Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya: a people's political party and a nationalist party

Abstract

From an ideological point of view, Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC) must be labeled as a nationalist party, because what mainly defines it is nationalism, not only from an internal perspective but also from an external one. The origins and the basis of CDC's nationalism are in Jordi Pujol's personalist nationalism and, in general, in his political thought, which he has put in practice in four accumulative phases: «fer país» (making country), «fer política» (making politics), «fer partit» (making party) –all of them called in the way by Jordi Pujol himself– and what the author calls «fer govern» (making government). As for the concept of nation defended by CDC, we can easily notice Rovira i Virgili and Prat de la Riba's influence. CDC and Jordi Pujol do not defend a nationalism based on ideology but on ethic, they defend a globalizing nationalism, that is, without previous esclusions and integraring. CDC has often been considered a movement more than a party, but the author prefers to label it as a catch-all party or, as Jordi Pujol calls it, a «partit de gent» (people's party).