FUNDAMENTALS OF CHRISTIAN DEMOCRACY: HISTORY, THEORY, PRACTICE

Abstract

The aim of the article is to study the essence of the concept of «Christian democracy», its content in the 20th century, analyzing the key stages of development of modern political doctrine of Christianity and the main principles. The methodology of the research is a set of principles, approaches and methods. The general scientific principle of historicism, chronological principle and institutional approach is applied to research of development of the Christian-democratic organizations. The main ideological issues are considered for the formation of the social doctrine of the Christian church in the context of public administration. The spiritual foundations of Christian culture are comprehensively revealed in the context of the national doctrine of state formation, the value priorities of the dialogue between the state and the church, the constructive relationship between the government and religious organizations are substantiated. Particular attention is paid to the Christian Democratic parties of Western Europe, which are the most powerful in the world. Development of Christian-democratic parties in Ukraine is characterized, tendencies of their further development are revealed. Ideological and social significance of Christian democracy in the context of the formation of Western political culture, the importance of political participation of Christian parties in the world and in Ukraine is studied.The main principles of Christian democracy are outlined: solidarity, subsidiarity, personalism, responsibility, decentralization, which laid a specific understanding of the concept of «person - society - state». Christian democracy is one of the youngest political doctrines of today, a product of the twentieth century. But it influenced the formation of the postwar system of Europe, world, the formation of new political parties as well as entire party systems, a new type of political culture. The scientific novelty of research results is in author’s interpretation of concept «Christian democracy»; the position about the negative factors of influence on the domestic socially philosophical sources of Christian democracy is substantiated in the article; the prognosis of development of Christian democracy in Ukraine on the nearest prospect is made. Conclusion. The democracy of theorists of Christian-political idea and democracy are known must find social explicaty, because of the special role of Christianity and democracy for a civilized manner spiritual and socio-political discourse of intellectual.