Christian Democratic and Social Federation (Tarper)

Christian Democratic and Social Federation Fédération Chrétienne-démocrate et Sociale
Abbreviation	CDSF
Leader	Rafaela Tanner
Chairperson	Louisa Bell
General Secretary	Lloyd Morris
Founded	2002 (2002)
Preceded by	Christian Socialist Union
Newspaper	The National Courier
Think tank	Christian Thinkers Bureau
Student wing	Student Federation of Social Christian Democrats
Youth wing	Young Christian Democrats (YO!)
Women's wing	League of Christian Women
LGBT Wing	Tolerance & Love
Trade union	Tarperti Christian Workers' Center
Membership (2019)	415,000
Ideology	Christian Democracy Social Democracy Christian Left
Political position	Center-left
Religion	Catholicism
International affiliation	Centrist Democrat International
Colors	Blue
Slogan	"God's in his heaven. All's right with the world"
Federal Council	34 / 124
Federal Assembly	206 / 735
State legislatures	409 / 1,541
Party flag
Political parties Elections

The Christian Democratic and Social Federation, abbreviated as CDSF, is a christian and social democratic political party in Tarper. The CDSF is led by Rafaela Tanner.

The CDSF was founded in 2002 by former members of the Christian Socialist Union and religious members of the Socialist Unity Party. For most of Tarper's history, it has been the third party in the Federal Assembly.

However, in the 2013 federal election, the CDSF failed to win any directly elected seats in the Federal Assembly and came up short of the threshold to qualify for representation. The CDSF was therefore left without representation in the Federal Assembly for the first time in its history.

The CDSF strongly supports human rights, civil liberties, and internationalism. The party was traditionally considered center-right, but has shifted to the center-left according to polls in recent years. It is a member of the Centrist Democrat International.

History

Soon after the end of the Second Civil War a group of religious members from the SU joined some politically motivated Christians and created the party. In July 2002 the group was called for the establishment of a conservative party, its Constitution was hesitantly approved by the interim government. In the first state elections in August 2002, the party won by a sizeable margin. However, it had to support the policies of the Socialist Unity Party.

Appearance in the Federal Assembly and decline

From 2002 to 2013 the CDSF was a formidable party and managed to become an influential force in Tarperti politics. But after the creation of the Labour Party and its quick ascension to second most popular party, the CDSF saw itself losing favor with the populace with every passing election. In 2013 the party did not qualify for a seat in the Federal Assembly.

Resurgence

After the 2013 elections and the disappearance of the party from the Federal Assembly, the CDSF started to campaign under the guise of sympathy. Within the year, the party gained members. In early 2017, the party decided to oust longtime leader Derrick E. Derby because, as put by Party PR Leader, "He is 89, he's just too old" and "We want to give the party a new 'look'". And so the party elected 29-year-old Rafaela Tanner in the hope her leadership and youth would bring back voters. In the 2017 Federal Election, the party came in 2nd and gained 153 members of parliament, its best result in the party's history, including Tanner who was elected in a constituency in Astra.

Tanner has followed up on the party council's request to modernize the party. As of early 2018, the party has changed its official color to a more cool blue and updated the flag's color with it and changed its logo to be much more friendly. Tanner has also brought up a move to more leftist policies in order to benefit from the popularity of the Socialist party.

Structure

Special organizations

Five special organizations exist within the party, they are:

• Tarperti Christian Youth Organization (YO!): Overseer of student and youth organizations. Generally leans center-left.
• The National Courier, Ltd.: Classically conservative newspaper, established in 1880. Not owned by the CDSF, but chooses to remain associated with the party.
• Progressive Democratic Caucus: Center-left pressure group within the party.
• National Catholic Center of Tarper: Center-right to right-wing pressure group withing the CDSF.
• Christian Thinkers Bureau: The CDSF's main think tank and charity organization.
• Tolerance & Love: The party's LGBT+ wing, originally an independent organization, it was absorbed into the party fold in 2019.

Federal election results

Election	Seats won	±	Position	Leader	Government
2002	47 / 603	47	3rd	Francis Akers	United Coalition for the Federal Commonwealth
2005	54 / 614	7	4th	Derrick E. Derby	In opposition
2009	45 / 622	9	6th	Derrick E. Derby	In opposition
2013	0 / 630	45	—	Derrick E. Derby	Extra-parliamentary
2017	153 / 709	153	2nd	Rafaela Tanner	In opposition

Leaders of the CDSF, 2002-present

Leader	Period
Francis Akers	2002–2005
Derrick E. Derby	2005–2017
Rafaela Tanner	2017-present