Christian democracy in post‐war Europe

Conservatism writ‐large or distinctive political phenomenon

Bibliographic Data

ID8041490
AuthorsR E M Irving (University of Edinburgh, corresponding author)
Year1979
Volume2
Issue1
Pages53-68
Publication date1979-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueWest European Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0140-2382 • E-ISSN: 1743-9655
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01402387908424226
OpenAlexW2035879433
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited3

Christian Democracy has been a major political force in Western Europe since the war, after which it emerged in dramatic fashion to fill the vacuum left by the totalitarian movements. However, Christian Democracy is not simply a synonym for Conservatism. Rather it has distinctive characteristics of its own, but these do not amount to a Weltanschauung, and Christian Democracy is too diverse socially and politically to merit the epithet 'movement'. The author discusses the reasons for the decline of Christian Democracy in the 1960s, and then assesses the Christian Democratic revival of the 1970s, reviewing the problems faced by the Christian Democrats transnationally and domestically. He concludes that whilst the Christian Democratic parties remain powerful in many individual European countries, Christian Democracy as a transitional force in the European Community remains an unknown quantity owing to its political diversity

Christian right · Conservatism · Democracy · Epistemology · Phenomenon · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Writ · Law · Philosophy · Religion and Society Interactions

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