Despite being home to some
social democrats (We Reformers, Reformers and Freedom), the party is mainly a
Christian-democratic party with a
social-conservative streak. According to
Corriere della Sera, differently from FI, NCD's stances on the "so-called ethical issues" (abortion, gay rights, etc.) are "closer to those of the European traditionalist right" and "thus not very compatible with those of the
EPP's parties in big countries such as
Germany".
[22]
In January 2014 three bigwigs of the party (
Gaetano Quagliariello,
Eugenia Roccella and
Maurizio Sacconi) published a book titled
Moderati. Per un nuovo umanesimo politico ("Moderates: For a new political humanism"), a sort of manifesto of the party. The book, whose key words are "person", "family", "enterprise" and "tradition", emphasises institutional reforms (including direct election of the President and federalism), ethical issues (marriage, opposition to abortion, limits to assisted reproductive technology, etc.) and the need for a smaller state ("less public law, more private rights").
[23][24][25] According to Benedetto Ippolito, NCD members insist the party is "moderate", but in fact it is "conservative" and "anti-progressive", albeit not "
berlusconiano".
[26]