A New Start and “Renewal” for Germany? Policies and Politics of the Red-Green Government, 1998-2002

2003 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 138-160
Author(s):  
Werner Reutter
Keyword(s):  
Federal Government ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Party System ◽  
Coalition Building ◽  
The West ◽  
Federal Election ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Future

According to Jürgen Habermas, the federal election in 1998 finally“sealed” the democratic foundation of Germany and confirmed thatthis country belonged to the “west.”1 Until then, the day of judgmenthad left the “judges” in Germany—that is, the voters—with only limitedinfluence in coalition building and the formation of each government.2 Between 1949 and 1998 no federal government has totallybeen unsettled by elections. Changes in government were due tochanges in coalitions, thus based on decisions by the parties ratherthan on the electorate. Insofar as the landslide victory of the SocialDemocratic Party and the Alliance ‘90/Greens in the 1998 electionnot only reflected important changes in the party system, but it alsocould mean that the German electorate is going to play a more influentialrole in the future.

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.

Fiscal Squeeze in Germany:

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Lodge ◽  
Kai Wegrich
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Federal Government ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Social Democratic Party ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Political Consequences ◽  
The Social ◽  
Financial Arrangements ◽  
Government Level

Decisive fiscal squeeze might surprise observers of the German political system, insofar as party political dynamics, welfare state complexity, and intergovernmental financial arrangements are commonly said to inhibit decisive reforms. This chapter traces the fiscal squeeze carried out in post-unification Germany in the 1990s and 2000s and highlights how the politics of fiscal squeeze had damaging political consequences for the Social Democratic Party. Squeeze at the federal government level was largely about ‘natural wastage’ in staff numbers and targeted cutbacks. The welfare state witnessed considerable reform as a result of cumulating pressures resulting from unification, triggering significant political consequences. Finally, squeezing at the level of the intergovernmental fiscal transfers reflected attempts to contain fiscal pressures on local governments, and wider pressures within the system of German federalism, leading to the creation of a constitutional ‘debt brake’ on public budgets.

Austria: Phasing-Out Grand Coalition Government

2021 ◽  
pp. 41-80
Author(s):  
Wolfgang C. Müller
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Party ◽  
Party System ◽  
Grand Coalition ◽  
Coalition Government ◽  
People's Party ◽  
Coalition Politics ◽  
Underlying Principle ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Government ◽  
Post War

Grand coalition government of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP and the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) had been the hallmark of post-war Austria but the historic ‘grand coalition’ formula seems exhausted. The rationale for maintaining this cooperation vanished, electoral changes undermined the former duopoly of these parties, and party system changes brought new players into the game. Yet at the government level alternatives involving the Freedom Party (FPÖ) have proved unstable as in each case an FPÖ event brought down the government or prevented its renewal. The chapter shows how routine formateur-led processes of coalition formation resulting in anticipated outcomes contrast with a few instances which significantly deviate. Coalition governance is characterized by the use of an elaborated set of rules and instruments and great continuity over time and different types of coalition. Accordingly, the underlying principle of coalition politics has been the ‘coalition compromise’ model, with government policies to be largely agreed between the coalition partners. In practice, ministerial discretion tends to shift government policy output towards the model of ‘constrained ministerial government’. Most coalitions terminated early because of inter-party conflict.

Option Grün: Alliance 90/The Greens at the Dawn of New Opportunities?

2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 45-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingolfur Blühdorn
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Party ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Party System ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Social Democratic Party ◽  
Green Party ◽  
Party Leaders ◽  
Consumer Movement ◽  
The Social ◽  
Government Coalition

Following the end of their government coalition with the Social Democratic Party, German Green Party leaders spoke of "a dawn of new opportunities" for Alliance 90/The Greens. They wanted to capitalize on the strategic opportunities afforded by Germany's new five-party system and on the unexpected rise of climate change in public debate. Shortly before the 2009 federal election, however, the party's "new opportunities" seem rather limited. Selectively focusing on one particular explanatory factor, this article contrasts the Green's neo-radical eco-political position as it has emerged since 2005 with the ways in which environmental issues are addressed by the currently popular LOHAS (Life of Health and Sustainability) consumer movement. It suggests that the German Greens may have paid too little attention to the ongoing reframing of the environmental issue in public discourse and that this has impaired their prospects for a swift return to government office.

Russia and the West: A Comparison and Contrast

Slavic Review ◽  
1964 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry L. Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
The West ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Future ◽  
Long Time

Comparisons of Russia with the “West” have been a staple of historians and of contemporary observers for a very long time, and no end is in sight. A recent appraisal of Soviet developments in the decade after the death of Stalin was devoted in part to a consideration of the prospects for “a gradual convergence of the social and/or political systems of the West and the Soviet Union.” The variety of the contributors’ responses—“ very likely,” “necessarily uncertain,” “unlikely any meaningful convergence,” “highly improbable,” “depends on what is meant by ‘gradual’ “—suggests an ample range of disagreement, both in expectations for the future and in the characterization of the contrasts underlying these expectations.

