Christian Democracy: The Similarities Between Luxembourg And Sweden

Introduction Luxembourg and Sweden are oft-overlooked countries in Europe. Each one has its own special charm, and something that truly defines its people. When one thinks of Luxembourg, the country’s wealth often comes to mind. With Sweden, the pop group ABBA jumps out. Regardless, something that binds these two countries together is the structure of their governments. They share very similar characteristics across their democratic institutions, which makes any difference significantly magnified. With these two countries, the central difference that exists across their democratic institutions is the performance of the Christian Democrats. Members of the CDU in Luxembourg have significantly outperformed those in Sweden. During the period from 1994 to 2010 in parliamentary elections, the Christian Democrats in Sweden average 7.65% of the vote while that same party in Luxembourg averaged 33.64%. That is a difference of 25.99%, which is a little more than every one in four people. So the question arises, why do the Christian Democrats perform so much better in Luxembourg than Sweden, when across their democratic institutions the two countries are virtually the same? A few possibilities come to mind, however, one stands among the rest, and that is the religious make-up of the two …show more content…
It is a well-established fact that Christian democracy derives its roots from the Catholic Church. As is stated in the book European Christian Democracy “A second theme that emerges in a number of essays is the relationship between Christian democracy and the Catholic Church.” The link between the two is an obvious one, and can be found through other sources as well. The Christian democracy page on the Encyclopedia Britannica states “Christian democracy, political movement that has a close association with Roman Catholicism and its philosophy of social and economic