German Political Parties                             

                                                                                                      source:www.take-it-gysi.de

Spectrum of Political Parties 

Party of Democratic       GREENS               Social                       Free Democratic      Christian Democrats    Republicans      German   Socialism (PDS)                                            Democratic              Party (FDP)            (CDU/CSU)                                           People's                                                                                Party (SDP)                                                                                                           Union (DVU)   

|_______________|___________|____________|______________|____________|___________|

LEFT                                                             CENTRE                                         RIGHT        FAR-RIGHT  

INTRODUCTION                                                  

SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY

History

World War I

World War II

Post-World War II

Key Leaders Post-War

Unification to Present

Platform

Godesburg Programme

Structure

ALLIANCE '90/THE GREENS

History

The Greens

Platform

Key Leaders

Ideology and the Merger

Structure

Voter Demographics

PARTY OF DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM

History

Platform

Structure

Christian Democratic Union of Germany/Christian Social Union ---- CDU/CSU

• History - CDU

                      - CSU

• Coalition

• Platform
• Communications
• Popular support
• Internal structure
• Electoral strategies
• Record in power
• Leadership
• Main issues

Free Democratic Party ---- FDP

• History
• Platform
• Communication
• Popular support
• Internal structure
• Electoral strategies
• Record in power
• Peculiarities
• Leadership
• Legislative behaviour
• Main issues

The Republicans

• History
• Platform
• Communication
• Popular support
• Record in power
• Peculiarities
• Leadership

• Main issues

German People's Union (DVU)

• History

• Platform

• Communication

• Popular Support

• Electoral Strategies

• Record In Power

• Main Issues

Other Parties (Minority)

• Animal Protection Party
• Democratic Party of Germany
• Bavaria Party
• League of Free Citizens
• National Democratic Party

REFERENCES

GLOSSARY

Introduction

    In Germany there exists 7 major political parties and many other minor parties. Political parties can be defined as an element within the democratic political system that helps to influence the public.  These groups of active citizens defined by the constitution as necessary within the system of politics, encourage increased public activity and involvement in the issues affecting the nation using the influence of various theoretical premises. The following is an examination of the major German political parties that have existed since the abdication of the monarch Kaiser Wilhelm at the beginnings of a non-monarchical political system in Germany

Social Democratic Party                                                 

Socialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD)                                source: www.spd.de

Ollenhauerstrasse 1  Berlin  53113

www.spd.de                              

source: www.spd.de

History

    The Social Democratic Party (Socialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands), or SPD, is the oldest party in Germany. It was born from an ideological merger of two smaller political groups in 1863, the Allemeiner Deutscher Arbeiterverein or General Association of German Workers and the Social Democratische or Social Democratic Labour Party. Both these smaller political groups had similar interests in labour regulations in light of rapid industrialization prominent in Germany and Prussia at the time.

    However, under Chancellor Bismark’s anti-socialist laws in 1878, created in the wake of 2 assassination attempts on the German Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm, the SPD was banned from existing as a political organization. As the SPD members strongly believed in Marxist theory, they were fittingly classified as Left in the political spectrum. Bismark’s anti-socialist laws are often seen by theorists as an attempt to punish the group thought to be responsible for the assassination attempts. Members of the SPD have historically denied these implications.

    Bismark’s laws were abolished in 1890 and the SPD was quickly re-formed in 1891. With socialism re-legalized, the party set about re-establishing its belief in the inevitable socialist revolution. The SPD claimed to represent the working class; undergoing rapid expansion as vast amounts of people came from rural areas to become part of the industrialized work force. The SPD claimed to support the fight for the universal suffrage of man. By 1912, the SPD was the largest party representing Germans, as shown by the high number of votes won in the Reichstag.

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World War I

    At the onset of the Great War, members of the SPD were experiencing ideological division within the party on the issue of support for the war effort. Those who expressed an antiwar ideology and a hope for the downfall of capitalism left to form the German Communist Party; but, the majority of the reformist members supported German involvement in the war and stayed in the SPD, remaining strong supporters of imperialism. In the end, the remaining SPD became strong supporters of the Weimar Republic under Germany’s first President and Chancellor, Freidrich Ebert, a strong criticizer of capitalism. It is important at this point to note that prior to Adolf Hitler, the offices of Chancellor and President could be the occupied by the same person. Through SPD support the new Weimar Republic established itself with democratic nationalization of industry and the revival of the defunct worker’s councils. As well, in 1918, the SPD was responsible for granting women the right to vote.

