The Christian Democratic Union was one of the original parties in Janda's 1950-1962 ICPP study. The party continued throughout 1950-1990 in the Harmel-Janda study of party change.

The essay on party politics in West Germany from 1950 to 1962 says:

The CDU, conjunction with its Bavarian affiliate, the Christian Social Union, continued to govern after Adenauer's retirement in 1963 in coalition with the Free Democrats with Ludwig Erhard as chancellor. When the FDP withdrew from the coalition in 1966, Erhard resigned and Kurt Keisinger formed a "grand coalition" government with he CDU's traditional opponents, the Social Democrats.

The essay on party politics in the united Germany from 1963 to 2000 says:

The CDU, in conjunction with the Bavarian Christian Socialist Union, CSU, has a joint parliamentary group in the Bundestag. The CDU has no parliamentary association in the Free State of Bavaria, while the CSU puts up candidates in Bavaria only. Collectively known as the Christian Democrats, the CDU and CSU have drawn their political base from the Roman Catholics and Protestants. The CDU/CSU serves as one of the two major parties in Germany today and is fairly stable. Under Helmut Kohl, the party held control of government from 1983 to 1998.

Consult the index to variables for annual scores of the party's issue orientation, organizational complexity, centralization of power, and coherence from 1950 through 1990.