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Christian democracy

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An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic , in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones". Formerly applied primarily to economic , political , or religious theories and policies, in a tradition going back to Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels , more recent use treats the term as mainly condemnatory.

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149-564: Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism , as well as the Neo-Calvinist tradition within Christianity; it later gained ground with Lutherans and Pentecostals , among other denominational traditions of Christianity in various parts of

298-603: A fischblütige Bourgeoisdoktrinär (a "fish-blooded bourgeois doctrinaire"). The term has since dropped some of its pejorative sting ( euphemism treadmill ), and has become a neutral term in the analysis of differing political opinions and views of social groups . While Marx situated the term within class struggle and domination, others believed it was a necessary part of institutional functioning and social integration . There are many different kinds of ideologies, including political , social , epistemological , and ethical . Recent analysis tends to posit that ideology

447-400: A distributist economic system containing widespread distribution of productive property , in particular increased worker ownership (workplace democracy) and management (workers' self-management) of their production. The Christian democratic welfare state aims at supporting families and often relies on intermediary institutions to deliver social services and social insurance , often with

596-404: A liberal philosophy that would defend individual liberty , property , free markets , and constitutional limits on state power. He argues that, among these aspects, ideology is the most generic term because the 'science of ideas' also contains the study of their expression and deduction. The coup d'état that overthrew Maximilien Robespierre allowed Tracy to pursue his work. Tracy reacted to

745-686: A reactionary stance, influenced the Italian, Spanish and Russian thinkers who had begun to describe themselves as liberals and who attempted to reignite revolutionary activity in the early 1820s, including the Carbonari societies in France and Italy and the Decembrists in Russia . Karl Marx adopted Napoleon's negative sense of the term, using it in his writings, in which he once described Tracy as

894-824: A social movement , institution , class , or large group that explains how society should work, offering some political and cultural blueprint for a certain social order . Political ideologies are concerned with many different aspects of a society, including but not limited to: the economy , the government , the environment , education , health care , labor law , criminal law , the justice system , social security and welfare , public policy and administration , foreign policy , rights , freedoms and duties , citizenship , immigration , culture and national identity , military administration, and religion . Political ideologies have two dimensions: A political ideology largely concerns itself with how to allocate power and to what ends power should be used. Some parties follow

1043-400: A "critical reflection of the ideology concept". In his work, he strove to bring the concept of ideology into the foreground, as well as the closely connected concerns of epistemology and history, defining ideology in terms of a system of presentations that explicitly or implicitly lay claim to absolute truth. Marx's analysis sees ideology as a system of false consciousness that arises from

1192-488: A "just steward", which includes just stewardship over environmental matters. Pope Francis took a firm stance on environmentalism in the papal encyclical Laudato Si in 2015. Here, the idea of stewardship comes from the correct translation of Genesis, where God entrusts man with stewardship of the earth. The origins of Christian democracy go back to the French Revolution , where initially, French republicanism and

1341-510: A "third house of parliament" that would advise on economic matters. Heinrich Pesch's idea of corporatism would be a qualified notion of subsidiarity. Pesch's ideas would be influential in the Papal Encyclical Quadragesimo Anno , given that Pesch's disciple Oswald von Nell-Breuning would draft the document. Quadragesimo Anno was significant in legitimatizing the push for a corporatist system and subjected it to

1490-405: A certain ideology very closely, while others may take broad inspiration from a group of related ideologies without specifically embracing any one of them. Each political ideology contains certain ideas on what it considers the best form of government (e.g., democracy , demagogy , theocracy , caliphate etc.), scope of government (e.g. authoritarianism , libertarianism , federalism , etc.) and

1639-591: A coalition with the socialist party . Sturzo was ordered by the Catholic Church in 1923 to disband his party and exit politics. Poor electoral performance in 1924 would make Sturzo give party leadership to Alcide De Gasperi and go into exile. Once in power, the fascists disbanded the Italian People's Party. This would precede the signing of the Lateran Treaty between the Catholic Church and

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1788-418: A concept known as sphere sovereignty . One sphere ought not to dictate the obligations of another social entity; for example, the sphere of the state is not permitted to interfere with raising children, a role that belongs to the sphere of the family. Within the sphere of government, Christian democrats maintain that civil issues should first be addressed at the lowest level of government before being examined at

1937-503: A day of rest in line with historic Christian Sabbath principles . Another example of a Christian-inspired workers' movement is the Catholic Worker Movement established by Dorothy Day , which not only fought for better working standards, but also contributed to promoting the idea of pacifism and a just war . Popolarismo (or popularism) is a political doctrine conceived by Don Luigi Sturzo , however in reality this

2086-467: A doctrine of democracy. Academics have noted a few ideas key to Christian democracy, including personalism , solidarity (or some variant of social capitalism ), popularism (or some variant of its catch-all nature ), notions of "pluralism" (which in a vertical sense relates to subsidiarity , and in a horizontal sense denotes sphere sovereignty ) and stewardship. Personalism is a political doctrine generally linked to Emmanuel Mounier . It focuses on

2235-458: A few conclusions: Personalism has generally been the underlying basis in Christian democracy that leads to human rights, especially in relation to a right to life, a right to family and a right to aid, a right to suffrage, freedom of conscience, and freedom of religion. Modern personalist views also are inspired by ecologist values. Rowan Williams contrasts personalism, which he describes as

2384-501: A higher level, a doctrine known as subsidiarity . These concepts of sphere sovereignty and subsidiarity are considered cornerstones of Christian democracy political ideology. Christian democrats emphasize community, social justice, and solidarity, alongside supporting a welfare state , labor unions , and support for regulation of market forces. Most European Christian democrats reject the concept of class struggle and instead prefer co-determination , while US Christian democrats support

2533-424: A number of other propositions, which are. In this way, the essence of the lacunar discourse is what is not told but is suggested. For example, the statement "All are equal before the law ", which is a theoretical groundwork of current legal systems, suggests that all people may be of equal worth or have equal opportunities. This is not true, according to Althusser, for the concept of private property and power over

2682-527: A person's responsibilities over what is entrusted to them, especially their property. In Social Catholic circles in the 1970s, stewardship was explicitly linked to environmental matters. Stewardship was found in the first programs of the Christian Democratic Appeal , and from here alongside the works of American bishops, the idea would spread to other Christian democratic parties. They view competent and efficient government as emblematic of

2831-528: A pregnancy threatens the mother's life, when the fetus has little chance of survival, and when the pregnancy is a result of rape), but not in any other instances, and opposes elective abortion. The Christian Democrats left the Nueva Mayoría coalition on 29 April 2017 and nominated then-party president Carolina Goic as their candidate for the 2017 presidential election . The Nueva Mayoria has struggled to remain united as differences have opened up within