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World War II       

    The SPD remained a strong presence in the Reichstag until the rise of a new party that was rapidly gaining power and support. The National Socialist German Worker’s Party (NSDAP) overtook the SPD in votes in 1932. In 1933 in new elections, Hitler was appointed Chancellor and granted emergency governmental powers after the burning of the Reichstag. Using these emergency powers Hitler was able to pass an enabling act with the support of governmental centre-right parties. This act gave him the absolute power to ban any and all political opponents to the NSDAP, including the SPD. Through more in-depth study, it is discovered that the primary focus of the supporting centre-right parties was their own agendas. It was the believed among these party members that the passing of this act would partially realize their individual political agendas by seemingly eliminating a powerful party of opposition. However, it would come to be that through 1933-45, any and all who expressed opposition to the NSDAP, their views and especially to Hitler himself were subject to violent and sadistic abuse, mass oppression, arrest and subsequent imprisonment, extreme penalty and murder.

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Post War

    In 1945-6, the SPD was re-established both in the West and in Soviet occupation zones. However, in the Eastern zones (now known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), the German Communist Party became the United Socialist Party and forced the remaining members of the SPD in the East to amalgamate. During this merger, 5000 members were arrested and key positions within the party became occupied by communists.

    In 1949, West Germany (now known as the Federal Republic of Germany) held its first elections since the war. The SPD obtained enough votes to become the opposition party in the German Bundestag. The party in power at the time was the Christian Democrats and the SPD remained in opposition until 1966.

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Key Leaders Post War

    In 1949, the SPD was leader of the party was Schumacher, who remained until 1952-the year prior to the Revolution of 1953 when he was succeeded by Ollenhauer. Ollenhauer remained the leader of the SPD through the party’s public ideological changes of the Godesburg Programme in 1959. In 1966, the SPD entered into federal government by a coalition with the CDU/CSU. It was at this time that Willy Brandt was elected to the post of Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister, now a popular post for the leader of the opposition. He was responsible for pursuing the Ostpolitik while holding these offices.

    Finally in 1969, the SPD was elected to power in the federal government. Heinemann became West Germany’s first SPD President. It was at this time that the Free Democratic Party entered into federal parliament by a centre-left coalition with the SPD. But it wasn’t until 1972, with Brandt as Chancellor, that the SPD obtained its highest votes since WWII. Unfortunately, this overly strong support for Brandt was not to last long. Though Brandt helped to create a new foreign policy for entente with the Soviet Union, his popularity wavered when a rise of students with Neomarxist views caused the SPD to hinder socialist views from being taught or enter into public office. In 1974 he was forced to resign from the Chancellor position when an aid in a position of influence was found to be an East German spy. However, his party remained faithful to his leadership and he remained as Chairman of the SPD.
    

    Helmut Schmidt took over as Chancellor of West Germany as the SPD remained in power throughout the decade, winning elections in 1976, and 1980. In 1982, the Free Democratic Party withdrew from the SPD/FDP coalition and joined in coalition with the CDU/CSU. By 1983, SPD votes dropped and the CDU/CSU/FDP coalition was elected into power. The SPD was again in position as the opposition party but Schmidt was forced by the SPD to resign after his personal decision to appoint a Greek woman who was not a member of the SPD as party spokesperson was not supported by the party. Hans Vochen-Jogel succeeded Schmidt and began a reappraisal of the party’s program.

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Unification to Present

Germany- Unified, Separated, Unified to1990         

                                                                                                        source:www.omnimap.com

    By 1989, the Berlin Wall had fallen and Germany had entered into its first stages of unification. And though the SPD had once again launched as a separate sector in East Germany it was seen as unpopular when the party leader was found to formerly have been a member of the Stasi police. By 1990, the SPD was popular enough to win the federal elections and be appointed into power as the first government of unified Germany. In 1994, the SPD strengthened party support by forming a coalition government with Alliance’90/The Greens. This environmental party, defined as neither right, broadened the scope of the SPD platform by adding environmental concern and further encouraging the advocacy of human rights and freedoms.

    In the years that followed the leader of the SPD was a position occupied by several different men. From Vogel, the party leader became Bjorn Engholm in 1989. Engholm though, was soon forced to resign after a conference in 1992 when he proposed that the automatic right of entry to Germany by refugees seeking asylum be amended out of the Constitution; and, that German forces should by law have the capacity to be deployed outside NATO areas on UN peacekeeping missions. He was succeeded by Rudolf Scharpig. The resignation of Scharpig in 1995, due to the loss of the federal election in 1994, brought the election of Oskar Lafontaine. It is interesting to note that Lafontaine opposed the institution of a single European currency and the granting of automatic citizenship to ethnic Germans residing outside Germany.

