- This article is about the Dutch political party. See Christian Union (students) (with space between the two words) for the university religious organization, and Christian Union (disambiguation) for other meanings.
The ChristianUnion (Dutch: ChristenUnie) is a Dutch orthodox-protestant and Christian-social party. It combines a conservative point of view on ethical issues, with more centre left ideas on economic, migration, social and environmental issues. After doubling its seats in the 2006 elections it became the smallest member of the newly-formed fourth Balkenende cabinet.
Party history
Before 2000
The Netherlands has a long tradition of small orthodox Protestant parties in parliament. The Reformed Political Party (SGP) entered parliament in the 1922 election as a split off from the Anti Revolutionary Party, the Hervormd Gereformeerde Staatspartij (HGS) entered parliament in the 1925 election, a split from the Christian Historical Union. The SGP did survive the war years, but the HGS was unable to obtain seats in the 1946 elections. In the 1963 election the Reformed Political Alliance (GPV) entered parliament, although it was founded in 1948 as a split from the Anti Revolutionary Party over a religious issue within the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands. In the 1981 election, the Reformatory Political Federation (RPF) entered parliament. It had split from the ARP over the formation of the Christian Democratic Appeal.
The RPF explicitly stated in its manifesto of principles that it sought to unite all orthodox reformed parties in the Netherlands. The other two were less positive about cooperation however. The GPV which was only open to a specific current in reformed Protestantism, namely the Reformed Churches (liberated), did not want to cooperate with non-'liberated' reformed: it had rejected the entry of the group that was to become the RPF in the 1970s on religious grounds. The Reformed Political Party had rejected cooperation with these parties because they had female members while the SGP consistently ejected female suffrage. The RPF, GPV and SGP were testimonial parties, which chose to voice their concerns about government policy, while acknowledging that they are not big enough to force their opinion upon others.
In 1984 however the three parties cooperated in the European elections and presented a common list in order to enter the European Parliament. In the 1989 general election they formed a electoral alliance in order to enhance their chances of obtaining seats. In 1995 informal talks were opended between the three parties. The GPV had opened itself to non-liberated members, but the SGP not to women. The discussions with the SGP were broken off and the GPV and RPF continued together. For a long time the GPV was not willing to enter a large internal debate with the RPF which also performed better electorally; it had won three seats in the 1998 elections while the GPV received only two. From 1998 the two parliamentary parties cooperated with each other, held common meetings and appointed common spokespersons. In 1999 a group called "Transformatie" (Transformation) was set up by young people from both parties in reaction to the slow cooperation process: they tried to intensify the debate about cooperation. In the same year the cooperation talks were formalized and intensified, leading to the foundation of the ChristianUnion.
2000-present
The ChristianUnion was founded in January 2000 as an alliance between two orthodox reformed parties: the Reformed Political Alliance and the Reformatory Political Federation. In 2000 their youth organizations, GPJC and RPFJ fused completely, presenting an example to their mother organizations. In 2001 they formed a common parliamentary party in both the lower and higher house. In 2002 the alliance entered the elections for the first time. The party got four seats - one seat less than the 1998 election when they campaigned separately. It had polled much better, with some polling stations predicting seven or eight seats. The party's leader Kars Veling stepped down. He had been good at keeping the peace internally in a party still somewhat divided along the old GPV and RPF blood lines, but had not appealed well enough to the population at large. With preference votes a woman, Tineke Huizinga was elected into parliament for the CU, becoming the first woman to enter parliament for an orthodox Protestant party. In the 2003 the party lost an additional seat, and was left with three seats. This was probably due to party supporters voting for the Christian-democratic CDA, which was competing with the social-democratic PvdA, to become the largest party. The ChristianUnion was heavily involved in the formation of Balkenende II, but the liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) vetoed the formation of a CDA/VVD/CU/SGP cabinet and so the progressive liberal D66 became a part of the governing alliance instead. In 2004 the two organizations RPF and GPV officially ceased to exist, making the fusion into CU final.
