Understanding the Transformation of Germany’s CDU

Understanding the Transformation of Germany’s CDU
Author: Simon Green
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 237
Release: 2016-02-05
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1317633520

This book analyses the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU), one of Europe’s most successful and influential political parties. The CDU might have been expected to struggle in the circumstances of a more diverse, secular reunified Germany, yet it has prospered to an extent almost unparalleled in western Europe. Chapters consider the CDU’s policies (the factors driving them, their variation across Germany, the relationship to women, and the welfare state), its organisational development and change, and its position within the party system. Contributors particularly emphasise the diversity of the CDU, and the way it varies across Germany’s regions. The CDU is compared to other Christian Democratic parties, and special consideration is given to the CDU’s Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU). This book was published as a special issue of German Politics.

The Origins of Christian Democracy

The Origins of Christian Democracy
Author: Maria Mitchell
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
Total Pages: 360
Release: 2012-10-04
Genre: History
ISBN: 0472118412

A pioneering exploration of the origins of German Christian Democracy in the context of 19th- and 20th-century politics and religion

Adenauer and the CDU

Adenauer and the CDU
Author: Arnold J. Heidenheimer
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: History
ISBN: 9401188106

This is a study in the reestablishment of de mocratic party politics in divided and occupied Germany after the downfall of the National Socialist tyranny. Its subject is the growth of the Christian Democratic Union and the rise to power of its leader, Konrad Adenauer. Closely associated with the success of the German Federal Republic in achieving prosperity, political and military power and the status of an ally of the Western powers, the CDU has yet been the subject of widely varying evaluations. Like the regime with which it is associated, it suffers from the fact that for many observers admiration for some German post-war achievements is mixed with residual distrust and skepticism. In addition, understanding of the CDU has been handicapped by confused images of the forces it represents, lack of knowledge about its internal organization, and the overwhelming position which its leader has achieved in recent years. To observers both in Germany and abroad the dominant Chancellor and party leader appears to overshadow both party and government with the result that the 1950'S, the vital period of German reconstruction, has already been labelled the Adenauer Decade.

The CDU and the Politics of Gender in Germany

The CDU and the Politics of Gender in Germany
Author: Sarah Elise Wiliarty
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages:
Release: 2010-08-16
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1139491164

This book develops the concept of the corporatist catch-all party to explain how the German Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has responded to changing demands from women over the past forty years. Otto Kirchheimer's classic study argues that when catch-all parties reach out to new constituencies, they are forced to decrease the involvement of membership to facilitate doctrinal flexibility. In a corporatist catch-all party, however, societal interests are represented within the party organization and policy making is the result of internal party negotiation. Through an investigation of CDU policy making in the issue areas of abortion policy, work-family policy, and participation policy, this book demonstrates that sometimes the CDU mobilizes rather than disempowers membership. An important lesson of this study is that a political party need not sacrifice internal democracy and ignore its members in order to succeed at the polls.

What is Christian Democracy?

What is Christian Democracy?
Author: Carlo Invernizzi Accetti
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 401
Release: 2019-10-03
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1108386156

Christian Democratic actors and thinkers have been at the forefront of many of the twentieth century's key political battles - from the construction of the international human rights regime, through the process of European integration and the creation of postwar welfare regimes, to Latin American development policies during the Cold War. Yet their core ideas remain largely unknown, especially in the English-speaking world. Combining conceptual and historical approaches, Carlo Invernizzi Accetti traces the development of this ideology in the thought and writings of some of its key intellectual and political exponents, from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day. In so doing he sheds light on a number of important contemporary issues, from the question of the appropriate place of religion in presumptively 'secular' liberal-democratic regimes, to the normative resources available for building a political response to the recent rise of far-right populism.

The Lander and German Federalism

The Lander and German Federalism
Author: Arthur Gunlicks
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Total Pages: 426
Release: 2003-11-22
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780719065330

This book provides a detailed introduction to how the Lander (the 16 states of Germany) function not only within the country itself but also within the wider context of European political affairs. Some knowledge of the role of the Lander is essential to an understanding of the political system as well as of German federalism. This book traces the origin of the Lander. It looks at their place in the constitutional order of the country and the political and administrative system. Their organization and administration are fully covered, as is their financing. Parties and elections in the Lander and the controversial roles of parliaments and deputies are also examined.

Reluctant Realists

Reluctant Realists
Author: Clay Clemens
Publisher:
Total Pages: 392
Release: 1989
Genre: History
ISBN:

It's the end of the school year and the prom is fast approaching. Gemma's friends all have dates and Gemma is destined to go alone. Gemma convinces herself that she doesn't care - it's great being single and free to mingle. But there's one boy who she secretly wishes would ask her - Sam. But Sam's dating Cindy - isn't he? Meanwhile, when Gemma is asked to assist the school webzine's editor, Cindy, to review a top fashion show, Gemma somehow finds herself on the catwalk modelling for one of the nation's most talked-about designers. But strutting her stuff on the catwalk isn't exactly a breeze When the school invite Gemma's alter ego, astrologist "Jessica Jupiter," to be a guest speaker at the End of Year Assembly, Gemma has no choice but to agree. But Jessica's horrescopes have played cupid for half the school - if they discover she's not real then everything will be shattered. How will she dupe the entire school into believeing that Jessica Jupiter is for real?

Losing Heaven

Losing Heaven
Author: Thomas Großbölting
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Total Pages: 356
Release: 2016-10-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 1785332791

As the birthplace of the Reformation, Germany has been the site of some of the most significant moments in the history of European Christianity. Today, however, its religious landscape is one that would scarcely be recognizable to earlier generations. This groundbreaking survey of German postwar religious life depicts a profoundly changed society: congregations shrink, private piety is on the wane, and public life has almost entirely shed its Christian character, yet there remains a booming market for syncretistic and individualistic forms of “popular religion.” Losing Heaven insightfully recounts these dramatic shifts and explains their consequences for German religious communities and the polity as a whole.

Selling the Economic Miracle

Selling the Economic Miracle
Author: Mark E. Spicka
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Total Pages: 312
Release: 2007
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781845452230

Through an examination of election campaign propaganda and various public relations campaigns, reflecting new electioneering techniques borrowed from the United States, this work explores how conservative political and economic groups sought to construct and sell a political meaning of the Social Market Economy and the Economic Miracle in West Germany during the 1950s.The political meaning of economics contributed to conservative electoral success, constructed a new belief in the free market economy within West German society, and provided legitimacy and political stability for the new Federal Republic of Germany.

Christian Democratic Parties in Europe Since the End of the Cold War

Christian Democratic Parties in Europe Since the End of the Cold War
Author: Steven Van Hecke
Publisher: Leuven University Press
Total Pages: 348
Release: 2004
Genre: History
ISBN: 9789058673770

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.