CHRISTIAN DEMOCRACY AND
CONSERVATISM
P R E S E N T A T I O N F O R K D U N
B Y D A V I D H A N S E N
The difference between Christian Democracy and Conservatism
and what defines Nordic Christian Democracy.
“Sometimes I'm liberal,
sometimes I'm conservative
and sometimes I'm Christian
Social.”
"Mal bin ich liberal,
mal bin ich konservativ,
mal bin ich christlich-sozial."
YOUR REQUEST
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CD
Cons
Lib
SD
CD
Cons Lib
SAME, SAME BUT DIFFERENT?
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CD
Cons Lib
Borgerlig?
SAME, SAME BUT DIFFERENT?
CD
Cons
Lib
SD
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Borgerlig?
LIKE A HORSE AND CARRIAGE?
1.Defining Conservatism
2.Defining Christian Democracy
3.Nordic particularities
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Christian Democracy
Conservatism
CONSERVATISM
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CONSERVATISM
1.Tradition
2.A realistic view of man
3.An organic (and realistic) view
of society
4.Authorities and natural
hierarchy
5.Property rights and other "first
principles" among human
rights (civil rights).
6.Rule of law and liberal
democracy
7.Nation and the value of the
national
8.Free enterprise
9.Limited government (*)
10.Individual freedom and
personal responsibility
11.Sedentary particularities
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“There is such a thing as society, it’s just not the same thing as the state (…) At the heart of what I believe are two simple principles: Trusting people and sharing responsibility. I believe that if you trust people and give them more power and control over their lives, they become stronger, and society becomes stronger too.”
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“For Labour there is only the state and the individual, nothing in between. No family to rely on, no friend to depend on, no community to call on. No neighborhood to grow in, no faith to share in, no charities to work in. No one but the Minister, nowhere but Whitehall, no such thing as society – just them, and their laws, and their rules, and their arrogance. You cannot run our country like this”
CHRISTIAN DEMOCRACY
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CHRISTIAN DEMOCRACY
1.Christian (humanist) view of
Man
2.Love your fellow
3.Principle of stewardship
(sustainability)
4.Pluralism and a pluralistic
understanding of society
5.Solidarity
6.Subsidiarity
7.Personalism / relational
approach to self-actualization /
communitarianism
8.Fraternalism,
supranationalism or federalism
(multi-level democracy)
9.Conciliatory shared values:
The People’s Party ideal /
Centrist / “Third Way”
10.Politics to serve for common
good
11.Social Market Economy
(ordoliberalism)
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FROM SOCIAL APPEAL TO PEOPLE’S PARTIES
• Christian Democracy is a popular oriented and democratic ideology, created
as a reaction among socially committed Christians that were upset by the
irreconcilable conflicts between interests that characterized the political life in
general and the role of party-political organizations in particular.
• The idea of conciliatory shared values
Two different tracks of Christian Democracy:
• Value-led popular parties
(Catholic and thus Continental and South European)
• Interest-oriented “pillar structure” or “confessional”
(Reformed/Calvinist and Nordic Protestant)
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ACCORDING TO K M BONDEVIK:
1. Emphasis on small societal units such as family and community
2. A proactive policy on environment and resource management
3. An active policy for regional development,
4. Promotion of voluntarism / civil society,
5. Respect for the so-called counter-cultures
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«CENTRIST» AND «THE THIRD WAY»
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ACCORDING TO G. HÄGGLUND
“For us, Christian Democrats, one thing is clear: We are a value-oriented party, an idea, party.
We are different from others. When communities are working at their best, among them family being the most important, they form an embankment of values against the continuous pressure from legislative and regulatory power. Without ethics - a mass of laws. When we leave the state of suspicion, bans and politicizing, we see a free and confident Sweden outlined."
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ACCORDING TO G. HÄGGLUND
“Certainly, we too have had our times
marked by a leftist urge to legislate.
Yet in our roots we never doubted
the force of personal responsibility.
There is now a process of renewal
within our party, which I hope will
lead to fulfillment of my image of the
Christian Democrats as the boarder
guards of politics - those who
cherish to protect the spheres where
politicians or ideologists should not
be allowed to micromanage.”
CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES
1) Lack of vision Who are the most conservative: Christian Democrats or Conservatives?
2) Particular interest party or people’s party?
3) Self-inflicted belittling
4) Refrain from totalitarian aspects of policy-making and mathematical politics
5) Rediscover the true nature of politics and the value of freedoms
6) Revive supranationality, international fraternization and solidarity
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Q&A / DEBATE
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CHRISTIAN DEMOCRACY AND
CONSERVATISM
Thank you for your
kind attention!
David Hansen
@dhansentwitt
+47 90523113
Presentation for KDUN
Oslo, October 5th, 2013
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