Presentation to the Nordic Young Christian Democrats (KDUN) in Oslo, October 5th 2013. - I was challenged to share my reflections on Christian Democracy and Conservatism, two ideologies that form idea basis for many of the most dominant political parties in Europe. More on the same subject can be found in this booklet where I contributed with an essay about the development of Christian Democracy in Europe and the Nordics (primarily Norway and Sweden): www.civita.no/assets/2011/04/pdf-100-Tre-essays-om-kristendemokrati-001.pdf

1. 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

2. 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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3. CD
Cons
Lib
SD
CD
ConsLib
SAME, SAME BUT DIFFERENT?
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4. CD
ConsLib
Borgerlig?
SAME, SAME BUT DIFFERENT?
CD
Cons
Lib
SD
4
Borgerlig?

5. LIKE A HORSE AND CARRIAGE?
1.Defining Conservatism
2.Defining Christian Democracy
3.Nordic particularities
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Christian
Democracy
Conservatism

6. CONSERVATISM
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7. 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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8. 8
“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.”

9. 9
“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”

10. CHRISTIAN DEMOCRACY
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11. 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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12. 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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13. 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»

14. 14
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."

15. 15
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.”

17. 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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18. Q&A / DEBATE
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19. 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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