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CEU Democracy Institute Event Will Analyze German Elections

Angela Merkel's 16 years as chancellor have come to an end. The chancellor, who will have ruled for five thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven (5787) days on election day (September 26, 2021), is leaving the grand political stage. She is no longer standing for election. This is despite the fact that we can assume she would have led the CDU/CSU again to victory in the elections for a fifth time and herself into the chancellorship. There will be a new government and, in all likelihood, no continuation of the "grand coalition" that has become too small for even a minimal winning coalition.

It is relatively certain that 7 parties will again enter the Bundestag. However, the coalition formula will be unclear. There is much to suggest that it will be a three-party coalition. This is a first for Germany and perhaps something like a catch-up normalization of German government formation in Europe. Except for the AFD and also the Left, all four bourgeois parties can form coalitions with each. The strategic game is on.

Our panel will discuss the following issues, among others:

  • There are big issues like climate, pandemic, migration, foreign policy: why does this not lead to an election campaign between ideological/programmatic camps?
  • How polarized is the party landscape in Germany?
  • Are the German people afraid of getting a governmental coalition led by the Greens?
  • Is the decline of the mainstream parties in Germany continuing?
  • Has the Right-Wing-Populist wave stopped?
  • Will the political system become more unstable and what does it mean for Europe?
  • What would a green-left-liberal government mean for foreign relations with US, Russia, and China?
Discussants:

- Sheri Berman, Professor of Political Science, Barnard College, Columbia University
- Carsten Q. Schneider, Research Affiliate, CEU Democracy Institute, Professor of Political Science, Central European University
- Thomas Poguntke, Professor of Comparative Political Science and Director of the Institute for German and International Party Law and Party Research, Heinrich Heine University of Dusseldorf
- Brigid Laffan, Professor Emeritus, European University Institute, Florence

Chair:

- Wolfgang Merkel, Senior Research Fellow, CEU Democracy Institute, Professor Emeritus, Berlin Social Science Center (WZB)

To learn more about the event and the speakers, please visit this page.