Caritist Social Union

The Caritist Social Union is a caucus of political parties and independent politicians in the Kiravian Stanora united by and  ideals. The Caritists are the currently the second-largest caucus in the Stanora, and are the leading party in opposition to the ruling Shaftonist-Republican Alliance.

History
Coscivian civilisation has a long history of religiously-inspired political movements seeking social and economic justice, beginning with demands for peasants'rights in Ancient Helska lead by Komarist clerics, continuing to the social movements to improve the welfare of women, orphans, the poor, and the mentally ill that expanded with the rise of Ruricanism in Western Éorsa, and finally coming to full force with the arrival of Christianity in the Northwest Islands. The ethnic Ĥeldican communities that gave Christianity its first converts in Coscivia gave the Church a central role in their society not only as a moral and spiritual authority, but also as an institution for education, healthcare, and support for the economically disadvantaged. Although the organic, communitarian nature of the Church weakened as Christianity spread into Western, Southern, and Central Éorsa where state institutions were better established, the state was still conceived of primarily as a mechanism for providing security and upholding law and order, and the majority of social services were undertaken by Christian, Rurican, or other religious orders.

-Indigenous Coscivian Christian Humanists-

-Contact with Western ideas- -Rise of Distributism- -Opposition to Kirosocialism- -Post-Kirosocialism-

Platform
The Caritist Social Union claims a platform based on and  thought, with influences from, and the  on certain issues and within certain factions. In its contemporary position, the CSU acts mainly to represent the concerns many Kiravians have about the agenda pursued by the Shaftonist-Republican Alliance. It advocates a more expressly humanistic approach to economic policy, broadly characterised by more widespread ownership of productive property and housing, decentralisation, class collaboration, a preponderance of small and medium enterprises, a communitarian approach to social welfare and public services, and "more humane" labour laws. Some CSU members endorse the as the best policy framework for Kiravia, while others call for an economic structure closer to classical distributism. Minority factions within the caucus prefer approaches reminiscent of the or social democracy.

Inspired by Christian ethics (particularly ), the CSU holds strong positions on bioethics and on life issues. While all of the major caucuses in Kiravian politics can be considered socially conservative by modern Western standards, the CSU is more keen on upholding public morality through legislation than either the SRA or KFA. It supports the abolition of capital punishment for "ordinary domestic crimes in cases where life imprisonment would not endanger the public", strict regulations on in vitro fertilisation.

Foreign Policy
The CSU platform on foreign policy is seen as a moderate one, but differs from those of the other caucuses on a number of points. Though seen as less militaristic than the SRA and CNC, it is supportive of multilateral military undertakings and humanitarian operations within the framework of. In geopolitics, the preponderance of devout Urceopolitan Catholics in the caucus' leadership has led the CSU to support stronger ties with Levantia and have a rather favourable attitude toward Levantian continental integration, while having a colder stance with regards to Imperial Catholic Heku and the prospect of integration with the Protestant and heterodox nations of Crona. As such, it has consistently voted to prioritise the Federacy's participation in and financial contributions to the KATI over its involvement with the CUDA and CKOCA. While not categorically opposed to free trade agreements, the caucus advocates a cautious approach to them, and has pushed for the Federacy to be more selective about which economies it allows free trade with.

The CSU has long been split on the issue of Kiravian colonisation of inhabited territories. While some elements within the party welcome colonial enterprises on distributistic grounds (as opportunities to increase land and housing ownership) and for their evangelistic potential, others (especially Christian socialists) oppose them as campaigns of expropriation and coërcion that violate the natural rights of the natives.

Stated Policy Goals
Although the CSU itself is only a political actor on the federal level, it also serves as a consultative and cooperative forum for member-parties and independent members participating in the governance of the various federal subjects. As such, the common platforms adopted at CSU triennial conferences address policies to be pursued on both the national and state levels.


