SPD
Nach den Landtagswahlen in Schleswig-Holstein und Nordrhein-Westfalen: Was bedeuten die Ergebnisse für die Bundespolitik?
Im Kanzleramt in Berlin ist man bemüht, die Bedeutung der beiden Landtagswahlen am letzten und vorletzten Sonntag herunterzuspielen. Die Ergebnisse gefallen der Union nicht, verständlicherweise. Aber natürlich haben die Resultate von Landtagswahlen generell und besonders wenn das größte Bundesland gewählt hat und so vieles passiert auch immer Einfluss auf die Politik im… Read more >
Implications of the 2012 Election Results in North Rhine-Westphalia for the German Party System and the 2013 National Elections
North Rhine-Westphalia is a bellwether state for the Federal Republic of Germany and once again electoral results here seem to represent a new national trend. After less than two years as a minority government, the SPD-Green coalition under the leadership of Hannelore Kraft won the absolute majority of seats in the state… Read more >
Political Weather Vanes: Germany’s Regional Elections
In this At Issue, Executive Director Jack Janes examines the results of the May 6 elections in Schleswig-Holstein, the upcoming elections in NRW on May 13, and the significance of regional elections as barometers of Germany’s changing political weather.
Merkel’s Melting Majority
There is a well-known German slogan about the fate of those seeking re-election these days: ‘wer regiert, verliert.’ An American translation − voters are restless, rebellious, and ready to blame and replace those in office for their troubles. Angela Merkel may be comfortably coasting along as a most popular chancellor, but both… Read more >
Maß und Mitte: Mitte links
Niels Annen is an analyst at the International Policy Analysis Unit of the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation and a member of the SPD national executive board. Schon bevor die nordrhein-westfälische Ministerpräsidentin Hannelore Kraft den Bundesparteitag der SPD in Berlin eröffnete, konnte sich die Parteiführung über neu gewecktes Interesse freuen, über 9000 Interessierte und eine… Read more >
SPD – Back to the Future with Helmut Schmidt
Elmar Sulk, Senior Strategist at Lincoln Park – Public Relations, analyzes last week’s SPD party convention, including the impassioned speech by former chancellor Helmut Schmidt. According to Mr. Sulk, with the FDP reeling in polls throughout Germany, the SPD may once again be a part of Germany’s governing coalition in 2013 – with a little help from the former “party heroes”.
Elections in Berlin…
State parliamentary elections will be taking place in Berlin this Sunday, September 18th, and polls by Forschungsgruppe Wahlen show that Chancellor Merkel and her CDU-FDP coalition could take yet another hit. While the election is expected to produce some continuity, with Mayor Klaus Wowereit winning re-election and his SPD party staying atop… Read more >
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Elections: the general trend, but with a worrying twist
Any election in Germany has its own appeal (not only for electoral analysts) and the election in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern was an important chance for many people living there to judge their government and their political elite. However, it is hard to find good arguments for the importance or the consequences of the 2011 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern election for Germany as a whole, or to find a conceivable influence of the results of this election on the important decisions that have to be made in Germany in the next few weeks regarding the financial and European crisis.
“King Kurt” Reigns in Rhineland-Palatinate
Mostly overshadowed by the same-day election in Baden-Württemberg, the neighboring state of Rhineland-Palatinate has been in the hands of the Social Democrats (in coalition with the FDP until 2006) since the early 1990s. Minister-President Kurt Beck remains popular and the state is also doing well economically; booming high-tech and pharmaceutical companies result in Rhineland-Palatinate having the highest rate of exports among all Länder. Still, this tumultuous election year shows that nothing can be taken for granted, and this election will also come down to the wire.
