Democracy: Instrument for or Expression of a Christian Political Order?

Abstract

Is separation of the political and religious realms necessary for a democracy to flourish? This article argues that, whereas both the Catholic Church’s social teaching and Protestant thinking, especially as developed in the Netherlands, recognize the relationship between religion and democracy, only Catholicism explicitly acknowledges that Christianity is vital for sustaining democracy. Compared with the Catholic Church’s social teaching, Herman Dooyeweerd’s views on values and democracy, for example, are relatively underdeveloped. Even after his death, Dooyeweerd’s thought continues to influence one of the Dutch Protestant political parties, insofar as it still regards democracy as an instrument for a Christian political order, rather than as the expression of one.