People’s Parties in Crisis

Since the Second World War, the Christian Democrats in Belgium and the Netherlands have had a significant influence on the politics of their respective countries and on the European unification process. In the last two decades they have also had to overcome some fundamental crises. In the most recent elections their popularity reached an all-time low. What has happened to them and the way they have attempted to deal with these crises could provide an indication of the challenges ahead for other Christian democratic parties.