1 Introduction 2 The welfare state and Christian democracy: An Introduction 3 The political entrenchment of Christian democracy in Western Europe, 1870–1960 4 Christian democracy in Germany, Italy and the Netherlands: A closer comparison 5 Welfare state regimes and social spending 6 The quality of welfare state regimes 7 The structure of welfare state regimes 8 Social capitalism and Christian democracy 9 Catholicism and social citizenship: From charity to social justice? 10 The intellectual origins of Christian democracy and social capitalism 11 Conclusion