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 Countries with a party member of International Democrat Union as of September 2018 [update] | |
| Abbreviation | IDU |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1983 |
| Purpose | World federation of centre-right to right-wing political parties |
| Headquarters | Munich, Germany |
Region served | Worldwide |
Membership | 73 |
Official language | English |
Chairman | Stephen Harper |
Deputy Chairman | Brian Loughnane |
| Website | idu |
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The International Democrat Union (IDU) is an international alliance of centre-right to right wing political parties. Headquartered in Munich, Germany, [1] the IDU comprises 73 full and associate members from 63 different countries. [2] It is chaired by Stephen Harper, former Prime Minister of Canada.
A political international is a transnational organization of political parties having similar ideology or political orientation. The international works together on points of agreement to co-ordinate activity.
A political party is an organized group of people who have the same ideology, or who otherwise have the same political positions, and who field candidates for elections, in an attempt to get them elected and thereby implement the party's agenda.
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, the second most populous German federal state. With a population of around 1.5 million, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg, as well as the 12th-largest city in the European Union. The city's metropolitan region is home to 6 million people. Straddling the banks of the River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps, it is the seat of the Bavarian administrative region of Upper Bavaria, while being the most densely populated municipality in Germany. Munich is the second-largest city in the Bavarian dialect area, after the Austrian capital of Vienna.
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The IDU provides a forum in which political parties holding similar beliefs can come together and exchange views on matters of policy and organisational interest. From this, they act cooperatively, establish contacts, and present a unified voice toward the promotion of centre-right policies around the globe. The IDU has some overlap of member parties with the Centrist Democrat International (CDI), but the CDI is more centrist and communitarian than the IDU. [3]
The Centrist Democrat International is a Christian democratic political international. Until 2001, it was known as the Christian Democrat International (CDI) and before 1999 as the Christian Democrat and People's Parties International. It was formed in 1961 in Santiago, Chile as the Christian Democrat World Union, building on the legacy of other Christian Democrat internationals who tried to create a Christian-inspired third way alternative to the socialist internationals. In 1982, it was renamed for the first time to Christian Democrat International. The name was officially changed due to the participation of groups of various faiths. It is the global international political group dedicated to the promotion of Christian democracy. Although it gathers parties from around the globe, its members are drawn principally from Europe and Latin America. Some of them are also members of the International Democrat Union (IDU), although the CDI is closer to the political centre and more communitarian than the IDU.
In politics, centrism—the centre or the center —is a political outlook or specific position that involves acceptance or support of a balance of a degree of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy, while opposing political changes which would result in a significant shift of society strongly to either the left or the right.
Communitarianism is a philosophy that emphasizes the connection between the individual and the community. Its overriding philosophy is based upon the belief that a person's social identity and personality are largely molded by community relationships, with a smaller degree of development being placed on individualism. Although the community might be a family, communitarianism usually is understood, in the wider, philosophical sense, as a collection of interactions, among a community of people in a given place, or among a community who share an interest or who share a history. Communitarianism usually opposes extreme individualism and disagrees with extreme laissez-faire policies that neglect the stability of the overall community.
The group was founded in 1983 as the umbrella organisation for the European Democrat Union (EDU), Caribbean Democrat Union (CDU), and the Asia Pacific Democrat Union (APDU). Created at the instigation of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and US Vice President George H. W. Bush, the organisation was founded at a joint meeting of the EDU and APDU in London, England, UK. [4]
The European Democrat Union (EDU) is one of the three European wings of the International Democrat Union, along with the European People's Party (EPP) and the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe (ACRE). Its members include Christian democratic, liberal conservative, and conservative political parties. It is only a nominal sub-entity of the IDU, since it ceased its activities in 2002.
The Caribbean Democrat Union is an alliance of moderate and centre-right political parties in the Caribbean. It is affiliated to the global International Democrat Union.
The Asia Pacific Democrat Union (APDU) is an international association of member parties close to the International Democratic Union. Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe is the current chairperson of the Asia Pacific Democrat Union.
The IDU has several regional affiliates: the Democrat Union of Africa, the Union of Latin American Parties, the Asia Pacific Democrat Union, the Caribbean Democrat Union, and the European People's Party, the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe [5] and the (dormant since 2002) European Democrat Union in Europe. It also has an affiliated youth wing the International Young Democrat Union led by Australian Simon Breheny [6] and an affiliated women's wing in the International Women's Democrat Union.
The Democrat Union of Africa is an alliance of centre-right political parties in Africa. Founded in Dakar, Senegal, in 1997, it is affiliated with the global International Democrat Union. It aims to bring together parties with similar aims and political goals, such as the protection of democracy and individual liberty, from the whole of Africa, with its headquarters being found in Accra, Ghana.
The Union of Latin American Parties is an alliance of centre-right political parties in Latin America and Canada. It is affiliated with the global International Democrat Union.
The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with conservative and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties, not individuals. Founded by primarily Christian democratic parties in 1976, it has since broadened its membership to include liberal-conservative parties and parties with other centre-right political perspectives.
