LA STRUCTURE CONFESSIONELLE, SOCIALE ET REGIONALE DE LA CDU

In: Revue française de science politique, Band 7, Heft 3, S. 626-645

Abstract

It is difficult to know precisely the structure & org of the CDU except that it is fundamentally a heterogeneous party, which has federalist influence & which has lost many effective party members as have many other German parties since Jun 1948. What distinguishes the CDU from the Zentrum party of pre-WWII yrs is its bi-confessional characteristic. Even though Cath members outnumber the Protestant members 3:1, this can be explained by the fact that the Cath's, who have better defined goals, also have a more active clergy. The leaders of the party, in order to win over non-Cath voters, encourage the placing of Protestants in important positions, accomplishing this chiefly by running more Protestant candidates than the number of Protestant party members would warrant. Statistics indicate that the CDU does not represent all SC's. Workers, who are markedly underrepresented, are even fewer than in the immediate post-WWII yrs. The Mc makes up the major portion of the party, & the UMc is playing a more & more important role in the party. As a result the leaders of the CDU are are more representative of the extreme elements of the party. Regionally, half of the members of the party are from the Rhine provinces of North Westphalia. As a result, the CDU will have to, in the next few yrs, consolidate its gains, & it has, fortunately, become more & more aware of the problem of organizing its membership. Tr by J. A. Broussard from IPSA.