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

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Warner, Carolyn M., 1961-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

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.

France--Church history--1945-.

Italy--Church history--20th century.

Germany--Church history--1945-.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (266 p.)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, c2000.

Language Note:

English

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.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Tables

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Chapter 1. Introduction: The Catholic Church and Democracy

Chapter 2. Interest Groups, Political Parties, and Religion

Chapter 3. The Constraints and Opportunities of History

Chapter 4. Interests, Identities, and Role Definition

Chapter 5. Selecting an Ally: The Catholic Church and Christian Democracy in Italy and France

Chapter 6. Evaluating the Alliance: Exit or Voice?

Chapter 7. Getting Out the Vote: Mobilization Techniques

Chapter 8. Christian Democratic Parties and Their Search for Allies

Chapter 9. Comparative Perspectives: Germany

Chapter 10. The Political Crossroads of Catholicism in Postwar Europe: Contributions to a Theory of Interest Groups

References

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [223]-241) and index.

ISBN:

9786612767081

9781400813766

140081376X

9781282767089

1282767089

9781400823680

1400823684

OCLC:

700688708