2980-466: A relation between humans and God, to modern-day capitalism, which is focused only on endless economic growth, which is harmful to the natural environment. The Christian democratic political economy has not tethered itself to one "third way" between capitalism and socialism, but rather various ways between capitalism and socialism. Over time, Christian democrats moved from solidarism to a social market economy. Initially, many Catholic political movements in

3129-485: A result of experiencing fascism. Christian democratic parties were also crucial in pushing for codeterminative works councils and workers on boards during this time. Despite this initial power, cracks started to appear; Christian democracy in France declined substantially, as Popular Republican Movement and its successors quickly fell apart. French Christian democrats would ultimately become subsumed into Gaullist parties. Similarly, minor Christian democratic parties such as

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3278-515: A shift toward a social market economy ( economía social de mercado ). The PDC had cooperated with centre-left parties after the end of Pinochet rule. Except during the military dictatorship (1973–1990) when the congress was shut down the Christian Democrat Party was the largest party in parliament from 1965 to 2001. In 2022 the party has faced a severe internal crisis, with many prominent politicians leaving it. The origins of

3427-511: A society and politically confuses the alienated groups of society via false consciousness . Some explanations have been presented. Antonio Gramsci uses cultural hegemony to explain why the working-class have a false ideological conception of what their best interests are. Marx argued: "The class which has the means of material production at its disposal has control at the same time over the means of mental production." The Marxist formulation of "ideology as an instrument of social reproduction"

3576-484: A sole explanation of ideology is that it does not explain the differences between ideologies. Terror management theory posits that ideology is used as a defence mechanism against threats to their worldview which in turn protect and individuals sense of self-esteem and reduce their awareness of mortality. Evidence shows that priming individuals with an awareness of mortality does not cause individuals to respond in ways underpinned by any particular ideology, but rather

3725-428: A state can intervene when these communities are not competent. In practice, subsidiarity has been used to justify the creation of international organizations, as higher international authorities need to exist to police nation-states. The idea of stewardship has traditionally been linked to managerial skills regarding property and income; Stewardship can be found in neo-Calvinist Abraham Kuyper's works, where it relates to

3874-523: A strong national government while remaining more conservative on social issues. However, after Pinochet's military regime ended the PDC embraced more classical economic policies compared to before the dictatorship. The current Secretary-General of the PDC is Gonzalo Duarte . In their latest "Ideological Congress", the Christian Democrats criticized Chile's current economic system and called for

4023-473: Is a 'coherent system of ideas' that rely on a few basic assumptions about reality that may or may not have any factual basis. Through this system, ideas become coherent, repeated patterns through the subjective ongoing choices that people make. These ideas serve as the seed around which further thought grows. The belief in an ideology can range from passive acceptance up to fervent advocacy. Definitions, such as by Manfred Steger and Paul James , emphasize both

4172-780: Is also present in other parts of the world. As a generalization, it can be said that Christian democratic parties in Europe tend to be moderately conservative and, in several cases, form the main conservative party in their respective countries (e.g., in Germany, Spain, Belgium, and Switzerland), such as the Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland , the Christian Social Party , the Evangelical People's Party of Switzerland and

4321-441: Is conceptually important to the sociology of knowledge , viz. Karl Mannheim , Daniel Bell , and Jürgen Habermas et al. Moreover, Mannheim has developed and progressed from the "total" but "special" Marxist conception of ideology to a "general" and "total" ideological conception acknowledging that all ideology (including Marxism ) resulted from social life, an idea developed by the sociologist Pierre Bourdieu . Slavoj Žižek and

4470-554: Is concerned with the causes, consequences and content of ideology, with humans being dubbed the "ideological animal" by Althusser. Many theories have tried to explain the existence of ideology in human societies. Jost, Ledgerwood, and Hardin (2008) propose that ideologies may function as prepackaged units of interpretation that spread because of basic human motives to understand the world, avoid existential threat , and maintain valued interpersonal relationships . The authors conclude that such motives may lead disproportionately to

4619-535: Is difficult, however, due to cultural relativity in definitions. For example, "what Americans now call conservatism much of the world calls liberalism or neoliberalism "; a conservatism in Finland would be labeled socialism in the United States . Philosopher Michael Oakeshott defines single-issue ideologies as "the formalized abridgment of the supposed sub-stratum of the rational truth contained in

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4768-430: Is ecology, which studies the relationships among living things on Earth. Perceptual psychologist James J. Gibson believed that human perception of ecological relationships was the basis of self-awareness and cognition itself. Linguist George Lakoff has proposed a cognitive science of mathematics wherein even the most fundamental ideas of arithmetic would be seen as consequences or products of human perception—which

4917-433: Is in no way akin to what John Locke is for liberalism , Edmund Burke for conservatism , or Karl Marx for socialism . Other authors critical to forming Christian democratic ideology include Pope Leo XIII , Pope Pius XI , Emmanuel Mounier , Heinrich Pesch , Abraham Kuyper , and Luigi Sturzo . Christian democracy can trace its philosophical roots to Thomas Aquinas and his thoughts on Aristotelian ontology and

5066-543: Is itself necessarily evolved within an ecology. Deep ecology and the modern ecology movement (and, to a lesser degree, Green parties ) appear to have adopted ecological sciences as a positive ideology. Some notable economically based ideologies include neoliberalism , monetarism , mercantilism , mixed economy , social Darwinism , communism , laissez-faire economics, and free trade . There are also current theories of safe trade and fair trade that can be seen as ideologies. A large amount of research in psychology

5215-733: Is often associated with Francis Fukuyama 's writings on the end of history . Contrastly, Nienhueser (2011) sees research (in the field of human resource management ) as ongoingly "generating ideology". There are many proposed methods for the classification of political ideologies. Ideologies can identify themselves by their position on the political spectrum (e.g. left , center , or right ). They may also be distinguished by single issues around which they may be built (e.g. civil libertarianism , support or opposition to European integration , legalization of marijuana ). They may also be distinguished by political strategies (e.g. populism , personalism ). The classification of political ideology

5364-562: Is reiterated by J. William Fulbright , while a similar form occurs in Eric Hoffer 's The True Believer . The revolution thus becomes established as an ideocracy , though its rise is likely to be checked by a 'political midlife crisis.' Even when the challenging of existing beliefs is encouraged, as in scientific theories, the dominant paradigm or mindset can prevent certain challenges, theories, or experiments from being advanced. A special case of science that has inspired ideology

5513-416: Is religious, and politics should reflect this. The development of Orthodox Christian democracy has been held back by the fact that Orthodox Politics has not received church support in the way that Rerum Novarum encouraged Christian democracy, or how early Christian democrats such as Luigi Sturzo received tacit consent for his political activities. Russian Christian democrats, for example, have had to develop

