The CDA regained its status as the largest party between 2002 and 2010, during which leader Jan Peter Balkenende headed four cabinets.

They shared a common goal of securing public funding for religious schools, which was achieved through the Pacification of 1917.

[5] This cooperation, however, was not without challenges, and in 1894, more anti-Catholic and aristocratic conservatives split from the ARP to form what would become the Christian Historical Union (CHU) in 1908.

After World War II, however, the KVP distanced itself from the CHU and especially the ARP, refraining from governing with them until 1952 and 1958, respectively, instead forming Roman/Red cabinets with the Labour Party (PvdA).

[9] Meanwhile, the parties began collaborating at the European level, with the CHU and ARP joining the KVP in the Nouvelles Equipes Internationale in 1953.

[19] In 1969, the Group of Eighteen proposed drafting a joint "urgency programme,"[20] which the parties completed shortly before the 1971 general election, where they again lost seats.

[23] A month later, however, the first Biesheuvel cabinet collapsed, leaving insufficient time to prepare a single candidate list, resulting in another loss in the 1972 general election.

This arrangement required their parliamentary groups to provide confidence and supply, while the CHU moved into opposition.

It would employ a "growth model", in which they would work out political and organizational details, while keeping the original parties until the last moment.

[32] In 1976, the three parties announced that they would field a single candidate list at the 1977 general election, after their parliamentary groups had intensified cooperation.

Some progressive MPs nicknamed the loyalists, which included parliamentary leader Willem Aantjes, did not commit to support the cabinet, but only tolerated it.

[35] This issue would continue to divide the party until it was resolved in the 1980s and would contribute to the removal of loyalists Jan Nico Scholten and Stef Dijkman from the parliamentary group in 1983.

CDA won ten out of 25 seats and was the largest Dutch delegation to distribute the leadership between the parties.

To combat the economic crisis, the cabinet implemented budget cuts, limited the welfare state and privatised state-owned companies.

[41] A major achievement was the Wassenaar Agreement in 1982, in which trade unions agreed to wage moderation in exchange for reduction of working hours by employers' organisations.

[42] The 1986 general election took place when the economy was improving,[43] but the manifesto nevertheless focused on reducing the welfare state and shifting the responsibility to society.

[44] In the run-up to the 1994 general election, Lubbers announced he would retire from Dutch politics and had named Elco Brinkman his successor.

Enneüs Heerma succeeded Brinkman as parliamentary leader and attempted to be the voice of the opposition and bring the topic of family on the political agenda, but failed in both.

[45] The election manifesto "You don't live together alone" (Dutch: Samenleven doe je niet alleen) differed from previous ones, focusing on communitarianism in contrast to the individualism of the purple coalition.

[46] However, De Hoop Scheffers was relatively unknown compared to his opponents, and the CDA, as a centrist party, struggled to simultaneously target both the left-wing PvdA and the right-wing VVD.

To comply with the deficit limits of the European Stability and Growth Pact, the cabinet cut back on social security, leading to protest within CDA.

[49] Despite open internal opposition, Balkenende was again selected as lead candidate for the 2010 general election, in which CDA lost half of its seats.

However, after talks between purple plus collapsed, CDA entered negotiations with VVD and Party for Freedom (PVV), the latter would be providing confidence and supply.

Verhagen's co-negotiator Ab Klink resigned over the negotiations and two other MPs threatened to oppose the coalition, which would make it lose its majority.

After the fall of the short-lived first Rutte cabinet in 2012, CDA held a leadership election, which was won by interim parliamentary leader Sybrand Buma, with runner-up Mona Keijzer receiving 26% of the votes.

[55] Its manifesto for the 2017 general election, "Choices for a better Netherlands", focused on norms and values, Dutch identity, insecurities and opposed excessive individualism.

In the 1980s, CDA concluded that the government spending levels were unsustainable and focused on budgets cuts and reducing the welfare state.

It has accepted since its creation that a majority in the Netherlands was in favor of abortion beyond that, arguing that their own ethical values should not be codified in law.

[104] The think tanks of CDA's predecessors, Dr. Abraham Kuyperstichting (ARP), Centrum voor Staatkundige Vorming (KVP) and the Jhr.mr.

In contrast, the more secular and antisocialist Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) wanted to include conservative parties, to become the largest group and form a front against socialism.