Party System, Social Structure, and Competitive Politics in West Germany: An Ecological Analysis of the 1972 Federal Election

1974 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 61 ◽  
Author(s):  
David P. Conradt ◽  
Dwight Lambert
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Party System ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Ecological Analysis ◽  
Federal Election

The German Party System and the 1961 Federal Election

1962 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 899-914 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel H. Barnes ◽  
Frank Grace ◽  
James K. Pollock ◽  
Peter W. Sperlich
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Party ◽  
Party System ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Social Democratic Party ◽  
Federal Election ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Christian Democratic Union ◽  
The Social ◽  
Number Of Parties ◽  
Near Future

Each German federal election since 1949 has resulted in a reduction in the number of parties securing representation in the Bundestag. While this trend continued in 1961, there is evidence that the party system is becoming stabilized, making it unlikely that any of the present parties will disappear in the near future. This article examines the 1961 election and its significance for the German party system.The major outlines of the present German party system became apparent as early as 1946, when party activities were resumed on a zonal basis. The principal parties then in the field were the Communist Party, the Social Democratic Party, the Christian Democratic Union, and the Free Democratic Party. The last two of these were known differently in different sections of West Germany, but today, with very few exceptions, the designation for each group is the same throughout the Federal Republic.

An Election with No Losers: The 1994 Federal Elections in the New Germany

Politics ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter James
Keyword(s):  
Party System ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
West Germany ◽  
The Political ◽  
Federal Election ◽  
East And West Germany ◽  
East German ◽  
East And West ◽  
Political Spectrum ◽  
The Right

The German federal election in October 1994, just four years after German Unity, revealed that clear divisions between east and west Germany still exist. Whilst the PDS on the left of the political spectrum was supported by around one fifth of east German voters, the parties on the right gained negligible support in Germany as a whole. The federal German electoral system, based on a personalised sytem of PR, again played a key role; it is, however still too early in the development of the new Germany to speak of a single new party system.

Social Structure and Party Support in the East Asian Democracies

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian McAllister
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Party System ◽  
East Asian ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Democratic Transitions ◽  
Urban Rural ◽  
Party Support ◽  
The Comparative Study ◽  
The Relationship

A stable and effective party system depends on consistent and enduring support from social groups. Using the Lipset-Rokkan paradigm as a point of departure, this article tests the relationship between social structure and party support in four East Asian democracies (Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and Taiwan) and two Western democracies (Australia and New Zealand) using the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems. Using Australia and New Zealand as a reference point, the results show that the four Lipset-Rokkan social cleavages are only loosely related to party support in the four East Asian nations, mainly through center-periphery and urban-rural divisions. The absence of an owner-worker cleavage is explained by the suppression of labor-based parties in these countries. More generally, the results suggest the importance of the socializing experiences associated with the democratic transitions in each of the four newer democracies.

Social structure and voting in the Austrian party system

1984 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Haerpfer ◽  
Ernst Gehmacher
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Party System

Globalization, Cleavages, and the Radical Right

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Bornschier
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Party System ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
System Change ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Scale Transformations ◽  
Relative Salience

This chapter underscores the merit of studying the emergence and growth of the radical right from a cleavage perspective, which sees party system change as rooted in large-scale transformations of social structure. The chapter begins by discussing explanations for the rise of the radical right in terms of the educational revolution, the processes of economic and cultural modernization, and globalization, showing where these perspectives converge and where they differ. It then goes on to show how the structuralist perspective has been combined with a focus on agency. Under conditions of multidimensional party competition, the behavior of mainstream parties is crucial, because it determines the relative salience of competitive dimensions and whether they offer space for radical right-wing challengers. Some of the most exciting recent research studies how the processes of dealignment and realignment structure the propensity of specific social groups such as the manual working class to support the radical right.

Continuity and Change in the 1993 Canadian General Election

1996 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 555-566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikael Antony Swayze
Keyword(s):  
Party System ◽  
National Level ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
General Election ◽  
Complex Relationship ◽  
Regional Data ◽  
Federal Election ◽  
Continuity And Change ◽  
Novel Approach

AbstractThis research note considers the complex relationship between the electoral and party systems in Canada from 1921 to 1993. By drawing on Douglas Rae's theoretical model, the note demonstrates that the electoral system exerts a powerful influence on the party system and makes the case that important regional information is often washed out in national-level results. Furthermore, a novel approach is taken to the measurement of regional data in a federal election—a comparison of the indices of fragmentation of the regions and the country provide an interesting explanation for some of the stunning changes in parliamentary representation in 1993. In interpreting the 1993 Canadian general election in this framework, the author argues that although the results in parliament seem to indicate momentous changes in Canadian politics, the voting patterns are, nonetheless, consistent with Canadian political history.

The Grand Coalition: Precedents and Prospects

2006 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ludger Helms
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Party System ◽  
Grand Coalition ◽  
Coalition Government ◽  
Federal System ◽  
System Reform ◽  
Federal Election ◽  
Federal Level ◽  
Angela Merkel ◽  
Basic Parameters

While the Federal Republic has been famously characterized as a "grand coalition state," the Merkel government, formed in the after-math of the 2005 federal election, is only the second CDU/CSU-SPD coalition at the federal level since 1949. A comparison of the present administration with the first grand coalition government (1966-1969) reveals a wealth of differences that include some of the basic parameters of governing and governance in Germany, such as the structure of the party system and the overall public climate. Also, the personnel features and patterns of informal coalition governance under Chancellors Angela Merkel and Kurt-Georg Kiesinger display major differences. Arguably the single most important difference between the two administrations, however, relates to the level of public policy, with the Merkel government seeking to reverse some of the key decisions of its historical predecessor. Such u-turn dynamics have been particularly tangible in the field of federal system reform.

Coalition Politics in Crisis?

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 5-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Decker ◽  
Philipp Adorf
Keyword(s):  
Political Party ◽  
Party System ◽  
The Political ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
Federal Election ◽  
Coalition Politics ◽  
Political Party System ◽  
Right Wing Populism ◽  
First Time

The 2017 federal election illustrated the transformation of Germany’s political party system with six parties managing to enter the Bundestag. With the Christian and Social Democrats finally coming to an agreement almost half a year after the election, a grand coalition is set to govern for two consecutive terms for the very first time. The Alternative for Germany’s success also signaled the definite parliamentary establishment of right-wing populism in Germany. Multiparty coalitions that bridge ideological gulfs as the political fringe has grown in size are a new reality that must be accommodated. The 2017 election and subsequent arduous negotiations point towards a period of uncertainty and further upheaval for Germany’s party system.

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