5662-549: Is seen not as an end but as a means of generating wealth to achieve broader social goals and maintain societal cohesion. The basis of the social market economy is ordoliberalism , or German neoliberalism, an idea related to thinkers such as Walter Eucken , Franz Böhm , Ludwig Erhard , Wilhelm Röpke and Alfred Müller-Armack . Ordoliberals viewed the concentration of power as a significant danger to liberty. They desired an economic constitution that would ensure competition in markets and free decisions, where people are uninfluenced by

5811-429: Is the social market economy , which is widely influential across much of continental Europe. The social market is an essentially free market economy based on a free price system and private property. However, it supports government activity to promote competitive markets with a comprehensive social welfare system and effective public services to address social inequalities resulting from free market outcomes. The market

5960-553: Is too confined to verbal systems. ' Worldview ' is too metaphysical , ' propaganda ' too loaded. Despite or because of its contradictions, 'ideology' still plays a key role in semiotics oriented to social, political life. Authors such as Michael Freeden have also recently incorporated a semantic analysis to the study of ideologies. Sociologists define ideology as "cultural beliefs that justify particular social arrangements, including patterns of inequality". Dominant groups use these sets of cultural beliefs and practices to justify

6109-518: Is ultimately ideological for Althusser are not the subjective beliefs held in the conscious "minds" of human individuals, but rather discourses that produce these beliefs, the material institutions and rituals that individuals take part in without submitting it to conscious examination and so much more critical thinking . The French Marxist theorist Guy Debord , founding member of the Situationist International , argued that when

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6258-519: Is used in a descriptive sense to refer to political belief systems . The term ideology originates from French idéologie , itself deriving from combining Greek : idéā ( ἰδέα , 'notion, pattern'; close to the Lockean sense of idea ) and -logíā ( -λογῐ́ᾱ , 'the study of'). The term ideology and the system of ideas associated with it was coined in 1796 by Antoine Destutt de Tracy while in prison pending trial during

6407-656: The Catholic People's Party to form Christian Democratic Appeal. European Christian democrats were a significant force in the creation of the European Union . At the beginning of the European project, three significant men were Konrad Adenauer , Robert Schuman , and Alcide De Gasperi , all Christian democrats. When the Rome Treaty was signed, Christian democrats were the leading governments in four of

6556-478: The Christian tradition. According to Aquinas, human rights are based on natural law and are defined as the things humans need to function correctly. For example, food is a human right because, without food, humans cannot function properly. Aquinas affirmed that humans are images of the divine, which follows human dignity and equality; all humans are equal because they all share that nature. Aquinas also affirmed

6705-1186: The Christian Democratic Union of Germany , the Dutch Christian Democratic Appeal , The Centre in Switzerland, the Spanish People's Party , the Mexican National Action Party , the Austrian People's Party , and the Christian Democratic Party of Chile . Many Christian democratic parties in the Americas are affiliated with the Christian Democrat Organization of America . Christian democracy continues to be influential in Europe and Latin America, although it

6854-605: The Christian Social People's Service (CSVD). Protestant workers' movements in Switzerland gradually developed mutual aid funds into an independent trade union movement. Around this time, Swiss Protestants formed the Evangelical People's Party . The 1930s saw the rise of the Christian People's Party in Norway. It was built on the work of Pietist Lutherans , and the party was initially founded to defend

7003-464: The European Union of Christian Democrats in 1965, and, finally, the European People's Party in 1976. Ideology The term was coined by Antoine Destutt de Tracy , a French Enlightenment aristocrat and philosopher , who conceived it in 1796 as the "science of ideas" to develop a rational system of ideas to oppose the irrational impulses of the mob. In political science , the term

7152-794: The Federal Democratic Union of Switzerland . By contrast, Christian democratic parties in Latin America tend to vary in their position on the political spectrum depending on the country they are in, being either more left-leaning, as in the case of the Christian Democratic Party in Chile , or more right-leaning, as in the case of the National Action Party in Mexico . Geoffrey K. Roberts and Patricia Hogwood have noted that "Christian democracy has incorporated many of

7301-853: The Italian fascists in 1929. The Centre Party and the CSVD would face the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany. Once the Nazis attained power in 1933, they attempted to take total power with the Enabling Act . Internally, the Centre Party was divided on the Enabling Act, but many became persuaded that Hitler would not eliminate the Reichstag. Comparatively, the historical anti-Semitism of

7450-626: The People's Democratic Party (PDP) would rise in post-Franco Spain. However, these movements were too divided and lacked the political necessity of religious cleavages to play a dominant role in Spanish democracy. These Christian democratic parties would fail, and the Christian democrats would join the Spanish Popular Party. Protestant Christian democracy developed in multifaceted ways in the post-war period. In Germany, it arose amongst

7599-481: The Reign of Terror , where he read the works of Locke and Étienne Bonnot de Condillac . Hoping to form a secure foundation for the moral and political sciences , Tracy devised the term for a "science of ideas", basing such upon two things: (1) the sensations that people experience as they interact with the material world; and (2) the ideas that form in their minds due to those sensations. Tracy conceived ideology as

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7748-622: The Socratic method , though without extending the vocabulary beyond what the general reader already possessed, and without the examples from observation that practical science would require. Taine identifies it not just with Tracy but also with his milieu , and includes Condillac as one of its precursors. Napoleon Bonaparte came to view ideology as a term of abuse, which he often hurled against his liberal foes in Tracy's Institut national . According to Karl Mannheim 's historical reconstruction of

7897-430: The means of production results in some people being able to own more than others. This power disparity contradicts the claim that all share both practical worth and future opportunity equally; for example, the rich can afford better legal representation, which practically privileges them before the law. Althusser proffered the concept of the ideological state apparatus to explain his theory of ideology. His first thesis

8046-400: The papal encyclical Rerum novarum in 1891, Pope Leo XIII recognized workers' misery and argued for means to improve workers' conditions. He also attacked economic liberalism and condemned the rise of socialism , and generally encouraged a corporatist approach to labor relations. Rerum novarum would provide Catholic labor movements with an intellectual platform and would coincide with

8195-404: The prohibition of drugs . Christian democratic parties are often likely to assert their country's Christian heritage and explicitly affirm Christian ethics rather than adopting a more liberal or secular stance; at the same time, Christian democratic parties enshrine confessional liberty . Christian democracy fosters an " ecumenical unity achieved on the religious level against the atheism of

8344-428: The "individual in community". Sphere sovereignty stresses the horizontal element; social communities have roles they must uphold and certain liberty and autonomy. Here the government had the role of policing the spheres. Subsidiarity is the vertical element, where the state has the role of protecting and regulating the spheres. The state must not interfere if these communities are behaving effectively. This also means that

