Germany

Comment: Strong Registrar – weak Chancellor

A good Chancellor needs to rule not only successful, but also his own party together. The goal is the same, and some of the great was, in fact, a weak Chancellor, says Felix Steiner.

Registrar in Oil: Gerhard Schröder, Helmut Kohl, Helmut Schmidt and Willy Brandt, ( v. l. n. r) to the Chancellery in Berlin

Of course, the German Chancellor, as well as all their predecessor in the first line of the “benefit of the German people” responsible. Its Use is to multiply it and to avoid any damages – so you have sworn your oath of office in front of the Bundestag. The extent to which the Individual is able – that’s part of the historical size. Wherein the contemporaries sometimes come to very different Judgments as to the posterity.

Decisive factor for the catchment and retention in the Chancellery of the party. Only those who have a strong party behind him, can ever hope to Post. And who has achieved it, do not need to make sure that the party is losing its strength and thus his own power base.

New parties in their own stock

This change in party preference of voters being characteristic of democracy, and certainly are not a Bad thing. Because only the regular change of power keeps the democracy alive. Bitter rende is it Director however, if in addition to the own party, new political movements to organize. Since then he has not understood it simply to cause the private storage period and the work of the government accordingly. Or simply put: You have not kept up together with the Load.

Because a growing number of Small and micro – parties, not the German democracy is more stable – the Weimar Republic greetings – may you keep the ability therefore, the traditional people’s parties CDU/CSU and SPD together, as a performance for the “good of the German people”. And against this Background, the new evaluation result and sometimes criteria, who was strong and who is weak Chancellor.

The Strong: Adenauer, Brandt and Kohl

Konrad Adenauer, the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, as in so much else, at this point standards. When he in 1949, was designed to the Union as a already people’s party, had lived up to this claim, however, by no means. This is the “Old” surprisingly quickly: Already on the third General elections of 1957, catapulted Adenauer, the CDU/CSU on since then, unmatched 50 percent.

The counterpart of the SPD, Willy Brandt, is: As a candidate for Chancellor from 1961, and Chancellor from 1969, he led the social Democrats from their historical 30-percent Deep. Contrary to all former surveys and forecasts, the SPD and its charismatic leader after an extremely heated election campaign in 1972 for the first time the strongest party.

The third member of the powerful Chancellor, Helmut Kohl, is the art piece, after the upheaval in the GDR under the leadership of the CDU in an “Alliance for Germany” together with some of the newly formed citizens to forging right-wing parties. This won with flying colors the only free elections in the history of the GDR. This Alliance went on a little later in the all-German CDU, and secured the Union majority in the United Germany.

The Weak: Schmidt, Schröder and Merkel?

Also, the group of the weak Chancellor includes as of today three heads. As Helmut Schmidt, who enjoyed in a high age worship is, first of all, as he had been the World statesman par excellence. On the advent of the green movement in the second half of the 1970s, he was not able to respond wisely. What was their political origins, from the flesh of the SPD, developed thanks to Schmidt’s ignorance to an independent political size. And holds the SPD since then, far from the dream of an independent majority.

DW editor Felix Steiner

Gerhard Schroeder is due to the SPD, the second great bloodletting. By him under the name “Agenda 2010”, initiated social reforms have made Germany the economic engine of Europe. But with the on the ruins of the old GDR state party-based Left is now nationwide, another party in the original pool of Voters of the SPD placed.

Angela Merkel and the rise of the AfD. Of course, the AfD before the party-goers of the CDU was not any of the current voters. But the Terrain to the right of the Union, the edited the AfD now with success has been, over the decades, the Reservoir. And in addition to the refugee debate, which is primarily for the AfD success, there are a number of other reasons that have alienated Conservatives in the Era of Merkel and the Union: the supposedly alternative Euro rescue policy, for example, or the economically completely nonsensical energy policy. “Taken” was the core electorate of the Union in any case, in none of these decisions of the Chancellor.

For a final verdict remains to be seen whether the AfD can keep perspective about the Five-percent-hurdle. Measured by the outcome of the recent parliamentary elections seems, however, not unlikely. And then the Union would have thanks to Angela Merkel, the problems, the SPD for the past 30 years.

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