The period since the end of the Cold War has been characterised by an acceleration in the European integration process, a changing pattern of political ideologies and the emergence of new political parties and issues. This book assesses the impact of these phenomena on Christian Democratic parties in the current and future member states of the European Union and highlights some of the particularities and universalities of European Christian Democracy from a comparative and transnational perspective. Political scientists and historians from various universities examine the way in which Christian Democratic parties have responded to these challenges (for instance by a rapprochement with non-Christian Democrats) and explain how those responses have resulted in failure in some cases and success in others.

For the first time, this book reveals the actual roles of the Christian Democratic (CD) parties in postwar Europe from a pan-European perspective. It shows how Christian Democratic parties became the dominant political force in postwar Western Europe, and how the European People's Party is currently the largest group in the European Parliament. CD parties and political leaders like Adenauer, Schuman and De Gasperi played a particularly important role in the evolution of the 'core Europe' of the EEC/EC after 1945. Key chapters address the same questions about the parties' membership and social organization; their economic and social policies; and their European and international policies during the Cold War. The book also includes two survey chapters setting out the international political context for CD parties and comparing their postwar development, and two chapters on their transnational party cooperation after 1945. This is the companion volume to Political Catholicism in Europe 1918-1945.

This book is the first to reveal the roles of the Christian Democratic parties in postwar Europe, systematically and from a pan-European perspective.

This book focuses on the political exile of Catholic Christian Democrats during the global twentieth century, from the end of the First World War to the end of the Cold War. Transcending the common national approach, the present volume puts transnational perspectives at center stage and in doing so aspires to be a genuinely global and longitudinal study. Political Exile in the Global Twentieth Century includes chapters on continental European exile in the United Kingdom and North America through 1945; on Spanish exile following the Civil War (1936–39), throughout the Franco dictatorship; on East-Central European exile from the defeat of Nazi Germany and the establishment of Communist rule (1944–48) through the end of the Cold War; and Latin American exile following the 1973 Chilean coup. Encompassing Europe (both East and West), Latin America, and the United States, Political Exile in the Global Twentieth Century places the diasporas of twentieth-century Christian Democracy within broader, global debates on political exile and migration.

Assesses the development of Christian democracy, on the most durable political movements in Europe

KADOC Studies on Religion, Culture and Society 5In the twenty years after the end of World War II, a "Third World" was added to the Cold War concepts of the First and Second worlds, and postwar decolonization ushered in an era of development. For the first time, theories and policies designed to eradicate underdevelopment became prominent on the agenda of the United Nations. This international evolution inevitably had a dramatic impact on socialism and Christian democracy, two major ideologies with their roots in Western Europe. Both became part of the global political dialogues taking place beyond Europe's borders. The result was a sometimes violent clash of Western and non-Western belief systems.In Towards an Era of Development, Peter Van Kemseke explores the questions of whether political ideologies were being used as vehicles for promoting national interests and if socialism and Christian democracy were forced on developing nations or naturally spread to new parts of the globe. Van Kemseke also offers an assessment of the success of these ideologies in their new territories.

In recent years, and especially following the end of the cold war, democratization has become one of the most crucial issues on the international political scene. A great many states are undergoing an extraordinary and difficult transition to democracy. And that transition is deeply influenced by the new international context. A range of highly respected scholars from around the world and several disciplines tackle the role and importance of international relations in the democratic development of states in the Americas and Europe. Combining theoretical approaches with a rich set of empirical case studies, the book examines the development of democratic regimes in countries and regions as diverse as Brazil, Spain, Greece, the Caribbean, and East Central Europe. At the international level, the book considers the influence of US Foreign Policy, International politicalL finance, the UN, European Union, as well as the wide range of international political influences on the development of democratic politics. Oxford Studies in Democratization is a series for scholars and students of comparative politics and related disciplines. Volumes will concentrate on the comparative study of the democratization process that accompanied the decline and termination of the cold war. The geographical Caribbean, Southern and Eastern Europe, and Southern and Eastern Asia.