8493-819: The 1942 presidential elections but Conservative Eduardo Cruz-Coke in the 1946 elections. Despite the creation of the Falange Nacional, many social-Christians remained in the Conservative Party, which in 1949 split into the Social Christian Conservative Party and the Traditionalist Conservative Party. On July 28, 1957, primarily to back the presidential candidacy of Eduardo Frei Montalva , the Falange Nacional, Social Christian Conservative Party , and other like-minded groups joined to form

8642-708: The 1981 plebiscite where Chilean voted to extend Pinochet's term for eight more years, Eduardo Frei Montalva led the only authorized opposition rally. When political parties were legalized again, the Christian Democratic Party, together with most left-wing parties, agreed to form the Coalition of Parties for the No, which opposed Pinochet's reelection on the 1988 plebiscite. This coalition later became Coalition of Parties for Democracy once Pinochet stepped down from power and held together until 2010s. During

8791-416: The 19th century opposed capitalism and socialism equally, as both were based on materialism and social conflict. Initially, the system that Catholics advocated was one of corporatism, based on bringing back a guild-organized economy. The idea was a society where individuals were organized by their economic position. In these corporatist systems, the fathers were the head of families. One of these conceptions

8940-490: The Catholic Church was hostile to democracy and liberalism. This hostility to democracy and liberalism would be challenged by liberal Catholics who believed the alliance between the church and aristocracy was a barrier to the church's mission. Initially, this group desired to reconcile the Catholics with the state of modern politics, getting Catholics involved in parties, public action, and parliamentarianism. This, however,

9089-619: The Catholic Church were deeply hostile to one another as the revolutionary governments had attacked the church, confiscated the church's lands, persecuted its priests, and attempted to establish new religions, first the Cult of Reason and then the Cult of the Supreme Being . After the decades following the French Revolution, the Catholic Church saw the rise of liberalism as a threat to Catholic values. The rise of capitalism and

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9238-658: The Catholic faith and anti-socialist and anti-liberal tendencies. In Ireland, Fianna Fáil was founded as a Catholic political party. Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, and Labor would all be avenues for Christian democracy in the post-war period. In the early 20th century, Protestant confessional politics developed further. In Weimar Germany, Stoecker's Christian social party joined the German National People's Party as its labor wing in 1918. The Christian social parliamentarians from this party would then leave in 1929 to form

9387-555: The Centre Party's participation in establishing the Weimar Republic . In Switzerland, Catholics formed the Swiss Conservative People's Party , which, as a party, was divided between three competing demographics; rural Catholics who wanted greater regional independence, Catholic workers who wanted economic reform, and the more conservative groups who opposed democracy. Overall, the party was held together by

9536-404: The Christian Democratic Party. Frei lost the elections, but presented his candidacy again in 1964, this time also supported by the right-wing parties. That year, Frei triumphed with 56% of the vote. Despite right-wing backing for his candidacy, Frei declared his planned social revolution would not be hampered by this support. In 1970, Radomiro Tomic , leader of the left-wing faction of the party,

9685-505: The Christian Democrats lost eight seats in Congress, and the right-wing Independent Democratic Union became the largest party in the legislative body. The Christian Democrats lost its influence to the socialists after Michelle Bachelet became president. For much of the 1990s and 2000s the party contained three main factions; "Guatones", "Chascones" and "Colorines" (lit. Fatsos, Disheveleds and Redheads ). The Colorines owed their name to

9834-744: The Christian Socials, many of which would help build the authoritarian state. Outside of Italy, Germany and, Austria, many Catholic and Protestant parties would ultimately be dissolved when Nazi Germany invaded the rest of Europe in World War II . Many Christian democrats would assist in the resistance in France. After World War II , "both Protestant and Catholic political activists helped to restore democracy to war-torn Europe and extend it overseas". Christian resistors were significant in establishing post-war Christian democracy movements in France, Germany, and Italy. The collapse of fascism led to

9983-717: The Danish Christian People's Party , formed in 1970, defended Christian schooling and dissented against secular trends such as atheism and liberal abortion policies. The Nordic Christian democratic parties did not represent the Lutheran state church but non-conformist Christians and lay activists within the Lutheran state church. In the Netherlands, the Protestant Anti-Revolutionary Party and Christian Historical Union joined

10132-567: The European Union has the ideas of subsidiarity and personalism embedded within it. The influence of Christian democracy on the European Union is such that one academic has called the European Union a "Christian democracy". Alongside the European Union was the development of European Christian democratic parties. This appeared in the 1940s with the Nouvelles Equipes Internationales, which would evolve into

10281-452: The French revolution and notions of individual and state sovereignty. It was the basis of sphere sovereignty , which helped the interests of Reformed Christians , which have historically been a minority. In sphere sovereignty, each sphere has its activity area related to God. Within this view of sphere sovereignty, it was the state's role to pursue public justice. Another element was that life

10430-527: The Italian Popular Party, and the rise of Mussolini would act as an anti-fascist force. Catholic Action would later help the post-war Christian democracy. Likewise, Catholic Action would work in the resistance in France and help found the MRP. In 1931, Pope Pius XI released the encyclical Quadragesimo anno , which was released on the 40th anniversary of Rerum novarum , and aimed to clarify

10579-451: The Lutheran ordoliberals . These Lutherans looked to Christian theologians such as Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer to path a way that obeyed worldly authority but also challenged the Nazi regime. The core of the ordoliberal ideology was a strong state that enabled market competition. During the war, the ordoliberals worked with Bonhoeffer to develop a political and socio-economic plan for

10728-519: The Middle East, people prefer traditional beliefs and are less tolerant of liberal values. Protestant Europe , at the other extreme, adheres more to secular beliefs and liberal values. Alone among high-income countries, the United States is exceptional in its adherence to traditional beliefs, in this case Christianity. In political science , a political ideology is a certain ethical set of ideals , principles , doctrines , myths , or symbols of

10877-501: The Neo-Calvinist corporatist idea has been credited as an inspiration for the polder system that currently exists in the Netherlands. Many of these corporatisms would advance the idea of replacing the elected parliament with corporative parliament recognizing the various corporate estates of the nation; industrialists, small businesses, peasants, landowners, workers, etc. The papal encyclical Rerum Novarum would recognize some of

11026-401: The Netherlands , and the Christian Social Party (Austria) . Initially, most of these parties accepted the anti-liberal beliefs of the Catholic Church at the time; many Catholics behind these movements believed all spheres of life should be regulated by religion. These movements were initially built by ultramontanes , were against the liberal view that church and state must be separated, and used

11175-543: The Netherlands, the Anti-Revolutionaries would not support pro-Vatican policies. A significant factor that helped Christian democracy during this period was the lay Catholic Action movements. These organizations stress the apostolate of the laity, which is the role of everyday Catholics in spreading the faith. In practice, these movements helped support the Christian trade unions and Christian democratic parties across Europe. In Italy, Catholic Action supported

