}}<br>(Spanish: ''Partido Acción Nacional'') || Centre-right to Right-wing
|- style="height: 4em;"
|{{cf|nl}} [[Netherlands]] || CDA || [[File:CDA logo 2021.svg|40px]] || {{wpl|Christian Democratic Appeal}}<br>(Dutch: ''Christen-Democratisch Appèl'') || Centre to Centr-right 
|- style="height: 4em;"e
|{{cf|no}} [[Norway]] || KrF ||  || {{wpl|Christian Democratic Party (Norway)|Christian Democratic Party}}<br>(Bokmål-Norwegian: ''Kristelig Folkeparti'') || Centre to Center-right 
|- style="height: 4em;"
|{{cf|ph}} [[Philippines]] || Lakas–CMD ||  || {{wpl|Lakas–CMD|Lakas–Christian Muslim Democrats}} || Centre to Centre-right 
|- style="height: 4em;"
|{{cf|pl}} [[Poland]] || PiS ||  || {{wpl|Law and Justice}} || Right-wing to Far-right
|- style="height: 4em;"
|{{cf|ro}} [[Romania]] || PNȚ-CD || || {{wpl|Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party}}<br>(Romanian: ''Partidul Național Țărănesc Creștin Democrat'') || Centre-right 
|- style="height: 4em;"
|{{cf|sk}} [[Slovakia]] || SDKÚ-DS || || {{wpl|Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party}}<br> (Slovak: ''Slovenská demokratická a kresťanská únia – Demokratická strana'') || Centre-right 
|- style="height: 4em;"
|{{cf|si}} [[Slovenia]] || NSi || [[File:Logo nsi small.png|40px]] || {{wpl|New Slovenia}}<br>(Slovene:''Nova Slovenija – Krščanski demokrati'') || Centre-right 
|- style="height: 4em;"
|{{cf|es}} [[Spain]] || PP || [[File:PP icono 2019.svg|40px]] || {{wpl|People's Party (Spain)|People's Party}}<br>(Spanish: ''Partido Popular'') || Centre-right to Right-wing 
|- style="height: 4em;"
|{{cf|se}} [[Sweden]] || KD || [[File:Christian Democrats Sweden logo 2017.svg|40px]] || {{wpl|Christian Democrats (Sweden)|Christian Democrats}}<br>(Swedish: ''Kristdemokraterna'') || Centre-right 
|- style="height: 4em;"
|{{cf|ch}} [[Switzerland]] || SP / PS || || {{wpl|Evangelical People's Party of Switzerland}}<br>(German: ''Evangelische Volkspartei der Schweiz'', <br>French: ''Parti évangelique suisse'', Italian: ''Partito Evangelico Svizzero'') || Centre to Centre-right 
|- style="height: 4em;"
|{{cf|ua}} [[Ukraine]] || SP / PS || [[File:XDC без фону-01.png|40px]] || {{wpl|Christian Democratic Union (Ukraine)|Christian Democratic Union}}<br> (Ukrainian: ''Християнсько-демократичний союз'')  || Centre-right 
|- style="height: 4em;"
|}

== See also ==
* [[Angela Merkel]] (She is a representative Christian democratic politician.)
* [[Liberal conservatism]]
* [[Social conservatism]]
* [[Asian values]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Political philosophies]]
[[Category:Social justice]]
[[Category:Conservatism]]
[[Category:Homophobia]]
[[Category:Sexism]]
[[Category:Conservative deceit]]

Categories: Political philosophies, Social justice, Conservatism, Homophobia, Sexism, Conservative deceit