German Political Parties | An overview

Currently, there are five main political parties in Germany. Germany has a multi-party system that differs somewhat from the e.g. the U.S. system where the essential choice is between the two major parties.  In order to be represented in German parliament (Bundestag) a party has to surpass the 5 % threshold in the generally more important “Zweitstimme” (voting for a party not for a candidate).

After the Second World War, there were essentially three political parties in Germany: The Conservatives (CDU and CSU), the Social-democrats (SPD), and the liberal, pro-business party (FDP). In the 1980s the environmental party, the “Green party” (current name Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) complemented the political landscape. Recently, a more left-wing party formed from former social-democrats and East-German communists called the “Left” (Die Linke) emerged as a new political force.

The conservatives (CDU/CSU) are covering a rather broad spectrum of Christian, center-right politics. They have been in the majority of post-war governments and most German chancellors (the most powerful German political office) were CDU politicians. Angela Merkel is the current leader of the party and also the German Chancellor (Bundeskanzler). Note that the CSU is solely a Bavarian party, both CDU and CSU, however, usually campaign with a similar program and are considered one block.

The Social-democrats are the other traditional catch-all-party (Volkspartei). Their popularity has recently waned, partly owing to the emergence of the “Left” party. The Social-democrats are in tradition with the European worker movement and represent the values of social justice in a capitalistic framework. Historically, they are close to the trade unions, but this connection has recently become less tight as unions were increasingly dissatisfied with the reforms brought on their way during the last social-democratic mandate led by Gerhard Schröder.

The FDP is the pro-business party that encourages free market policies and a business friendly environment.  In the early post-war years the party was able to take quite a lot of influence as it was often the decisive weight when it came to building the government.  They are part of the newly elected government led by Angela Merkel.

The Green Party stands for its fierce opposition of nuclear energy and promotion of environmentally friendly politics. In addition, the party introduced measures to support more women in politics. They have been in power together with the SPD in a coalition in the end of the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s.

The Left party has helped reshape the political balance and has shifted it more to the left.  In fact, Germany is close to having a left majority in parliament, but the traditional parties so far have refused to build coalitions with the Left Party on a federal level. Despite reiterated assertions of social-democratic politicians, many spectators expect this to change in the foreseeable future.