11324-753: The Netherlands. In Graves de communi re , the pope would protest against using Christian democracy as a political label, preferring it to describe a social movement. Some academics consider the Catholic political parties around this time to be essentially Catholic and not Christian democratic. However, others consider the new Italian People's Party and the Popular Democratic Party (France) Christian democratic. These parties advocated political liberties, religious liberties, economic reform, and social partnership, policies to support democracy and internationalism. The Italian People's Party also advocated for regionalism and proportional representation. At

11473-415: The PDC regrouped to form Constituent Unity and participated in the 2021 constitutional convention election (as The Approval List ) and the 2021 gubernatorial elections . After those elections the group renamed to New Social Pact to participate in the 2021 general election , PDC senator Yasna Provoste was chosen as the coalition's candidate, coming in 5th place with 11.6% of the vote. After she lost

11622-589: The Protestant Christian Social movement left the Christian Socials susceptible to Nazism. The Nazi Party would infiltrate the Protestant unions linked to CSVD in 1931. Eventually, both parties would sign the Enabling Act , and both parties would summarily dissolve. In Austria, the Christian Socials would have already disbanded before Germany annexed Austria. In Austria, a short civil war between authoritarians and social democrats would divide

11771-651: The Spectacle . The American philosopher Eric Hoffer identified several elements that unify followers of a particular ideology: Ronald Inglehart of the University of Michigan is author of the World Values Survey , which, since 1980, has mapped social attitudes in 100 countries representing 90% of global population. Results indicate that where people live is likely to closely correlate with their ideological beliefs. In much of Africa, South Asia and

11920-467: The adoption of system-justifying worldviews . Psychologists generally agree that personality traits , individual difference variables, needs, and ideological beliefs seem to have something in common. Just-world theory posits that people want to believe in a fair world for a sense of control and security and generate ideologies in order to maintain this belief, for example by justifiying inequality or unfortunate events. A critique of just world theory as

12069-555: The beginning of the Weimar Republic , Adam Stegerwald attempted to reform the Centre Party into a Christian democratic party, uniting Catholics and Protestants. In Belgium, the rising workers' movement came to form the increasingly powerful Christian democratic faction of the Catholic Party. This period also saw other Catholic parties forming; Bavarian Catholics broke away and formed the Bavarian People's Party due to

12218-434: The best economic system (e.g. capitalism , socialism , etc.). Sometimes the same word is used to identify both an ideology and one of its main ideas. For instance, socialism may refer to an economic system, or it may refer to an ideology that supports that economic system. Post 1991, many commentators claim that we are living in a post-ideological age, in which redemptive, all-encompassing ideologies have failed. This view

12367-568: The centre-right; as with both the European People's Party and European Christian Political Movement , with which many Christian democratic parties in Europe are affiliated. Christian democrats support a "slightly regulated market economy ", featuring an effective social security system, thus a social market economy . Worldwide, many Christian democratic parties are members of the Centrist Democrat International . Examples of major Christian democratic parties include

12516-405: The coalition over approaches to a government reform drive, including changes to the labour code and attempted reform of Chile's strict abortion laws. In 2020, all Christian Democrats senators voted in favour of same-sex marriage . in 2020 the party gave its support for "Approve" in the 2020 Chilean national plebiscite . After the 2019–2021 Chilean protests most of La Nueva Mayoria including

12665-587: The commitment to an existing one. Zizek calls this "a post-modernist trap". Peter Sloterdijk advanced the same idea already in 1988. Studies have shown that political ideology is somewhat genetically heritable . When a political ideology becomes a dominantly pervasive component within a government, one can speak of an ideocracy . Different forms of government use ideology in various ways, not always restricted to politics and society. Certain ideas and schools of thought become favored, or rejected, over others, depending on their compatibility with or use for

12814-427: The commodity becomes the "essential category" of society, i.e. when the process of commodification has been consummated to its fullest extent, the image of society propagated by the commodity (as it describes all of life as constituted by notions and objects deriving their value only as commodities tradeable in terms of exchange value ), colonizes all of life and reduces society to a mere representation, The Society of

12963-404: The community for the individual; social democracies had sacrificed the individual for the community. Both parties returned to a traditional Christian teaching of "social pluralism" or "subsidiarity", which stressed the dependence and participation of the individual in family, church, school, business, and other associations. Both parties stressed the responsibility of the state to respect and protect

13112-419: The country's Christian heritage against the rise of secularization. There was cooperation between the Protestant and Catholic parties during this period. The Catholic and Protestant parties would form joint governments in the Netherlands and Germany. However, this cooperation did not challenge the underlying differences between the movements; in Germany, there was tension from cooperation with Protestants, while in

13261-402: The discrediting of the radical right. In Germany, conservatism was associated with reactionary and anti-democratic attitudes. The Christian democrats could claim to be untainted by fascism and thereby draw together conservative Catholics and bourgeois Protestants. In both Germany and Italy, the Christian democratic parties encompassed former conservatives. The Christian democratic parties dominated

13410-437: The earlier Frankfurt School added to the "general theory" of ideology a psychoanalytic insight that ideologies do not include only conscious but also unconscious ideas. French Marxist philosopher Louis Althusser proposed that ideology is "the imagined existence (or idea) of things as it relates to the real conditions of existence" and makes use of a lacunar discourse. A number of propositions, which are never untrue, suggest

13559-604: The economic programs of Catholic parties of the time, such as the Popular Democratic Party, and the Dutch Roman Catholic State Party , alongside influencing Belgian Catholics. The Centre Party, Christian Social Party, and Swiss Conservative People's Party already advocated corporatism based on economists such as Heinrich Pesch , Oswald von Nell-Breuning , and Karl von Vogelsang . In Germany and Austria, Quadragesimo anno renewed

13708-499: The economic relationships, reflecting and perpetuating the interests of the dominant class. In the Marxist base and superstructure model of society, base denotes the relations of production and modes of production , and superstructure denotes the dominant ideology (i.e. religious, legal, political systems). The economic base of production determines the political superstructure of a society. Ruling class-interests determine

13857-496: The family, education, and religion. As societies changed throughout history, so did the ideologies that justified systems of inequality. Sociological examples of ideologies include racism , sexism , heterosexism , ableism , and ethnocentrism . Christian Democratic Party (Chile) The Christian Democratic Party ( Spanish : Partido Demócrata Cristiano , PDC) is a Christian democratic political party in Chile . There have been three Christian Democrat presidents in

14006-401: The first Christian democrat. One of the more influential theologians in Germany was Wilhelm von Ketteler , who encouraged Catholics to accept the modern state. Ketteler argued for productive associations with profit sharing, Christian trade unions, and general workers' rights. In the 1870s, Catholic political movements arose independently of the Catholic Church to defend Catholic interests from

