For the recent past period, Germany has been governed by a coalition of the nation’s two largest parties, the Christian Democratic Union and the Socialist Party. However, that coalition appeared to lose its majority in the Bundesrat (the German “Senate”), after the January 18 election for state office in Hesse. Hesse is one of Germany’s most important states, and contains Frankfurt. German state governments have input into the Bundesrat.
At the January 18 state election in Hesse, the Free Democratic Party made such strong gains, and the Socialist Party did so poorly, that the new Hesse government will be composed of a Free Democratic-Christian Democratic coalition. That automatically eliminated the majority in the federal Bundesrat for the national governing coalition of the Christian Democrats and Socialist Party. But, then the Green Party elected to support the federal coalition in the Bundesrat in order to keep it from being dependent on the Free Democratic Party, as this article in the Financial Times explains.
I wish the Green Party here in the US could play an important role in politics.
If I remember correctly, the Free Democratic party is a pro-market libertarian party. Good for the German people to embrace free markets and reject socialism.
I think you meant the “Social Democratic Party”, not the Socialist Party.
Socialist Party? You mean the SPD?
It’s not the Socialist party, it’s the Social Democratic Party. They have a few socialist policies, but they’re most social democratic. The more socialist party is “Die Linke,” which means “The Left.” They are the former East German Communist Party, but are now a democratic socialist party.
The German Green Party has the most success worldwide of any Green Party. They were governing in coalition with the SPD (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands) up until a few years ago, when the SPD and the CDU/CSU entered into coalition together, shifting the government to the right.
There will be federal elections this year, and the CDU/CSU is hoping to have a governing coalition with the FDP. The SPD doesn’t necessarily want to have another coalition with the Greens, and really doesn’t like The Left.
Germany has proportional representation BUT the super- dangerous parliamentary system — same persons having major legislative and executive powers.
The U.S.A. has its DARK AGE system of indirect minority rule gerrymanders — i.e. totally ANTI- Democracy — in the U.S.A. and State regimes — half the votes in half the gerrymander areas for 1 party control.
Result – the nonstop govt EVIL since 4 July 1776 — genocide of the American Indian tribes to about 1890, slavery to 1865, undeclared wars, inflations, depressions, giant govt debts, etc. — business as usual STATISM by the Donkey / Elephant statists at the top.
I would suspect that Die Linke/The Left will do much better in the next round of elections, and surpass the Greens as the Left opposition in Germany. More and more germans are becoming turned off by the greens desire to “be a player” with the big boys, rather than a Left alternative.