In the 2006 elections the party doubled its seats and joined the fourth cabinet Balkenende. Rouvoet became minister without portfolio for family and children
Ideology and issues
The CU calls itself a Christian social party. The party has its roots in orthodox Protestant parties, often referred to as the "small right". It combines a conservative point of view on ethical and foreign policy issues, with more centre left ideas on economic, asylum, social and environmental issues. Its orthodox reformed ideals are reflected in its program of principles: It believes that the state is the sword maiden of God. It bases its politics directly on the Bible. However, it sees separate duties for the state and the church in public life: the church should spread the Word of God, while the state should merely uphold public morality. The state should respect the religion of its citizens. Other Christian principles, like neighbourly love and stewardship for the Earth, however have given the CU's political program a centre-left orientation.
Some of CU's conservative policies include:
More Center-left policies include:
- Public services of education, health care and social security should remain in government's hands, in a small-scale.
- Increased budgets for development cooperation in order to address the poverty in the global south.
- A more open policy towards asylum seekers, especially those who are persecuted for religious reasons.
- A relatively green environmental policy. Based on its electoral promises on investment in green energy the Dutch branch of Greenpeace termed it the greenest political party.[1]
Representation
In this table the election results of the CU in Tweede Kamer, Eerste Kamer and European elections are represented, as well as the party's political leadership: the fractievoorzitter is the chair of the parliamentary party and the lijsttrekker is the party's top candidate in the general election; these posts are normally taken by the party's leader. It also listed whether the CU was in government at the time. For further information the membership figure and the name of the party chairman of the CU are listed.
| Year |
TK |
EK |
EP |
PS |
Lijsttrekker |
Fractievoorzitter |
Cabinet |
Membership |
Chair |
| 2000 |
5 |
4 |
2 |
37 |
no elections |
Leen van Dijke |
opposition |
unknown |
M. van Daalen |
| 2001 |
5 |
4 |
2 |
37 |
no elections |
Leen van Dijke |
opposition |
unknown |
M. van Daalen |
| 2002 |
4 |
4 |
2 |
37 |
Leen van Dijke |
Kars Veling |
opposition |
27.250 |
M. van Daalen |
| 2003 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
26+3* |
André Rouvoet |
André Rouvoet |
opposition |
27.000 |
M. van Daalen |
| 2004 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
26+3* |
no election |
André Rouvoet |
opposition |
25.074 |
M. van Daalen |
| 2005 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
26+3* |
no election |
André Rouvoet |
opposition |
24.235 |
P. Blokhuis |
| 2006 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
26+3* |
André Rouvoet |
André Rouvoet |
opposition |
24.156 |
P. Blokhuis |
| 2007 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
35+3* |
no election |
Arie Slob |
André Rouvoet |
unknown |
P. Blokhuis |
26.673 |
*: elected on combined SGP/CU-lists (estimate).
Ministers
Currently the CU supplies two ministers and one state secretary:
Members of the Lower House of Parliament
After the 2006 elections the party has six representatives in the lower house of parliament:
Members of the Upper House of Parliament
After the 2007 Upper House elections the party has four representatives in the Upper House:
Members of the European Parliament
After the 2004 European Parliament elections the party has one representative in the European Parliament:
Municipal and Provincial Government
Provincial Government
Since the 2007 elections The ChristianUnion is part of the provincial executives of Drenthe, Gelderland and Groningen.
The following table below shows the election results of the 2007 provincial election in each province. It shows the areas where the ChristenUnie is strong, namely Groningen, Overijssel and Flevoland, provinces which have a traditional large conservative Protestant population. The party is especially weak in the southern Catholic provinces of Limburg and North Brabant and the more secular North Holland province.
| Province |
Votes (%) |
Result (seats) |
| Groningen |
10,3% |
4 |
| Friesland |
8,2% |
3 |
| Drenthe |
7,6% |
3 |
| Overijssel |
10,3% |
5 |
| Flevoland |
11,2% |
5 |
| Gelderland |
8,1% |
4 |
| Utrecht |
8,9% |
4 |
| North Holland |
3,2%* |
2** |
| South Holland |
6,9%** |
4 |
| Zeeland |
8,0% |
3 |
| North Brabant |
2,7%* |
1** |
| Limburg |
1,8 |
0 |
* result of combined ChristianUnion/SGP lists; ** members of the CU (estimate) in combined ChristianUnion/SGP parliamentary parties.