Past Imperfect, Future Tense: The SPD before and after the 2013 Federal Election

2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 46-58
Author(s):  
Jonathan Olsen
Keyword(s):  
Coming Out ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Public Image ◽  
Social Democratic Party ◽  
Federal Election ◽  
The Social ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Angela Merkel ◽  
Christian Social Union ◽  
The Impact

In the 2009 federal election, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) achieved the worst electoral result in its history. Immediately afterwards, the party worked to improve its public image and fine-tune its policies and electoral message, hoping that state elections in the ensuring period might provide some momentum going into the next national election. Yet, in 2013, the Social Democrats improved their result only modestly, with Angela Merkel and the Christian Democratic/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) again gaining a decisive victory. This article explores the reasons behind the SPD's failure to radically improve its electoral showing, arguing that this can best be explained by a combination of the impact of the past—namely, the legacy of its economic reforms during the Schröder era and the SPD's disadvantages coming out of the previous Grand Coalition—as well as the weakness of its 2013 chancellor candidate, Peer Steinbrück, and the popularity of Angela Merkel. The article therefore suggests that the immediate future does not look particularly bright for the SPD: any chances of gaining the chancellorship are largely out of its hand, dependent on both stumbles by its rival, the CDU/CSU, as well as the taming of a possible coalition partner, the Left Party.

The Italian Socialist Party: A Case Study in Factional Conflict

1962 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 372-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raphael Zariski
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Political Development ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Party System ◽  
Socialist Party ◽  
Major Party ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Spectrum ◽  
The Right

The Italian Socialist Party (PSI) is one of the three major groupings—the Social Democrats, the Socialists and the Communists—that have cultivated the ground to the left of center (i.e., to the left of the ruling Christian Democrats) in Italian politics since World War II. As recently as 1951, the PSI appeared to be inextricably linked with the Communists; but the Socialists have gradually worked themselves around to the position, early in 1962, of openly supporting a Left-Center coalition government still headed by the Christian Democrats. This drastic alteration in the Italian political spectrum has created new possibilities for Italy's political development. It has already permitted the long-awaited “opening to the Left”—as a basic alternative to governments dependent on the Center-Right—under which Italy will be ruled by a coalition of Christian Democrats, Republicans, and Social Democrats, with the PSI offering its support in Parliament in exchange for a bold program of economic planning and social reform. But some Socialists see a further possibility: the so-called “Socialist alternative.” They hope for the possible development of the PSI into a second major party in a two-party system which would absorb the great bulk of the Italian electorate, with the exception of minor extremist fringes to the right and left. To be sure, the success of the “opening to the Left” and the eventual emergence of a “Socialist alternative” both depend on the continued supremacy of the more progressive factions within the ranks of the Christian Democratic Party.

The 1980 Us Election and after

1982 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 371-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. M. Williams ◽  
S. J. Reilly
Keyword(s):  
Mexican Americans ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
Target Group ◽  
The West ◽  
The Future ◽  
Election Results ◽  
Rapid Shift

This article seeks to put the 1980 election in perspective, to discuss its significance for the future of US politics, and to estimate the likely impact of, and some possible reactions to the rapid shift of population, wealth, and political influence towards the west and south. Analysis of the 1980 election results shows a heavy defeat for the Democratic party and not merely for President Carter, but no positive mandate for conservatism. However, if a Democratic recovery were based only on Republicans over-estimating their support, it would be short-lived. For it to be lasting, the party needs to regain the intellectual initiative that it has lost, and to extend its appeal in the increasingly powerful sunbelt states. Mexican-Americans, being numerous, neglected, and strategically placed, form a likely target group. They may be harder to attract than Democratic optimists suppose.

Kyrgyzstan elections will please president and Russia

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Party ◽  
Coalition Building ◽  
Social Democratic Party ◽  
Recent Past ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
The Social ◽  
Strong Performance

Subject Kyrgyzstan's parliamentary elections. Significance Parliamentary elections held on October 4 resulted in victory for the Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan (SDPK), which is aligned with President Almazbek Atambayev. Overall, the poll ended with a strong showing for pro-Russian parties, while the nationalist opposition, split into two competing coalitions (Respublika-Ata Jurt and Butun Kyrgyzstan-Emgek) faired relatively poorly. Impacts The results have provided the president with a chance of building a more coherent majority in parliament. Coalition-building should be easier than in recent past and thus governability should be enhanced. The strong performance of the SDPK and the Kyrgyzstan Party plays into the hands of Russia.

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