    Currently, the SPD remains in power of state government in coalition with Alliance’90/The Greens, a coalition formed in 1993. This partnership currently has the support of 9 out of 16 Länder. 35 members of the SPD currently in European Parliament are members of the Party of European Socialists.

    The coalition government has further defined its goals in the Red-Green Coalition, a 4-year program starting in 1998. This plan can be streamlined into 3 defined major goals:

    2.  Institute major tax reforms- a plan in three stages implemented in 99, 00, 01

        a) increase growth and employment by increasing business investments

        b) give tax breaks to employees and families

        c) streamline and simplify Germany’s tax laws

    3.  Ecological tax reform by the reduction of non-wage labour costs with the use of more efficient energy consumption.

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Platform

    Since the Godesburg Programme and the coalition with the Green/Alliance’90, the SPD platform has changed quite a bit. From the initial reformist goals of the party to support the human rights of the expanding labour force and to in any way encourage the fall of capitalism which, as predicted by Marx, would bring socialist revolution, the SPD have retained their socialist roots but have modernized their goals to a more liberal standpoint. As the Green/Alliance’90 party considers themselves as neither left nor right, but as standing to the right of the SPD, they can probably be defined as the most centre party in the German political system. The SPD alliance with the Green/Alliance’90 party thus brings them from the left to a more center-left standpoint.

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    The Godesburg Programme was the SPD’s first significant and marked political ideology shift. It was declared by Willy Brandt that the SPD platform had abandoned Marxist theory and embraced the idea of private property and ownership. However, these concepts were acceptable in context of an equitable social order, supporting NATO and one European community. In terms of social and economic reforms, the government extended employee’s rights at work and as citizens. It was at this time that the SPD made it a point to note that since its beginnings the party had established self-assured citizens from out of an oppressed proletariat. Furthermore when Brandt was elected into office, he pursued Ostpolitik –seeking a way to normalize foreign relations with East Germany and its communist government and ideologies.

    The Red-Green Coalition platform of the SPD/Greens/Alliance ’90 has dominated the governmental plans since its creation and it has been found that present day parties have incorporated plans that address similar issues. The coalition platform was created to achieve several important goals: to strengthen the economy through decreased unemployment; to achieve the equality of women within business and the economy; to reduce debt through better budgeting, future-oriented investments, and tax reform; to create and utilize safer energy consumption methods; and, to enhance the quality of work and life.

    The coalition government hopes to better foreign relationships through the elimination of East and West German conflict and form an equitable world economic order giving peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America a chance to develop. Their platform advocates the use of non-violent conflict resolution, and seeks to end environmental devastation and exploitation and find a source for sustainability and an ecologically sound way of producing and consuming.

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STRUCTURE

Alliance '90/ The Greens                            source:www.gruene.de 

Bundis ‘90/Die Grunen – Bundesgeschaftsselle                                           

Baunscheidtsts.1a

53113 Bonn

http://www.gruene.de/sache/english

History

    The Alliance’90/The Greens party (Bundis ‘90/Die Grunen) originated as two separate groups. Bundis ‘90, in East Germany, began as a union of various opposition groups active against the destructive environmental effects of modern technology and the economic systems and institutions that drive them. Similar in ideology to Die Grunen, Bundis ’90 (herein after referred to as Alliance ’90) are advocates of pacifism and human rights.

The Greens

    Die Grunen (in English, The Greens) formed in West Germany as a grassroots organization, made up of an amalgamation of frustrated peoples of differing strategies and assumptions with a common concern for the environment, ready to fight for change in ecological policy.

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Platform

    In 1971, Herbert Gruhl published a collection of ecological literature that, for the first time, brought environmental concerns to the attention of the German public. German society at the time was centered in the strong belief that industry and technological change encouraged economic growth, a belief that had shown prominent after both world wars. This need to build a strong economy accompanied by this historic industrial faith encouraged the formation and building of ‘high risk’ industry.

    Governmental plans to enlarge nuclear energy developments resulted in mass anti-nuclear movements in the 1970’s that ended repeated attempts to put these plans into action. A common belief held by people involved was that besides the environmental dangers, a nuclear state would mean increased security for Germans and decrease individual freedoms, thus forming a police state.

