Popolarismo

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Not to be confused with Populism.
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Popolarismo (English: Popularism) is a political doctrine conceived by Don Luigi Sturzo which was the ideological basis for the Italian People's Party and later Christian Democracy. It inspired the French Popular Democratic Party (formed 1924),[1] and the People and Freedom group (formed 1936), which Sturzo helped form in London.[2] Sturzo outlined his conception of popularism as follows:

Popularism is democratic, but it differs from liberal democracy in that it denies the individualist and centralising system of the State and wishes the State to be organic and decentralised. It is liberal (in the wholesome sense of the word) because it takes its stand on the civil and political liberties, which it upholds as equal for all, without party monopolies and without persecution of religion, races or classes. It is social in the sense of a radical reform of the present capitalist system, but it parts company with Socialism because it admits of private property while insisting on the social function of such property. It proclaims its Christian character because to-day there can be no ethics or civilisation other than Christian. Popularism was the antithesis of the totalitarian State.[3]

The Luigi Sturzo Institute notes that:

Popularism is characterized by the constructive capacity of new political forms, by the demand for institutional reforms and by the disposition to listen to changes in society. [4]

Academics have noted the role of Popularism in outlining the Christian Democratic notions of the people,[2][5] and democracy.[6][7] The notion of the people is that the people extend beyond the working class, and actually encompasses the whole of society.[2] But it is not a mass aggregation of individuals; the people is an organically unified community, but also internally diverse community.[8] Christian Democratic parties have invoked the people when naming themselves “popular”  or “People’s Parties”.[5][9] In this invocation, Christian democratic parties aim for two things. The first is to work towards a policy that is for the good of all the members of society as opposed to parties that promote the good of a specific group (i.e. class).[9][10] The second refers to a society where the people live in a kind of harmony and where people and groups are interested in and care about each other.[11][12] In practice, the specific religious nature of the Christian democratic parties has enabled them to cut across the class divide.[13]

The notion of the democracy that derives from this reflects the socio-economic diversity of people by advocating inclusive forms of democracy.[14][15] This has lead to the Christian Democratic call for Proportional Representation.[16] Christian Democrats have also called for Pillarization, which where representatives is based on a vast array of complex social organizations ingrained in the fabric of society.[17] Often, these organizations play an intermediary role to Democracy.[18]

Modern Christian Democrats have called for Popularism. After a meeting with Pope Francis and Donald Tusk, Charles Michel noted the differences between Popularism (popolarismo) and Populism (populismo):

With Pope Francis we discussed the difference between ‘populismo’ and ‘popolarismo’ distinguishing the politics of ‘pleasing the people’ from the politics of ‘for the people’. A key question for European Christian Democrats.[19]

Donald Tusk, would later refer to this meeting at the European People's Party congress in Zagreb, and call for "responsible popularity" over "irresponsible populism".[20]

See also

Citations & References

  1. ^ Barry 2012, p. 76.
  2. ^ a b c Flavio 2001, p. 235.
  3. ^ Sturzo 1939, p. 479.
  4. ^ Istituto Luigi Sturzo 2020.
  5. ^ a b Invernizzi Accetti 2019, p. 80.
  6. ^ Invernizzi Accetti 2019, p. 89-91.
  7. ^ Felice & Sandonà 2019, p. 32,35.
  8. ^ Invernizzi Accetti 2019, p. 86, 88-89.
  9. ^ a b van Kersbergen 1994, p. 34.
  10. ^ Invernizzi Accetti 2019, p. 103.
  11. ^ Invernizzi Accetti 2019, p. 102.
  12. ^ van Kersbergen 1994, p. 36.
  13. ^ van Kersbergen 1994, p. 38.
  14. ^ Felice & Sandonà 2019, p. 35.
  15. ^ Invernizzi Accetti 2019, p. 94.
  16. ^ Invernizzi Accetti 2019, p. 97.
  17. ^ Invernizzi Accetti 2019, p. 99-100.
  18. ^ Campanini & Giorgio, p. 228-229.
  19. ^ Michel 2019.
  20. ^ Tusk 2019.
  • Barry, Gearóid (2012). The Disarmament of Hatred: Marc Sangnier, French Catholicism and the Legacy of the First World War, 1914-45. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-37333-4.
  • Campanini, Giorgio (1989). "Il Popolarismo Come Dottrina Politica". Il Politico. 54 (2): 219–230. JSTOR 43100928 – via JSTOR.
  • Felice, Flavio (2001). "The Ethical Foundation of the Market Economy: A Reflection on Economic Personalism in the Thought of Luigi Sturzo". Journal of Markets and Morality. 4 (2): 217–239.
  • Felice, Flavio; Sandonà, Luca (2019). "Luigi Sturzo's Socio-economic Development Theory and the Case of Italy: No Prophet in His Homeland". Law and Development. Singapore: Springer Singapore. pp. 31–49. ISBN 9789811394225.
  • "Popularism". Istituto Luigi Sturzo. 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-09-30.
  • Invernizzi Accetti, Carlo (2019). What is Christian Democracy?: Politics, Religion and Ideology. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781108368162.
  • Michel, Charles (2019). "Charles Michel". Twitter. Archived from the original on 2019.
  • Sturzo, Luigi (1939). Church and state. New York: Longmans, Green and Co.
  • Tusk, Donald (2019). "Speech by President Donald Tusk at the EPP congress in Zagreb". European Council Council of the European Union. Archived from the original on 2019.
  • van Kersbergen, Kees (1994). "The distinctiveness of Christian Democracy". In Hanley, David L. (ed.). Christian democracy in Europe : a comparative perspective. London: Pinter Publishers. pp. 31–47. ISBN 1-85567-086-0.
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