Western European countries is an example of chilling effect, whereby parlia-
mentarians avoid legislative experiments they would wish to support because
of their guesses about how their constitutional court may rule if the legislation
is challenged. As such, chilling effects are simply a specific example of a general
problem of power, which is that an actor may well exercise power, perhaps
even against his will, because of other people’s anticipation of his future
actions. Where chilling effects become a problem is not where they concern
the institutions that it is thought may make the future decisions—there is, after
all, nothing improper about a legislator refraining from doing something that
he thinks may be unconstitutional. The problem is the unscrupulous use of the
argument by those opposed for other reasons to some legislation, compounded
by inappropriate timidity on the part of the potential supporter. The chilling
effect matters when it becomes an excuse not to do something, because a court
is not usually allowed to re-assure people by making a prospective statement
that it will not, if asked, find a proposed piece of legislation unconstitutional.
Christian Democracy
Christian democracy was principally a post-Second World War political
movement, typified by the Christian democrat parties of Italy, Germany and
the FrenchFourth Republic. Christian democratic parties also emerged in
Latin America and, more recently, in Eastern Europe—both regions where
democracy is less well established, but where religious influence remains
strong. Traditional democrat parties are similar in most ways to moderate —
conservative parties, such as those of Britain and the Old Commonwealth.
They are likely to stand for a moderate socialliberalism, a mixed economy, an
acceptance that there should be basic social welfare provisions, and some
degree of commitment to full employment through government economic
policies. The adjective ‘Christian’ now often has little religious significance but
derives from historical factors, notably the emergence of these parties in France
and Italy from Second World War religious resistance movements linked with
the Church. The Italian Christian Democrats were partial exceptions to this
statement since they were always closely associated with the Catholic Church
in Italy. Opposition to theEurocommunistparties was a mainstay of these
parties, and Catholic opposition to communism gave the ‘Christian’ label a
certain utility. The word ‘Democracy’ serves to identify the parties concerned
as being dedicated to the general interest, rather than those of an aristocracy or
e ́lite like most pre-war conservative parties. The decline in the importance of
religion as a politically motivating factor throughout Europe is progressively
reducing the appeal of Christian democracyper se,but by now many of the
leading parties have become so entrenched that they are unlikely to suffer
much electoral damage. The obvious exception to this is the Italian Christian
Christian Democracy