German Political Parties: An Overview of Key Players
German Political Parties
This political landscape is marked by growing citizen dissatisfaction with political parties, leading to a decline in voter turnout. Only a small percentage of voters belong to a political party. The German party system is the result of several historical conflicts, which can be summarized as follows:
- Followers of the Empire (Reich) against enemies of the Empire
- Republicans against enemies of the Weimar Republic
- Supporters of the provisional nature of the RFA against enemies of the division of Germany
- Protestantism against Catholicism
- Nationalism against regional legitimacy
- Workers against the bourgeoisie
- Agrarian world versus the industrial world
- Refugees against those who remained on their land
From these conflicts emerged the main parties in Germany, each characterized by its position on these issues.
Five Major Parties with Parliamentary Functions
Currently, there are five major parties with parliamentary functions:
Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU)
The Christian Democratic Union-Christian Social Union (CDU-CSU) acts as a single political force during elections, but they are actually two separate parties. The CDU is the heir to the Catholic Center of the Weimar Republic. These origins have influenced the coalition’s Catholic social commitment.
Social Democratic Party (SPD)
The Social Democratic Party (SPD) is one of the oldest socialist parties in the world, with roots in the Socialist Party of Marx, Engels, and Lassalle. In the 1920s, it incorporated its left wing, which later left to form the German Communist Party (Spartacus). Its ideological evolution, marked by its early involvement in government during the Weimar Republic, has been constant, emphasizing the abandonment of Marxism in 1959 and its adoption of the Third Way in the 1990s. Having originated as a class-based party, it evolved after the Second World War. Despite being the largest German party in terms of membership, it has seen the departure of segments of the population.
Free Democratic Party (FDP)
The Free Democratic Party (FDP) inherits the liberal tradition of Weimar, but incorporates a more progressive wing. Its importance is linked to the pivotal role it plays, often holding the portfolio of Foreign Affairs and Social Democrats in government, according to its will to generalize the liberal creed worldwide. Its almost permanent presence in the German Government provides an element of moderation to the two major political forces on their programs.
The Greens (LV)
The Greens (LV) emerged in 1980 and entered the Bundestag three years later. They quickly took under their wing environmental groups, pacifists, feminists, and solidarity movements. It is the clearest expression of the transformation of a social movement into a political party.
Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS)
The Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), successor to the Socialist Unity Party (SED), became the candidate to collect the votes of discontent. Although still linked to the Stalinist regime of the GDR, its presence in the East (especially Berlin) has allowed it parliamentary representation. The new East-West divide represents a growth opportunity for the force inherited from the Marxist-Leninist party of the former East Germany.
The German party system was developed under the control of the occupying powers. While it represented continuity with German history, there were some disparities compared to the Weimar period, and federalist tendencies led to the formation of regional parties.
However, the social leveling achieved through postwar economic development, known as the German miracle, allowed a concentration of votes in three major parties (CDU, SPD, FDP), greatly reducing fragmentation. Similarly, the country’s frontier character in Eastern Europe limited the possibilities of a radical left. The 5% threshold, introduced in the 1953 elections, further simplified the system by preventing the creation of new parties. This also placed small parties (on the extreme right and extreme left), which own radicalism, formally outside the scope of parliamentary activity.