14155-543: The first round the PDC supported Gabriel Boric for the second round, in which Boric won the election. After Boric won the election, most of the New Social Pact parties supported joining Boric's government, on the other hand the Christian Democrat's president, Ximena Rincon, said that the party would be a "constructive opposition" and said that any member joining the government should have to resign to

14304-558: The first years of the return to democracy, the Christian Democrats enjoyed wide popular support. Presidents Patricio Aylwin and Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle were both from that party, and it was also the largest party in Congress. However, the Christian Democrat Andrés Zaldívar lost the Coalition of Parties for Democracy 1999 primaries to socialist Ricardo Lagos . In the parliamentary elections of 2005,

14453-489: The foundation for the idea of subsidiarity, alongside the ideas that the state is to serve the people and that there is universal solidarity amongst humanity. A significant Neo-Scholastic was Jacques Maritain, who attempted to reconcile democracy and human rights with Thomist natural law. Maritain argued that human rights are based on natural law and that democracy needs Christianity to succeed. Jacques Maritain would use Thomist ideas of property to reduce inequality, arguing that

14602-422: The free, organic participation of the whole people in the common good. Academics have tied the idea of popularism to the way Christian democratic parties encompass sections of the whole population. This results from the inherent religious center allowing cut across class divisions. In realization of this, Christian democratic parties tend to invoke the title "People's Parties". Academic Carlo Invernizzi Accetti links

14751-629: The government derived its authority from God, not from the people. However, Kuyper and the Anti-Revolutionary Party did support organic democratic representation and promoted universal household suffrage. In Germany, this element came from the Lutheran Adolf Stoecker , who established the Christian Social Party , and those who followed him. The Christian social movement aimed to challenge Marxist socialism, so Stoecker supported pro-worker economic policies to win over

14900-477: The government in the Communist countries." Christian democrats' views include traditional moral values (on marriage, abortion, prohibition of drugs, etc.), opposition to secularization , opposition to state atheism , a view of the evolutionary (as opposed to revolutionary) development of society, an emphasis on law and order, and a rejection of communism . Christian democrats are open to change (for example, in

15049-539: The government. As a result of the economic constitution, this model is mildly corporatist. This model of capitalism, sometimes called Rhine–Alpine capitalism or social capitalism , is contrasted with Anglo-American capitalism or enterprise capitalism . Whereas the Anglo-capitalist model aims to remove restrictions on capitalism and enable individual prosperity, the Rhinish Model embeds the market into

15198-480: The hair color of Adolfo Zaldívar and were the right-wing faction of the party. The Chascones led by Gabriel Silber and Gabriel Ascencio were the left-wing faction and the Guatones owed their label for being "close to power" through the figures of Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle and Patricio Aylwin , both of them Presidents of Chile. In recent years, the Christian Democrats have favored abortion in three cases (when

15347-505: The idea of popularism to proportional representation , pillarization , and consociational democracy . The Christian democratic notion of pluralism is about how humans are generally embedded in a social framework. John Witte , explaining the origin of Christian democracy, describes pluralism thus: Both Protestant and Catholic parties inveighed against the reductionist extremes and social failures of liberal democracies and social democracies. Liberal democracies, they believed, had sacrificed

15496-643: The ideology that they are currently aware of. System justification theory posits that people tend to defend existing society, even at times against their interest, which in turn causes people to create ideological explanations to justify the status quo. Jost, Fitzimmons and Kay argue that the motivation to protect a preexisting system is due to a desire for cognitive consistency (being able to think in similar ways over time), reducing uncertainty and reducing effort, illusion of control and fear of equality. According to system justification theory, ideologies reflect ( unconscious ) motivational processes , as opposed to

15645-485: The interests of workers in society. Some activists, such as Frédéric Ozanam , the Society of St Vincent de Paul founder, were more amenable to liberal democracy. Ozanam criticized economic liberalism and the commodification of labor and argued that charity was insufficient to deal with these problems and that labor associations and state intervention were needed. Italian Popular Party leader Luigi Sturzo credits Ozanam as

15794-431: The issue of patterning and contingent claims to truth. They wrote: "Ideologies are patterned clusters of normatively imbued ideas and concepts, including particular representations of power relations. These conceptual maps help people navigate the complexity of their political universe and carry claims to social truth." Studies of the concept of ideology itself (rather than specific ideologies) have been carried out under

15943-780: The late twentieth and early twenty-first century, Christian democracy has gained support in Eastern Europe among former communist states suffering from corruption and stagnation. On the European left-right political spectrum, Christian democracy has been difficult to pinpoint, as Christian democrats have often rejected liberal economics and individualism and advocated state intervention, while simultaneously defending private property rights against excessive state intervention. This has meant that Christian democracy has historically been considered centre-left on economics and centre-right on many social and moral issues . More recently, Christian democrats have positioned themselves as

16092-571: The liberal states. In Europe, generally, the liberal states desired to wrestle control over the Catholic education system; however, in Germany and Italy, this was a direct attack against the church. The Catholic political movements specifically opposed liberal secularism and state control of education; the parties that came out of these movements include the Centre Party (Germany) , the Catholic Party (Belgium) , various Catholic parties in

16241-569: The movements, seeing them as a challenge to the church's control of the laity. Over time, the impact of electoral politics on these parties pushed them to be more accepting of liberal democracy. To form effective political coalitions, these parties evolved from Catholic parties to parties inspired by Christianity and turned to voters, not the Catholic Church, for legitimacy. During this time, the Catholic parties took an inter-class nature, such that they comprised trade unionists, landlords, industrialists, peasants, and artisans, which academics have linked to

16390-587: The name of systematic ideology in the works of George Walford and Harold Walsby, who attempt to explore the relationships between ideology and social systems . David W. Minar describes six different ways the word ideology has been used: For Willard A. Mullins, an ideology should be contrasted with the related (but different) issues of utopia and historical myth . An ideology is composed of four basic characteristics: Terry Eagleton outlines (more or less in no particular order) some definitions of ideology: German philosopher Christian Duncker called for

16539-681: The natural reality of family and household, based on the lifelong commitment of husband and wife, perfected with children, a unit that has priority over other communities. Aquinas also argued that public power could legitimately appropriate private owners of their resources for the common good when used for people in genuine need. When Leo XIII became pope, he issued the Papal Encyclical Aeterni Patris , which rehabilitated scholastic philosophy. The pope highlighted Aquinas's views on liberty, authority, laws, justice, and charity in this encyclical. Aquinas's ideas would later be

16688-520: The notion of popularism . Protestant confessional politics was more wide and varied. The most significant movement was in the Netherlands, where Reformed , neo-Calvinist Protestants founded the Anti-Revolutionary Party . Similarly to the Catholics, this party was formed out of similar concerns with liberal control of education. The party was against the ideas of the French revolution, and its founder, Abraham Kuyper , held that