    In 1979, The Greens, highly heterogeneous in member composition but with the same ideologies, came together to form a programme that called for a worldwide ban on nuclear energy and on chemical and biological weapons. This informal proposal called to cease any deployment of nuclear weapons in Europe, agreement to the unilateral disarmament of West Germany and the creation of a demilitarized zone in Europe. It also called for the dismantling of NATO and the Warsaw Pact. The Greens also called for a 35-hour workweek, the dismantling of large economic companies into smaller, equal units, and support the right of worker’s unions to withdraw labour. Thus, for the first time, ecological concerns were being formed into political action.

    From 1980 to 1987, this aggressive platform helped the Greens to enter parliament and support for their party to strengthen. In 1983, the Greens surpassed the 5% of votes to enter parliament and were awarded 27 seats. By 1987, their percentage had increased to 8.3% in the federal elections.

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Key Leaders

   source:www.petra-kelly-archiv.de

    Petra Kelly was prominent in helping the Greens to rise to parliamentary status. Her charismatic leadership of the Greens brought forward their platform and helped to gain support and awareness for the party and their cause. Interestingly, Kelly left the party in 1984 with two other members, due to what was assumed to be ideological differences. 8 years later Kelly was discovered murdered in her Bonn apartment reportedly by her husband, Gert Bastion. It was reported that Bastion, an "army general turned pacifist," shot Kelly before turning the gun on himself.

Ideology and the Merger

    Within the Greens party, a division in ideology had occurred. This split was characterized as a division between the ‘Realos’ and the ‘Fundis’, or, the realists and the fundamentalists. The realist wing favored a possible co-operation with the Social Democratic Party and the fundamentalists did not. In 1985, the ‘Realos’, then known as the ‘Greens of Hesse’ split form the originally party and formed a coalition with the SPD and joined the opposition in the government. This coalition, however, collapsed in 1987 when Joschka Fischer, the leader of the Greens of Hesse, boldly demanded that the government call a halt to the processing of plutonium in a plant near Frankfurt. At the annual congress, this failure of the ‘Realos’ wing generated favor for the fundamentalists.

    In 1989, The Greens launched in East Germany, and their opposition to unification generated strong support. Their platform urged restructuring of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) along lines that were both democratic and socialist. They did not support unification but rather advocated strengthening of the republic without the influence of capitalism.

    By 1990, Alliance ’90 had secured seats in parliament and 5% of the vote in East Germany. This same year, the Greens in West Germany failed to obtain the necessary 5% to maintain representation in parliament. Their platform had ignored the issue of unification as they believed it was not an issue affecting the party, a non-issue. The slogan for the election campaign had been, "They are all talking about the nation and we’re talking about the weather," expressing a concern for ozone depletion. They lost a great deal of voter support and were kicked out of parliament. Later, as unification became inevitable, the West Greens resolved any ideological differences they previously had with Alliance ’90, and with what some see as a desperate attempt to remain somewhat influential in parliament, the Greens merged with Alliance ’90. The merger was formalized in 1993 and ‘The Greens’ was kept as a suffix for ‘identification purposes.’

    The parliamentary coalition of 1994 between SPD/Alliance’90/The Greens brought Alliance ‘90/The Greens into power in the government. This partnership was often called the red-green coalition. However, in 1994 the governmental coalition of SPD/Alliance’90/The Greens released a four-year plan named the Red-Green Coalition and in 1994, Alliance’90/The Greens held 49 seats in parliament.

    Currently, the coalition government remains in power with 1 more year to implement the final steps of the Red-Green Coalition. This government has succeeded in reforming the citizenship laws, reducing tax rates, introducing an eco-tax, stopping the increase of public debt, reforming pension systems, and passing an act that declares atomic energy will be allowed to run out and that the utilization of alternative energy systems and the reduction of all around energy consumption will be implemented.

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Structure

    In the national sector, Alliance ’90/The Greens has 50,000 members. They have strong membership in 16 federal states, including 500 counties and 25,000 communities in the regional sector. All levels of the party have Executive Committees with 5-12 official members. 2 of these members are elected as speakers for their riding. In all executive committees, there is a minimum quota of half for women and the quota applies as well for those elected to run in parliamentary elections. The Green Youth (14-28) currently has 5,000 members. The party itself is a member of the European Federation of Green Parties and German Greens are the largest component of the International Green Group.

Voter Demographics         

    Voters come from various social groups of people between 25-40 years of age. A higher percentage of voters are female and voters tend to live in cities rather than rural areas. Voters were found to have a high level of education and classified as having ‘post-materialistic values.’

