confessionele

Confessionele is a Dutch term that functions as an adjective meaning related to religious confession or to religion-based political life. In political science, confessionalism describes systems and movements in which religious groups exercise formal influence over political life, education, and public administration. This influence has historically been organized through pillarization (verzuiling), a structure in which society is segmented into religious or ideological “pillars” with their own schools, media, unions, and political parties.

Confessional parties have been central to politics in some European countries, particularly the Netherlands and Belgium. In the Netherlands, early 20th-century confessional politics centered on Catholic and Protestant parties such as the Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP), the Christian Historical Union (CHU), and the Catholic People’s Party (KVP). These three eventually merged in 1980 to form the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). In Belgium, Christian democratic parties included the Dutch-speaking CVP (Christelijke Volkspartij) and the French-speaking PSC (Parti Social Chrétien), which later evolved into CD&V and cdH, respectively.

Policy orientation and influence have generally combined religious values with social welfare and family policy. Confessional parties often advocate for faith-based schooling, religious liberty, and a social policy rooted in Christian ethics, while maintaining a spectrum of positions on economic policy and church–state relations. The degree of religious influence has varied, from strong pillarized structures to more pragmatic, secularized political practice in later decades.

Decline and legacy: Since the 1960s, secularization and modernization reduced the dominance of confessional politics in many Western European countries. However, Christian-democratic parties remain significant in several countries, typically presenting themselves as centrist or center-right with a Christian heritage, and the term confessional continues to be used to describe parties with explicit religious roots or organized around religious confessions.