16837-507: The notion of subsidiarity. Around this time, corporatism became increasingly prominent among young Catholics frustrated with parliamentary politics and, in many instances, would inspire authoritarian and fascist regimes movements in Austria, France, Spain, Portugal, and Germany. Eventually, corporatism fell out of the political debate due to this association with authoritarian and fascist regimes. Another economic idea within Christian democracy

16986-527: The party by their own initiative to join Cristián Warnken 's Amarillos movement . Ximena Rincón and Matías Walker left the party in October 2022 to form the political movement Demócratas together with Carlos Maldonado and others. Also in October, Governor of Santiago Metropolitan Region Claudio Orrego left the party. Fuad Chahín , who was president of the party from 2018 to 2021,

17135-542: The party go back to the 1930s, when the Conservative Party split between traditionalist and social-Christian sectors. In 1935, the social-Christians split from the Conservative Party to form the Falange Nacional (National Phalanx), a more socially oriented and centrist group. The Falange Nacional showed their centrist policies by supporting leftist Juan Antonio Ríos ( Radical Party of Chile ) in

17284-452: The party. After this the PDC was excluded from the new coalition "Democratic Socialism" . The official support of the party for the "Approve" option in the 2022 Chilean national plebiscite has led a severe internal division, with various members openly supporting the "Reject" option and subsequent calls for them to be expelled. Some historic figures, like René Cortázar , Soledad Alvear , Gutenberg Martínez and José Pablo Arellano left

17433-407: The past, Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle , Patricio Aylwin , and Eduardo Frei Montalva . Customarily, the PDC backs specific initiatives in an effort to bridge socialism and laissez-faire capitalism . This economic system has been called "social capitalism" and is heavily influenced by Catholic social teaching or, more generally, Christian ethics . In addition to this objective, the PDC also supports

17582-445: The person, their intellect, responsibilities, and value. It stresses that humans are free beings with dignity and political rights, but these rights must be used for the common good. It also stresses that true human freedom is used in line with God's will. It is against the individualist and collectivist notions of humanity. It also stresses that people become full when they are members of their communities. In practical policy, it leads to

17731-429: The post-war period, Christian democratic parties became more conservative, partially in response to communism and secularism. The Christian democrats also won the women's vote in their respective countries due to the pro-family policies of Christian democrats. Christian democrats pursued decentralization policies during this time, encouraging regionalism in Germany, Italy, and Belgium. This was sought with increased favor as

17880-634: The post-war period, and after the war, they joined with Catholics to form the Christian Democratic Union. The ordoliberals termed their vision a " social market economy ", a vision the Catholics would also come to champion. In Sweden, it arose amongst the Pentecostals, where it coalesced in the Christian Democrats , founded in 1964 as a reaction to secularization. The Finnish Christian Democrats , formed in 1957, and

18029-838: The post-war scene. In Italy, the new Christian Democratic Party led the coalition government under Alcide De Gasperi , and in France, the Popular Republican Movement became the largest party in parliament in 1946. In Germany, France, and Italy, the Christian democratic parties helped establish their respective countries' constitutions. Between the 1940s and 1990s, Christian democratic parties were in power across western Europe; "In Germany they were in power for 36 years out of 50, in Italy for 47 years out of 52, in Belgium 47 years out of 53, and in Netherlands for 49 years of 53; even in France they were influential up to 1962". In

18178-560: The principles behind corporatism. The Christian democratic notion of corporatism was found within Heinrich Pesch 's solidarism . Pesch's solidarism argued for international solidarity based on shared humanity, national solidarity based on shared nationality, familiar solidarity for family members, and class and cross-class solidarity based on shared interests in the workplace. This latter solidarity focused on occupational associations advancing collective interests, codetermination, and

18327-568: The reigning social order. In The Anatomy of Revolution , Crane Brinton said that new ideology spreads when there is discontent with an old regime. The may be repeated during revolutions itself; extremists such as Vladimir Lenin and Robespierre may thus overcome more moderate revolutionaries. This stage is soon followed by Thermidor , a reining back of revolutionary enthusiasm under pragmatists like Napoleon and Joseph Stalin , who bring " normalcy and equilibrium". Brinton's sequence ("men of ideas> fanatics >practical men of action")

18476-403: The resulting industrialization and urbanization of society were seen to be destroying traditional communal and family life. According to the Catholic Church, liberal economics promoted selfishness and materialism with the liberal emphasis on individualism, tolerance, and free expression, enabling all kinds of self-indulgence and permissiveness to thrive. Consequently, for much of the 19th century,

18625-489: The rise of Christian trade unions across Europe. It was the catalyst for the beginning of Christian democracy in France, Italy, and Austria. The same year as the release of Rerum Novarum, Abraham Kuyper organized the Christian Social Congress alongside the Protestant workers' movement, where Kuyper outlined their social principles and policy. These actions reinforced the push for Christian social action in

18774-442: The shifts in the meaning of ideology , the modern meaning of the word was born when Napoleon used it to describe his opponents as "the ideologues". Tracy's major book, The Elements of Ideology , was soon translated into the major languages of Europe. In the century following Tracy, the term ideology moved back and forth between positive and negative connotations. During this next generation, when post-Napoleonic governments adopted

18923-545: The six countries, Germany, Italy, Belgium, and Luxembourg, and were a part of the coalition government in the Netherlands at the time. At least until the mid-1980s, social democrats were hostile to the institutions of the European Communities – even in the 1970s, Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme called the European Commission "conservative", "capitalist", "clerical", and "colonialist". Indeed,

19072-526: The social framework, with the goals of nation-building and of taking care of citizens. Beginning in the 1980s, European Christian democratic parties have partially adopted "neo-liberal" policies. However, Christian democrats in the American Solidarity Party instead adopted distributism . The promotion of the Christian democratic concepts of sphere sovereignty and subsidiarity led to the creation of corporatist welfare states throughout

19221-428: The state should be involved if individuals do not use their property correctly. Jacques Maritain and Emmanuel Mounier would also use Thomist thinking in developing their idea of personalism. Another intellectual element of Christian democracy was neo-Calvinism . The neo-Calvinist political ideas relied on John Calvin's ideas of the sovereignty of God and common grace. God's sovereignty was particularly useful in light of

19370-433: The structure of society) and not necessarily supportive of the social status quo, and have an emphasis on human rights and individual initiative. A rejection of secularism and an emphasis on the fact that the individual is part of a community and has duties towards it. Christian democrats hold that the various sectors of society (such as education, family, economy, and state) have autonomy and responsibility over their sphere,

