Christian Democratic Appeal

The Christian Democratic Appeal (Dutch: Christen-Democratisch Appèl [ˌkrɪstə(n)deːmoːˈkraːtis ɑˈpɛl], CDA) is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in the Netherlands.

Formed as a federation in 1975 by the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary Party, and the Christian Historical Union, it first participated in a general election in 1977 and unified into a single party in 1980. The party dominated Dutch politics from 1977 to 1994, becoming the largest party all but twice, with leaders Dries van Agt and Ruud Lubbers serving as prime minister.

The party faced a major defeat in the 1994 general election, after which the first two cabinets without its participation were formed. The CDA regained its status as the largest party between 2002 and 2010, during which leader Jan Peter Balkenende headed four cabinets. Between 2010 and 2023, the party saw further electoral decline under varied leadership, participating in three of four cabinets as a junior coalition partner. Following the 2025 general election, the party holds 18 seats, now led by Henri Bontenbal.

Since 1880, Catholics and the Protestant Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) collaborated in the so-called Coalition. They shared a common goal of securing public funding for religious schools, which was achieved through the Pacification of 1917. In 1888, they established the first Christian democratic cabinet, the Mackay cabinet. This cooperation, however, was not without challenges, and in 1894, more anti-Catholic and aristocratic conservatives split from the ARP to form what would become the Christian Historical Union (CHU) in 1908. Within both parties, there remained a desire to reunite. Meanwhile, in 1904, the General League of Roman Catholic Caucuses was formed, eventually evolving into the Roman Catholic State Party (RKSP) in 1926 and later the Catholic People's Party (KVP) in 1945.

During the Interwar period, all three parties remained continuously in government. After World War II, however, the KVP distanced itself from the CHU and especially the ARP, refraining from governing with them until 1952 and 1958, respectively, instead forming Roman/Red cabinets with the Labour Party (PvdA). Meanwhile, the parties began collaborating at the European level, with the CHU and ARP joining the KVP in the Nouvelles Equipes Internationale in 1953. Due to secularisation and depillarisation, the three parties lost their combined majority in the 1959 general election for the first time since 1918.

Influenced by the Second Vatican Council, the KVP published the report Grondslag en karakter van de KVP (transl. Foundation and Character of the KVP) and adopted its conclusions, which called for Christian democratic cooperation, in December 1966. The Night of Schmelzer in October 1966 exposed divisions both between and within the three parties, leading to disappointing election results for each. Consequently, the three parties accepted an ARP initiative to form the Group of Eighteen in April 1967, comprising six prominent politicians from each party, tasked with establishing a common foundation for Christian politics and, if successful, determining the best path forward.

Meanwhile, Christian-radical members within the three parties grew dissatisfied with their support in the 1967 general election, as they favored cooperation with progressive parties over alignment with the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) in the De Jong cabinet. To prevent this group from disrupting party cooperation, the leaders of the three parties announced on 14 February 1968 that in the next election, they would either unite into a single Christian party or only join the cabinet together. This announcement led a group of KVP radicals to leave the party the same month, founding the Political Party of Radicals (PPR). Two years later, a group of ARP radicals also left to establish the Evangelical Progressive Party (EVP).

In 1969, the Group of Eighteen proposed drafting a joint "urgency programme," which the parties completed shortly before the 1971 general election, where they again lost seats. Following up on the Group of Eighteen, the Contact Council was established in 1972 to further develop their cooperation. Led by KVP Senator Piet Steenkamp, the council issued a memorandum in June 1972, advocating a single candidate list for the next election and the formation of a Christian democratic movement, with membership open to members of the three parties as well as direct members.