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Norwegian Young Christian Democrats
Here you can find an overview of our party's history, ideology and organisational structure.
A historical review
Ever since Kristelig Folkeparti (KrF) was founded in 1933, young people have participated in the party. After the Second World War, the party experienced a growth in membership and electoral support. In this situation, there was a need to establish a forum for the youth. As a response to this need, Kristelig Folkepartis Ungdom (KrFU) was founded in 1946. In December 1946, 40 delegates from all over the country gathered to the first congress. The congress decided to make KrFU independent of its mother party KrF. This issue evoked a lot of discussions, because quite many delegates wanted to unite the forces into a common organisation. However, a proposal to postpone the foundation of KrFU only got two votes.
In 2006, KrFU celebrated its 60 years anniversary. During these years, the organisation had developed from being a weakly organised forum into a meeting place for young Christian Democrats from all over the country. Today, KrFU is one of the largest political youth organisation of Norway, having divisions in all the counties and in many municipalities.
KrFU's main purpose is to make Christian values influential in society. The struggle for the absolute value of man, the combating of poverty and suppression and the work for sustainable development have been the distinctive features of the organisation. From the beginning until today, KrFU has been a meeting place for young people wanting to change the world.
The ideology of the Christian Democrats
KrFU builds its policy on the Christian Democratic ideology, where the Christian view on man and society forms the basis. A Christian view on man implies that each human being has an infinite value, which is not possible to measure, and which is not dependent on sex, ethnical origin or age. Further, the Christian view on man is not dependent on whether the human being is healthy or sick, wealthy or poor. The view on man constitutes the origin of the three basic values in a Christian Democracy: the Value of Man, Love for your Fellow Neighbour and Stewardship of Nature.
The Value of Man tells us that all human being are created with the same inviolable value. Human beings have some inviolable rights from conception to natural death. Each human being has a unique intrinsic value, and this excludes any exploitation that makes human beings only a remedy for reaching other persons goals.
Love for your Fellow Neighbour is based on the view that all human beings have the same value. This implies a radical and unlimited solidarity with our fellow human beings. A society that recognises the equal value of all human beings cannot be passive when fellow beings are suffering.
Stewardship implies that the resources of the Earth should be stewarded for the best of present and future generations. Human beings should not extend the limits set by nature, but instead steward the nature and share its gifts in accordance with the view that all human beings have the same intrinsic value.
A value oriented ideology
Christian Democracy as an ideological movement started in Europe as a reaction to the 20th century's Nazism and Fascism. What most clearly defines Christian Democracy is its value orientation. While Socialism and Liberalism focus on structures and systems, Christian Democracy believes that the good society is created by having certain values as guidelines. The Christian Democratic ideology is not a clearly defined structure, but a number of ideas and principles that form the basis of political views and choices.
Personalism
The principle of personalism illustrates this difference. While Liberalism focuses on the freedom of the individual and Socialism sees man as a part of a collective, Christian Democracy sees man as both a an individual human being, and as part of a community. The value of man is independent of the community and nobody can be sacrificed for the good of society. But we are also social beings who are dependent on fellowship with others.
Socialism and Liberalism both have materialistic views on man. The Christian Democratic ideology however, says that human beings are not merely biological individuals, but creatures of spirit, with religious and cultural needs. Materialistic views on man have often believed that man is basically good, as long as certain materialistic needs are filled. Christian Democracy rejects this notion. Man will always have the potential of being both good and evil.
Because there are no perfect human beings, there cannot be any perfect ideologies, political parties or societies. Christian Democracy rejects all totalitarian ideologies that claim to know the whole truth. Political ideologies that do not take into account that man is imperfect may easily end up using violent means to reach their "perfect society".
It is necessary to have a humble attitude on the possibilities of politics. There must be clear limits stating what is the role of politics and what is not. The principle of man?s imperfection makes Christian Democracy a force of reform. When no society is perfect, there will always be a need to question old truths, try new solutions to problems and expose injustice.
