Christian Democratic Party of Chile
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Christian Democratic Party
Partido Demócrata Cristiano |
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|---|---|
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| President | Carolina Goic |
| Secretary-General | Gonzalo Duarte Leiva |
| Chief of Senators | Carolina Goić |
| Chief of Deputies | Ricardo Rincón |
| Founded | July 28, 1957 |
| Merger of |
Social Christian Conservative Party, National Falange |
| Headquarters | Av. Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins 1460, Santiago de Chile |
| Student wing | Democracia Cristiana Universitaria |
| Youth wing | Juventud Demócrata Cristiana |
| Membership (2015) |
 115,007 |
| Ideology | Christian democracy Social conservatism Left-wing conservatism Third way |
| Political position | Centre-left |
| National affiliation | Nueva Mayoría |
| International affiliation | Centrist Democrat International |
| Regional affiliation | Christian Democrat Organization of America |
| Colours | Azure blue (costume) |
| Chamber of Deputies |
21 / 120
|
| Senate |
6 / 38
|
| Regional Boards |
44 / 278
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| Mayors |
55 / 345
|
| Communal Councils |
388 / 2,224
|
| Party flag | |
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| Website | |
| www |
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The Christian Democratic Party (Spanish: Partido Demócrata Cristiano, PDC) is a political party in Chile and governs as part of the Nueva Mayoría coalition. In the 2009 election it won 19 congress seats and 9 senate seats.
It is led by Ignacio Walker. The incumbent president of Chile, Michelle Bachelet is from another party in the coalition, the Socialist Party. There have been three Christian Democrat presidents in the past, Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, Patricio Aylwin, and Eduardo Frei Montalva.
Customarily, the PDC backs specific initiatives in an effort to bridge socialism and laissez-faire capitalism. This economic system has been called "social capitalism" and is heavily influenced by Catholic social teaching or, more generally, Christian ethics. In addition to this objective, the PDC also supports a strong national government. However, after Pinochet's military regime ended the PDC embraced classical economic policies. The current president of the PDC is Ignacio Walker. In their latest "Ideological Congress", the Christian Democrats criticized Chile's current economic system and called for a shift toward a social market economy (economía social de mercado), the economic system created by Christian Democrats in Germany.
The origins of the party go back to the 1930s, when the Conservative Party became split between traditionalist and social-Christian sectors. In 1935, the social-Christians split from the Conservative Party to form the Falange Nacional (National Phalanx), a more socially oriented and centrist group.
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