The Christian Social Party ( nl, Christelijk-Sociale Partij; CSP) was a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

Christian socialist Christian socialism is a religious and political philosophy that blends Christianity and socialism, endorsing left-wing politics and socialist economics on the basis of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Many Christian socialists believe cap ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

. The CSP played only a minor role in Dutch politics and is historically linked to the Labour Party.

Party history

The CSP was founded in 1907 by former members of the

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

reformed Reform is beneficial change Reform may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine *''Reforme'' ("Reforms"), initial name of the ...

Christian Historical Union The Christian Historical Union ( nl, Christelijk-Historische Unie, CHU) was a Protestant Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The CHU is one of the predecessors of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), into which it merged ...

. In the

1918 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1918. Many of these were disrupted by the 1918 Influenza Pandemic, and the First World War. Europe * 1918 Danish Folketing election * 1918 Danish Landsting election * 1918 Dutch general election * 1918 ...

, the first election with a system of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

and male

universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political sta ...

the restriction to get into the Tweede Kamer were relatively low, one needed more than half of a percentage of the vote to be elected. Consequently, the CSP was elected with only 8000 votes (that is .6% of vote). The CSP MP Van der Laar played only a minor role in Dutch politics. In the

1922 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1922. * 1922 Cardinal electors in Papal conclave * 1922 Papal conclave Africa * 1922 Southern Rhodesian government referendum Asia * 1922 Philippine House of Representatives elections * 1922 Philippi ...

the restrictions to enter parliament where raised. The CSP was unable to maintain its seat. In the 1925 elections the party campaigned as the Protestant People's Party (Dutch: ''Protestantse Volkspartij'', PVP). In 1926 the CSP founded the Christian Democratic Union with former members of the

Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ 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 te ...

and the

League of Christian Socialists The League of Christian Socialists ( nl, Bond Christen-Socialisten, or BCS) was a Dutch Christian socialist political party. Party History The BCS was founded in 1907. In the 1918 elections, the first election with a system of proportional repres ...

Ideology and issues

CSP was both a

social-democratic Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...

and a conservative

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

party. CSP was a

reformist Reformism is a political doctrine advocating the reform of an existing system or institution instead of its abolition and replacement. Within the socialist movement, reformism is the view that gradual changes through existing institutions can ...

party and rejected

class conflict Class conflict, also referred to as class struggle and class warfare, is the political tension and economic antagonism that exists in society because of socio-economic competition among the social classes or between rich and poor. The forms ...

. The party was anti-papist and rejected the

cooperation Cooperation (written as co-operation in British English) is the process of groups of organisms working or acting together for common, mutual, or some underlying benefit, as opposed to working in competition for selfish benefit. Many animal ...

between the Protestant

and the Catholic General League. Its program combined conservative Protestant proposals with social democratic ones. Among the social-democratic proposals were

nationalization Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to priv ...

of core industries,

workers' councils A workers' council or labor council is a form of political and economic organization in which a workplace or municipality is governed by a council made up of workers or their elected delegates. The workers within each council decide on what thei ...

in companies and

profit sharing Profit sharing is various incentive plans introduced by businesses that provide direct or indirect payments to employees that depend on company's profitability in addition to employees' regular salary and bonuses. In publicly traded companies th ...

. Among the conservative proposals was the proposal to financially privilege the

Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, abbreviated NHK) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the original denomination of the Dutch Royal Family a ...

to maintain the Protestant identity of the Netherlands. An interesting proposal, for the 1910s, was to enact legislation against the

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...

of soils, water and air.

Representation

This table shows the election results of the CSP in elections to the House of Representatives, the Senate and the States-Provincial, as well as the party's political leadership: the fractievoorzitter, the chair of the parliamentary party and the lijsttrekker, the party's top candidate in the general election, these posts are normally taken by the party's leader.

Provincial and municipal government

The party held several seats in municipal legislatives and in the

Gelderland Gelderland (), also known as Guelders () in English, is a province of the Netherlands, occupying the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Netherlands by land area, and second by ...

Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

and Overijssel States Provincial.

Electorate

The CSP had only a limited support, which it drew Protestants from lower classes.

International comparison

The CSP is as Christian socialist party comparable to the members of the International League of Religious Socialists.

References

{{Dutch Christian political parties 1907 establishments in the Netherlands 1926 disestablishments in the Netherlands Christian socialist organizations Confessional parties in the Netherlands Defunct Christian political parties Defunct socialist parties in the Netherlands Labour Party (Netherlands) Political parties disestablished in 1926 Political parties established in 1907 Protestant political parties Social democratic parties in the Netherlands