Continuity or Politikwechsel? The First Federal Red-Green Coalition
In October 1998 the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Greens1formed a coalition government, the first ever between these parties atthe federal level. In more ways than one, this new coalition marked awatershed in Germany’s post-1945 development. Since 1945, Germanyhad been a democracy in which political parties hold an especiallyprivileged position. This “party-state” has operated almostexclusively through the three major “Bonn” parties, which for nearlya half-century had governed through shifting coalitions. The Greensarose as a social movement challenging this hegemony; yet, only fifteenyears after they first entered the Bundestag, they forged a federalcoalition with one of the established parties they had once attacked.For the first time since 1957, a coalition had been formed thatinvolved not only a party other than the three “Bonn” parties but alsoone not linked to the Federal Republic’s creation. It was, furthermore,the first coalition ever to have resulted unambiguously fromthe wishes of voters.