Editing Anti-Revolutionary Party (section)

==Ideology and issues==
{{Christian Democracy sidebar}}

The ARP started out as an orthodox [[Protestant]] party, heavily opposed to the ideals of the French revolution. Against the revolution, they put the Bible: instead of [[liberty]], it favoured [[divine providence]], instead of [[Social equality|equality]] it favoured [[hierarchy]] and instead of brotherhood it favoured [[Pillarisation|sovereignty in its own circle]]. Its ideals could be summed up in the [[tripartite motto]] "God, the Netherlands and the [[House of Orange]]". For most of its history it maintained this conservative Protestant image. In the 1960s and 1970s the party began to adopt a more left-wing "radical evangelical" image.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.trouw.nl/home/ruppert-maakte-conservatieve-arp-tot-evangelisch-radicale-partij~bdf5bf13/ |title=Ruppert maakte conservatieve ARP tot evangelisch radicale partij |website=Trouw |language=nl |date=28 February 1992 |accessdate=30 December 2023}}</ref>

===God===
The ARP was a confessional Protestant party which based its politics on the Bible and opposed the concept of [[popular sovereignty]].

The concept of [[sphere sovereignty]] was very important for the party. It wanted to create an independent Protestant society within the Dutch society, with its own schools, papers, hospitals etc. It sought [[School struggle (Netherlands)|equal government finances]] for its own institutions. Societies should care for their own, therefore they opposed a large role for the state in social-economic policy.

The ARP saw an important role for the state in upholding the values of the Dutch people. It was [[social conservatism|socially conservative]]: it opposed [[mixed-sex education]], [[Vaccination policy|mandatory vaccination]], divorce, pornography, [[euthanasia]], abortion etc. It also favoured capital punishment.

===Netherlands===
The party can be seen as rather [[Nationalism|nationalist]]. It favoured a strong defence to retain Dutch [[Neutral country|neutrality]]. It opposed decolonisation. It saw the colonies in [[Indonesia]] as vital for the continued wealth and influence of the Dutch people. It also wanted to enlighten the native population with Christian values.

===Monarchy===
The ARP favoured monarchy, and saw the House of Orange as historically and religiously linked to the Dutch people. It opposed changes to Dutch political system, it wanted to retain [[bicameralism]], opposed popular [[referendum]]s etc. Its commitment to [[universal suffrage]] was only tactical as the ARP expected that it would be able to gain more seats this way. Principally it wanted [[Householder Franchise]] where the head of the household would vote for his family.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.digibron.nl/viewer/collectie/Digibron/id/tag:Radix,19871001:newsml_18b08e2ef9b3bb8034bef21faed647cf |title=Dr. Abraham Kuyper over het huisgezin 1 |website=Digibron.nl |language=nl |accessdate=30 December 2023}}</ref>

The party was [[fiscal conservatism|fiscally conservative]]: the Dutch government should be like a good father: it should not spend more than it got through taxes.

===Christian radicalism===
In the 1960s and 1970s, the party became more left-wing on many issues. Social justice became an important ideal of the party, both nationally, where it began to favour a stronger [[welfare state]], and internationally, where [[development aid]] became an important issue.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kennedy |first1=James C. |title=The Problem of Kuyper's Legacy: The Crisis of the Anti-Revolutionary Party in Post-War Holland |journal=Journal of Markets & Morality |volume=5, No. 1 |issue=Spring 2002 |page=52 |url=https://www.marketsandmorality.com/index.php/mandm/article/viewFile/556/547 |access-date=28 August 2020}}</ref>