De democratische paradox van de RKSP. De 'leer van de uiterste noodzaak' als uiting van de groeiende eensgezindheid tussen katholieken en sociaal-democraten in het interbellum

Abstract

The democratic paradox of the Roman Catholic State Party (RKSP). The ‘doctrine of the last resort’ as an expression of the growing solidarity between the Catholics and Social Democrats during the interbellum

Between the First and Second World War, coalition-building was fairly problematic in Dutch politics. This was partly caused by the refusal of the Roman Catholic State Party (RKSP) to form a government coalition with the Social Democratic Labour Party (SDAP). On several occasions, the leadership of the party argued that the RKSP would only agree to collaborate in a so-called ‘Roman-red coalition’ out of ‘sheer necessity’. In the literature, roughly two interpretations of the Catholic refusal can be discerned. According to the first interpretation, the RKSP rejected a government coalition with the SDAP because the leadership of the party thought that the ideological differences between both parties were insurmountable. According to the second interpretation, the Catholic leadership refused to collaborate because it was afraid that the Catholic party would disintegrate as a result of the internal schism. In this article, it is claimed that the first interpretation is not tenable, and the second only partly. The refusal of the RKSP leadership to collaborate with the SDAP did not signify Catholic division or a clash between Catholic and social democratic principles but, paradoxically, a growing Catholic unity and a growing consensus between both parties. However, for the Catholic leaders a Roman-red coalition was a taboo subject since it would force the party to explicitly recognise that the Catholic and social democratic ideologies were reconcilable.