Subsidiarity and solidarity
The principle of subsidiarity is a principle of dividing power. It states that all political decisions should be taken at the most suitable level of decision making, preferably at the lowest level possible. Furthermore, everybody affected by a decision should have the opportunity to influence the process of decision making. The principle of subsidiarity is balanced by the principle of solidarity. This principle sees the community as a solidary unit, where all parts of the unit are responsible for each other. This implies an obligation and a right for political structures to intervene the civil society, undertaking the responsibility for issues exceeding its core areas of responsibility when necessary. We need a balance between the two principles to ensure a society where both the demand for the state to secure the welfare of its citizens, and the demand for a limitation of the state's right to intervene are equally met.
A functioning interaction between culture and nature is a necessary condition for a sustainable society. All political decisions must rest on the basic idea in the saying "better safe than sorry". This will prevent actions not consistent with the ideas of sustainable development, and make it possible for the generations to come to derive benefit from a clean environment and natural resources.
The difference between religion and politics
The Christian Democrats are greatly inspired by the Bible and by Christian tradition, yet it is important to maintain that religion and politics exist on two different levels. To save all people is the goal of Christianity, whereas the goal of politics is to create a good society for all, regardless of religious conviction. The aim of the Christian Democratic ideology is not theocracy, but democracy in which diversity and the respect for individuals and their different choices are among the most important values.
KrFU's Organisation
The National Congress is the supreme body of KrFU. It takes place every year at the end of June and consists of representatives from the Executive Board and each of the 19 counties. The National Congress elects the party leadership, consisting of a President, three Vice Presidents and five Executive Board members. The National Congress also adopts the party platform, laws and resolutions.
The National Council is the highest body between the National Congresses. It meets four times a year and consists of the Executive Board and the Presidents from the nineteen county boards. Among other things, the National Council adopts political manifestos, organisational plans and resolutions. The National Council is also responsible for budgeting.
The Central Board is the party leadership. It consists of the Executive Committee and five Executive Board members. In addition, the editor of KrFU's magazine, Ny Veg, has a place on the Executive Board. The Executive Board meets once a month. It deals with current issues and addresses matters within the framework of the party's political platform.
The Executive Board consists of the President and the three Vice Presidents. It meets once a week and deals with matters that require a quick response. The Executive Committee also makes statements concerning current political issues.
Committees: Each of the Vice Presidents heads a central committee. The Political Vice President heads the Political Committee, the Organisational Committee Vice President heads the Strategic Committee and the Vice President in charge of international affairs (the International Secretary) heads the International Committee. The central committees prepare and present issues before the Central Board.
Courses and conferences: Every year KrFU hosts several courses and conferences, such as leadership training courses, student conferences, regional conferences and girls' conferences. In addition, KrFU hosts two major conferences every year, one in the spring and one in the fall. While the leadership training courses are for a few selected individuals only, the conferences are usually open for all KrFU members.
The National Headquarter houses the central administration of KrFU. The central administration consists of three full time staff members: The Secretary General, the Information Secretary and a campaign manager during election years. The Secretary General is the administrative leader. The elected President of KrFU also has his/her office at the National Headquarter. The President works full-time.
Each of our 19 counties has a board and the county president, the leader of the county board, meets in the national council together with the central board. Every county has local boards. Every county has different numbers of local boards, depending on how many people who are active in the organisation. While the county boards influence the political agenda on a regional level, the local boards influence the political agenda on a local level.
KrFU and Kristelig Folkeparti (KrF)
KrFU is KrF's youth party. The party is represented in most of KrF's boards and committees. The President of KrFU meets in the Parliamentary group, the Central Board and the Executive Committee. Similarly KrFU is represented in all County Boards and Local Boards of the mother party.
However, KrFU has an independent structure and political profile. The youth party wants to influence the mother party and to be a clear voice for the youth. If KrFU disagrees with decisions made by KrF, it is not uncommon that it criticises them publicly in the media.
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