Municipal Government
Eight of the 414 mayors of the Netherlands are members of the CU. CU tends to have mayors in smaller rural districts in the so-called "Bible belt". This includes cities like Tholen, Staphorst and Elburg. The party cooperates in several local executives, both in the more conservative Bible Belt area, and in several larger cities like Leiden or Utrecht where the CU is a small party but needed to form a majority. It has 71 aldermen. It has 398 members of local legislatives.
Electorate
The CU was supported by orthodox Reformed of many denominations, such as the Christian Reformed Churches, the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated) and the Dutch Reformed Church. But members of newer churches such as the Evangelical Church and the Pentecostal community also supported this party. The electorate is concencentrated in the smaller rural districts in the so-called "Bible Belt" an area of more conservative Christian municipalities that reaches from Overijssel, through the Veluwe and the Biesbos to Zeeland. The party also draws support from Christians with an immigrant background, who are mostly located in the large cities.
The party is also drawing support from a growing number of conservative Roman Catholics, dissatisfied with the, in their eyes, less Christian policies of the CDA. Roman Catholics are welcome to become a member of the party although one of the foundations of the party is the Heidelberg Catechism, known for its staunch anti-Catholicism. During the Provincial elections of 2007 the party fielded two Roman Catholic candidates on their shortlist of the province of Limburg. This process has alerted some prominent CDA politicians. CU-senator Egbert Schuurman has stated the CU will provide a shelter for everyone who actively believes in Jesus Christ but also said the CU will always be a Protestant party.
Organisation
Organisational Structure
The highest organ of the CU is the Union Congress, formed by delegates from the municipal branches. It appoints the party board and decides the order of the First Chamber, Second Chamber, European Parliament candidates list and has the final say over the party program. A member congress has an important role in the formation of the CU's political direction.
Members
The CU currently has 26.673 members (as of January 01, 2007). They are organized in over 200 municipal branches.
Linked Organisations
The youth organisation of the party is PerspectieF which was formed as a fusion of the two youth organizations of the CU's predecessors the GPJC and RPFJ. The party publishes the HandSchrift (HandWriting) six times a year. The party's scientific institute is the Mr. Groen van Prinsterer Foundation, which publishes the DenkWijzer (ThoughtWiser). The women's organization is Inclusief.
The CU participates in the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy, a democracy assistance organisation of seven Dutch political parties.
International Organisations
Internationally the CU is a member of the European Christian Political Movement. Its MEPs are seated in the Independence and Democracy group.
Sectarian Organisations
The CU still has ideological strong links with so-called pillarized or sectarian organizations. Together with orthodox religious schools, papers like the Nederlands Dagblad and the Reformatorisch Dagblad, the Protestant broadcaster Evangelische Omroep, several Reformed churches they constitute the orthodox Reformed sect (Dutch zuil).
Relationships to Other Parties
Until 2006 the party had never been in government. It has good relations with the orthodox reformed SGP with which it forms one European parliamentary party ChristenUnie-SGP and the Christian-Democratic CDA, with which the ChristenUnie-SGP had an electoral alliance for the 2004 European Parliament elections. As a critical but constructive opposition party against the Second Balkenende cabinet the CU has gained sympathy from the leftwing parties in parliament, the PvdA, the SP and the GreenLeft, with which it cooperates in several local governments after the 2006 municipal elections.
International Comparisons
The Evangelical People's Party of Switzerland is the closest to the ChristianUnion as orthodox Protestant party that is leftwing in social matters, conservative in ethical matters and critical of the European Union.
The party is also comparable to the American Christian Right and the small Protestant parties of Scandinavia, such as the Christian Democratic Party of Norway, the Swedish and Danish Christian Democrats.
References
External links
de:ChristenUnie
fr:Union chrétienne it:Unione Cristiana (Paesi Bassi) nl:ChristenUnie pl:ChristenUnie ru:Христианский Союз sv:ChristenUnie
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