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Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social teaching and Neo-Calvinist theology. [1] [2] Christian democracy continues to be influential in Europe and Latin America, though in a number of countries its Christian ethos has been diluted by secularisation. In practice, Christian democracy is often considered centre-right on cultural, social and moral issues, but centre-left "with respect to economic and labor issues, civil rights, and foreign policy" as well as the environment, [3] [nb 1] generally supporting a social market economy. [5] Christian democracy can be seen as either conservative, centrist, or liberal / left of, right of, or center of the mainstream political parties depending on the social and political atmosphere of a given country and the positions held by individual Christian democratic parties. In Europe, where their opponents have traditionally been secularist socialists, Christian democratic parties are moderately conservative overall, whereas in the very different cultural and political environment of Latin America they tend to lean to the left. It is the dominant centre-right political movement in Europe, but by contrast, Christian democratic parties in Latin America tend to be left-leaning. [6] Christian democracy includes elements common to several other political ideologies, including conservatism, liberalism, and social democracy. In the United States, Christian democratic parties of Europe and Latin America, deemed conservative and liberal respectively in their geopolitical regions, are both generally regarded as farther left-wing of the mainstream.[ citation needed ]
