Christianity
The political role of Christianity has varied greatly from nation to nation. It has
steadily become less important in most Western democracies, since voters
increasingly support political parties on grounds that have little to do with
religion. Where it retains some importance in politics, this manifests itself in
two main ways. One is the conflict between clerical andanti-clericalfactions,
which used to be fierce in France and is still significant in Italy. The other is the
conflict between parties representing different Christian denominations. The
denominations are usually Catholic and Protestant, although in some coun-
tries, notably the Netherlands, divisions inside Protestantism gave rise to
separate political organizations. However, a series of consolidations during
the 1970s and 1980s along political lines of parties previously distinguished by
denomination, principally between Calvinist and Catholic, is an indication of
the decline in religion as a politically motivating factor in Europe. Even where
there are no overtly Christian parties, politics and religion may still be linked,
and some of these links (for example in themoral majorityin the USA), may
even be getting stronger. Political parties in countries as different as Australia,
Canada and Britain still tend to attract specific religious groups. Until recently
a majority of Roman Catholics of all classes voted for the Labour Party in
Britain, while the Conservative Party has traditionally been popular among
Anglicans. In some countries or territories, the most notable example being
Northern Ireland, conflicts between Christian sects are the entire basis for
political alignment. Usually, however, as in the new Eastern European democ-
racies, Christian politics is right wing, socialism still being the prerogative of
the rump communist parties.
Christianity as such is not usually seen as leading to any particular political
position, and despite its sheer numbers world-wide, it has relatively little
political force, though institutions like the World Council of Churches may
on occasion exercise a good deal of influence. Where nominally Christian
parties exist, as for example in Germany, they tend over time to become fairly
orthodox conservative parties (seeChristian democracy). The political
impact of committed Christians since the late 20th century has been somewhat
contradictory, depending on other aspects of the relevant political culture.
Thus in Europe, radical pacifist movements have often been led by or heavily
influenced by Christian movements, while in the USA the impact of ‘born
again’ Christians has been largely conservative, not only on moral issues, such
asabortion, but across the range of political issues.
Citizenship
At its core, citizenship is a legal status, although increasingly political theorists
are seeking to return the concept to an earlier usage when it was, in their view,
Christianity