Why isn't Communitarianism more popular as an ideology?

[AltWorlder]

Why isn't communitarianism or Christian Democracy more popular ideologies in the U.S.?  I'm not talking about a CD Party appearing on the scene and displacing the big two.  I mean anything as much as a fringe presence as a third party, anything from the size of the Green/Libertarians to any of the Socialist parties or even something as small as the Peace and Freedom Party.  I mean, communitarianism is supposed to be the corner opposite of libertarianism on the political compass- why isn't a moderate form of it in the U.S.?

And don't tell me that it's the same thing as authoritarianism.  Christian Democracy, a form of communitarianism, is hardly authoritarian.

My theories-

1. It's too different.  American politics never had the social democracy vs. Christian democracy division that appeared in post-World War II Europe.  Americans are used to a tradition of small government and individualism, or at least the romanticized dream of it, and the Euros are too socialist commie pinko blah blah blah.  Ahem.  In any case, I guess the parties just never aligned so that liberal economics was big with the strongly religious portion of the electorate.  Too many self-made televangelists and prosperity gospel people in the Religious Right, I guess.

2. It's too similar.  The Republicans and Democrats are both big government, and the Dems are already socially conservative enough so that a CD party would be moot.  Personally, I think this theory is rather weak- certainly the Dems aren't exactly the champions of LGBT rights, but they're definitely the party for gay people, right?  And the Dem party line is unabashedly pro-Roe.  The Democratic Party isn't CD, in any case.  Even if the European CDPs are actually more liberal than the Democratic Party.

3. Christian Democracy requires an European, or at least Roman Catholic (just look at Latin America and the Philippines) cultural basis to understand it.  Communitarianism isn't really much of a movement as it is a bunch of hazy ideas made by theorists who don't really show up in the news much- as such, it's definitely more obscure than Green ideology or libertarianism or even American socialism.

[AltWorlder]

Well, American-styled Christian Democracy would need to be quite altered from the Euro/Latin American form.  It's interesting that in a country where religion is so tied with politics, people would still be strongly adherent to the First Amendment that a political party could be sunk if they so much as put the term "Christian" in its name.

Are there any other forms of communitarian ideologies out there besides CD?  Don't most East Asian nations have a form of government structure that has mixed economies with heavy government presence, and social policies that are somewhat conservative due to the Confucian ethos?

[AltWorlder]

I don't think that's the issue.  I mean, European CD parties became conglomerates between Catholics and various Protestant groups, and are now pretty ecumenical.  And there are organizations in the U.S. with "Christian" in the title that are pretty non-denominational.  Like the Christian Coalition for example.

[AltWorlder]

So, in any case, are there any forms of a social conservative/fiscally liberal ideology in the U.S.?  It doesn't have to be CD or communitarianism (whatever that is).  And no, fascism doesn't count.

[AltWorlder]

Examples?  I'm trying to assemble a list.

[AltWorlder]

Well, I can understand why such ideologies would fare better in Europe and Latin America, where there isn't the phobia for anything resembling socialism and the fetish for small government.  However, I'm still wondering if a rough analogue to Christian Democracy would appear in the U.S.- one that only barely resembles the Euro version in that it's socially conservative crossed with fiscal liberalism.  I guess it was just hype about Huckabee.

[AltWorlder]

I guess we might as well refer to it as populism.  That has about as much to do with the dictionary term for populism as the political terms for "liberal" and "conservative" have to do with their dictionary terms.

Populism, from what I understand, refers to any sort of movement with a tone that appeals itself directly to the common people.  That doesn't necessarily have to be socially conservative/economically liberal.  However, I do like it as a name better than communitarianism, though.

[AltWorlder]

Americans don't want European styled social democracy.  But they're quickly seeing that the traditional fetish for Jeffersonian/Jacksonian for small government isn't necessarily the best way to get things done.