 * Reintroduce to the Fundamental Statute (constitution), in order to compel the federal government of uphold social and economic justice and the dignity of the human person.
 * "Forty acres, a cow, and a broadband connection" - Distributism for the digital age.
 * Introduce stronger protections for genetic privacy and stronger safeguards against genetic discrimination, including adding a right to genetic privacy to the Statute of Liberties.
 * Reform tax codes (state and federal) and incorporation laws to incentivise the creation of
 * Reform financial regulations to curb, reduce leverage, and promote the proliferation of
 * Introduce targeted initiatives for gradual in areas where oligopolies on agricultural land are arresting economic and human development.
 * Promote government investment and research in the field of renewable energy

Internal Tendencies
The CSU embraces a heterogeneous variety of parties and supporters, which have come to constitute distinct ideological tendencies within the caucus. Largest and most influential among these are the Institutional Caritists and the '''

Institutional Caritists tend to identify most strongly with the Christian democratic tradition and view distributism as a long-term goal to be achieved by gradual, principled reforms of the liberal capitalist system. Institutional Caritists tend to be of Éorsan Coscivian background, religiously oriented toward Urceopolitan Catholicism, Coscivian Orthodoxy, or Ruricanism, hail from economically-developed states and represent republican- and upper-demcoratic class interests, as well as those of landowning farmers. Institutional Caritist parties are usually affiliated with the Union of Christian & Centrist Democrats.

_______ Caritists tend to identify most strongly with classical distributism and are influenced by Christian socialist and related Coscivian Monotheïst ideas. They view a distributistic society as a near-term goal and aggressively pursue agenda such as land, labour, and banking reforms in order to implement distributism. They are more likely to be of New Coscivian, Coscivian mestiço, or non-Coscivian backgrounds, and are usually oriented toward Marcevangelista Catholicism, Protestantism, or the. They often hail from less-developed areas of the Federacy, represent the interests of the working poor, landless farmers, and colonial natives. ______ Caritist parties are usually affiliated with the Distributist Labour Alliance.

There is also a more definitively religious socialist wing within the party, organised through the Spiritual Socialist Solidarity Union, as well as a minor further-left movement of Christian communists, Tolstoyans, and radical pacifists. A few state parties advocating Vistrionist distributism are organised into the General Distributist Conference of Kiravia (Vistionist).

Religion
The Caritist movement and the CSU itself are strongly associated with Roman Catholicism, and the caucus enjoys strong support from members of the Coscivian Catholic Church, Marcevangelista Catholic Church and independent Catholic movements. Although Catholics make up only a minority of CSU voters and Delegates, they are overrepresented in leadership positions and state-level party jobs. Especially on the state level, the CSU's firmest strongholds are in areas with large Catholic communities, such as the Farravonian Rosary Belt, Medinesia, Andrēdan's County Parr, and Manētuva Island in Sydona.

Voter Base
As the second-largest caucus in the Federal Stanora, the CSU draws on a large popular support base, embracing many sectors of Kiravian society. Demographics with particularly strong CSU voting patterns include the urban working class, Peninsular Coscivians, Deep South Coscivians, Ardóniem and Buryóniem Coscivians, Kastrovem Coscivians, Lusem Coscivians, Roman Catholics (excepting Traditionalists, who lean more towards the CoR), Síkutem and Southern Peninsular Coscivians, Woolzi-Kiravians, Serradem and Aboriginal tribes practising Catholicism, enfranchised colonial natives, Éilpanem of the St. Margaret Islands, monoreligious Ruricans, middle-class families in micropolitan and semi-rural areas, Methodists, high-church Lutherans, and members of small non-Coscivian religious minorities.

The CSU performs well among farmers with small to medium landholdings, especially the sirētur class of investor-farmers in the Mid-Oceanic states. Larger landowners are more likely to favour Caucus of Justice affiliated parties. In some CSU parties are competitive among tenant farmers, landless agricultural labourers, and poorer landowning farmers in the inland states, but these tend to vote for a wider range of parties, including the Social Credit Party, smaller agrarian parties affiliated with the KFA, and Kisosocialist parties.

The CSU collects the largest share of the non-Coscivian vote, a fact attributed to its positive stance towards colonial natives and the economic lower classes that non-Coscivians in Kiravia are concentrated in, as well as its stronger universalistic ethos drawing on Christian and humanistic principles. This contrasts with the wholesale Coscivian nationalism of the CNC, softer civilisational rhetoric of the SRA, and the Caucus of Justice's dedication to ethnosocial, regional, tribal, and Coscivian identities. It also performs best with female voters.