Title Confessions of an interest group : the Catholic Church and political parties in Europe / Carolyn M. Warner

Published Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, ©2000

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Description 1 online resource (xvi, 249 pages) Contents The Catholic Church and democracy -- Interest groups, political parties, and religion -- The constraints and opportunities of history -- Interests, identities, and role definition -- Selecting an ally: the Catholic Church and Christian democracy in Italy and France -- Evaluating the alliance: exit or voice? -- Getting out the vote: mobilization techniques -- Christian democratic parties and their search for allies -- Comparative perspectives: Germany -- The political crossroads of Catholicism in post war Europe: contributions to a theory of interest groups Summary Following World War II, the Catholic Church in Europe faced the challenge of establishing political influence with newly emerging democratic governments. The Church became, as Carolyn Warner pointedly argues, an interest group like any other, seeking to attain and solidify its influence by forming alliances with political parties. The author analyzes the Church's differing strategies in Italy, France, and Germany using microeconomic theories of the firm and historical institutionalism. She demonstrates how only a strategic perspective can explain the choice and longevity of the alliances in each case. In so doing, the author challenges earlier work that ignores the costs to interest groups and parties of sustaining or breaking their reciprocal links. Confessions of an Interest Group challenges the view of the Catholic Church as solely a moral force whose interests are seamlessly represented by the Christian Democratic parties. Blending theory, cultural narrative, and archival research, Warner demonstrates that the French Church's superficial and brief connection with a political party was directly related to its loss of political influence during the War. The Italian Church's power, on the other hand, remained stable through the War, so the Church and the Christian Democrats more easily found multiple grounds for long-term cooperation. The German Church chose yet another path, reluctantly aligning itself with a new Catholic-Protestant party. This book is an important work that expands the growing literature on the economics of religion, interest group behavior, and the politics of the Catholic Church Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 223-241) and index Notes Print version record Subject Christianity and politics -- Catholic Church -- History -- 20th century Christian democratic parties -- France -- History -- 20th century Christian democratic parties -- Italy -- History -- 20th century Christian democratic parties -- Germany -- History -- 20th century Pressure groups -- Europe POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Political Process -- General. POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Political Process -- Elections. Christian democratic parties Christianity and politics -- Catholic Church Pressure groups SUBJECT France -- Church history -- 1945- http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85051183 Italy -- Church history -- 20th century. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85068885 Germany -- Church history -- 1945- http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85054482 Subject Europe France Germany Italy Genre/Form Church history History Form Electronic book ISBN 140081376X 9781400813766 9781400823680 1400823684

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