19519-495: The subsequent social doctrine of the church. The encyclical doubled down on the pronouncements of Rerum novarum on economic liberalism and socialism. The attack against socialism was broadened to include moderate socialism, and within the encyclical, the pope outlined a corporatist structure of society based on the notion of "subsidiarity". However, the pope would stress the autonomy of this corporatist system to distinguish it from fascism. This Quadragesimo Anno would come to influence

19668-405: The superstructure and the nature of the justifying ideology—actions feasible because the ruling class control the means of production . For example, in a feudal mode of production , religious ideology is the most prominent aspect of the superstructure, while in capitalist formations, ideologies such as liberalism and social democracy dominate. Hence the great importance of ideology justifies

19817-444: The support of most Christian Democrats (except for Tomic's left-wing faction), some of whom even began calling for the military to step in. By the time of Pinochet's coup, most Christian Democrats applauded the military takeover, believing that the government would quickly be turned over to them by the military. Once it became clear that Pinochet had no intention of relinquishing power, the Christian Democrats went into opposition. During

19966-442: The support of the state. Christian democrats support the principle of stewardship , which upholds the idea that humans should safeguard the planet for future generations of life. Christian democrats also tend to have a conciliatory view concerning immigration. No single author has been recognized by all Christian democrats as the leading Christian democratic thinker, but Jacques Maritain comes closest. Thus, in terms of impact, he

20115-401: The systems of inequality that maintain their group's social power over non-dominant groups. Ideologies use a society's symbol system to organize social relations in a hierarchy , with some social identities being superior to other social identities, which are considered inferior. The dominant ideology in a society is passed along through the society's major social institutions, such as the media,

20264-406: The term "Christian democracy" in opposition to liberal democracy. The Centre Party in Germany seems to be an exception to this trend in that they defended the Catholic Church through an appeal to liberal freedoms and democracy. Additionally, the Centre Party, inspired by Ketteler, supported social legislation. Despite the thoroughly pro-Catholic position of these movements, the church itself resisted

20413-633: The terroristic phase of the revolution (during the Napoleonic regime as part of the Napoleonic Wars ) by trying to work out a rational system of ideas to oppose the irrational mob impulses that had nearly destroyed him. A subsequent early source for the near-original meaning of ideology is Hippolyte Taine 's work on the Ancien Régime , Origins of Contemporary France I. He describes ideology as rather like teaching philosophy via

20562-499: The tradition". Moreover, Charles Blattberg offers an account that distinguishes political ideologies from political philosophies . Slavoj Žižek argues how the very notion of post-ideology can enable the deepest, blindest form of ideology. A sort of false consciousness or false cynicism, engaged in for the purpose of lending one's point of view the respect of being objective, pretending neutral cynicism, without truly being so. Rather than help avoiding ideology, this lapse only deepens

20711-488: The view that political convictions always reflect independent and unbiased thinking. According to semiotician Bob Hodge : [Ideology] identifies a unitary object that incorporates complex sets of meanings with the social agents and processes that produced them. No other term captures this object as well as 'ideology'. Foucault 's ' episteme ' is too narrow and abstract, not social enough. His 'discourse', popular because it covers some of ideology's terrain with less baggage,

20860-519: The views held by liberals, conservatives and socialists within a wider framework of moral and Christian principles." Christian democrats are usually socially conservative and generally have a relatively skeptical stance towards abortion and same-sex marriage , although some Christian democratic parties have accepted the limited legalization of both. They advocate for a consistent life ethic concerning their opposition to capital punishment and assisted suicide . Christian democrats have also supported

21009-557: The vigor for corporatism. In Ireland, Political Catholics would pursue a policy of vocationalism taken directly from Quadragesimo anno . This vocationalism was most evident in the corporatist nature of the Irish upper house . Across Europe, the Catholic and Protestant parties faced the threat of fascism. Amidst the rise of Fascism in Italy, the Italian People's Party , under Sturzo , attempted to challenge Mussolini by forming

21158-492: The working class. However, when this failed, Stoecker turned to anti-Semitism. In Switzerland, Stoecker and his fellow allies generated some interest in Protestant political organization, but Protestants largely accepted the predominance of liberalism, so there was only minor growth of a Protestant political movement. The papacy of Pope Leo XIII was a turning point in the development of Christian democracy, and he attempted to infuse democracy and liberalism with Catholic values. In

21307-713: The world that continue to exist to this day. In keeping with the Christian democratic concepts of the cultural mandate and the preferential option for the poor , Christian justice is viewed as demanding that the welfare of all people, especially the poor and vulnerable, must be protected because every human being has dignity, being made in the image of God. In many countries, Christian democrats organized labor unions that competed with communist and social democratic unions, in contrast to conservatism's stance against worker organizations. In solidarity with these labor unions, in Belgium, for example, Christian democrats have lobbied for Sunday blue laws that guarantee workers and civil servants

21456-429: The world. During the nineteenth century, its principal concerns were to reconcile Catholicism with democracy, to answer the " social question " surrounding capitalism and the working class , and to resolve the tensions between church and state. In the twentieth century, Christian democrats led postwar Western and Southern Europe in building modern welfare states and constructing the European Union . Furthermore; in

21605-438: Was " ideology has no history ": while individual ideolog ies have histories, interleaved with the general class struggle of society, the general form of ideology is external to history. For Althusser, beliefs and ideas are the products of social practices, not the reverse. His thesis that " ideas are material " is illustrated by the "scandalous advice" of Pascal toward unbelievers: "Kneel and pray, and then you will believe." What

21754-412: Was Christian democracy in the political sphere. The papal encyclical Graves de communi re prohibited Christian democracy to be a political ideology, and so Sturzo used the term popularism instead. Popularism helped European Catholics come to accept democracy, and so the idea has been linked to Christian democratic ideas of democracy, which Sturzo Defined as: The political and social system resting on

21903-470: Was nominated to the presidency, but lost to socialist Salvador Allende . The Christian Democrat vote was crucial in the Congressional confirmation of Allende's election, since he had received less than the necessary 50%. Although the Christian Democratic Party voted to confirm Allende's election, they declared themselves as part opposition because of Allende's economic policy. By 1973, Allende had lost

22052-463: Was not an endorsement of democracy, and the liberal Catholics maintained they did not adhere to liberalism. Eventually, the movement's leading figures, such as Félicité de La Mennais , would become more accepting of democracy. The group came to be associated with a desire for a free press, freedom of association and worship, and free education. Around this time, Catholic social thought developed, with social Catholic theologians and activists advocating

22201-414: Was that of Franz von Baader , who advocated for proletariat enfranchisement in the corporatist system. Baader is recognized as the first person to advocate for workplace codetermination . Codetermination would become a key point of unity amongst the Christian democratic trade unions. In the 19th century and early 20th century, the Lutheran social Christians advocated an authoritarian view of corporatism, and

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