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Party of Democratic Socialism                                            

Partei der Demokratischen Socializmus (PDS)                                            source:www.pds-berlin.de

Karl-Liebnecht-Haus

Kleine Alexanderstiasse 28

10178 Berlin

http://www.pds-online.de

History

    In 1946, the Party of Socialist Unity (Socialistche Einheitspartei Deutschlands), or SED, was created when the East German SPD was forced to merge with the ruling communist party of the Stalinist regime, the KPD. This new party ran East Germany; they fully controlled the government and all electoral processes and supervised Germany’s state security service, the Stasi. In order for one to run for position in the government, the first requirement was that he be a card-carrying member of the SPD.

           Walter Ulbricht                        

                                                    source: www.dhm.de

    In 1950, the key leader, Walter Ulbricht was responsible for expelling many party members. His reasons were the believed participation in three key events opposing the rule of the SED: one, the break of Yugoslavia from Cominform, two, the 1953 anti-government uprising in East Berlin and three, the Hungarian uprising in 1956. The party’s action of nationalizing agriculture caused these uprisings and caused a ‘mass exodus’ to the West. The result was the erection of the Berlin Wall in 1961 extending along the border with West Germany, to keep East Germans within the GDR.

    In 1971, Ulbricht was replaced by Erich Honecker. Honecker was the first to attempt to mend the relationship between East and West, which he mostly succeeded in doing by 1972. In 1974, Germany became a member of the UN.

    But, all was not well with the SED. More public protest in 1989 and the flight from the GDR to the West through Hungary pressured the replacement of Honecker with Egon Kreig. Kreig’s time in office was cut short by German unification when he resigned in December at the onset of the opening of the Berlin Wall.

    For 40 years, the SED was the sole ruling party of the German Democratic Republic. It remained this way by assimilating all GDR parties including the CDU, the Democratic Farmer’s Party, the Liberal Democratic Party and the National Democratic Party. But, during the East German revolution and counter-revolution, the German public toppled the communist regime and 95% of SED members removed their support from the SED party. As SED membership dropped the party’s organizational structure unraveled, leaving a party with few members and lacking direction. During this time of confusion, the party attempted to fully reform itself. An emergency meeting in December of 1989 decided to abandon Marxism and appoint Gregor Gysi as the new party leader. Thus, in 1990, the PDS, or Party of Democratic Socialism, was born.

    However, the public did not welcome the party’s return to politics. They were rejected through public demonstrations and, after the capitalist re-unification, this rejection caused some of the members rethink their rekindled support as they feared for their careers. In 1990, the PDS membership dropped from 120,000 to 90,000.

    In 1994, the PDS captured 4.4% of the vote, which, according to the rules of the Bundestag, was 0.6% short of the necessary percentage of votes required to be welcomed into parliament. However, the PDS won outright support in 4 districts in East Berlin, in the former East Germany, and were thus automatically entitled to 30 seats in parliament.

                 Gregor Gysi                       

                                                    source: www.take-it-gysi.de

    In 1998, support for the PDS remained strong in former East German sectors, as the party won 19.5% of the overall vote in the federal elections; of which, only 1.1% came from the former West. The party’s parliamentary secretary, Gregor Gysi, is credited with obtaining such strong support for the PDS. His articulate and charismatic manner is seen as a key factor in rallying support for the party’s platform and actions. However, the party’s electoral base is limited to the East where many former SED members live. In former East Germany, it is the largest political party and is seen by East Germans as the only party that represents Germany’s true interests.

    A relatively new party to Germany’s political scene, the PDS has generated much negative attention to themselves. Germany’s other parties have largely ostracized the PDS and are convinced that the PDS uses political positions that have been abandoned by other parties to induce support.

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Platform

    The goal of the PDS has always been to defend the bourgeois order. The party has concerned itself with the strength of the ruling class over the needs of the government. On the issue of unification, members saw it as a means for West Germany to further their capitalist political, constitutional and economic systems, as a means for West Germany to synthesize East Germany. In preparation for the inevitable unification, the East German government formed a Trust Agency to aid the denationalization of the GDR economy. According to members of the PDS, West German entrepreneurs wiped out the GDR economy with no regard for the inexorable social consequences. Now the common belief is that nothing remains of the German Democratic Republic.

    Currently, the PDS is against proposed government spending cuts of DM150 billion. They fear pensions, unemployment payments and welfare benefits will be cut, public sector jobs axed and wages frozen to curb the national debt. The PDS points out that the red-green government coalition sent German troops into the NATO Balkans War in 2000, something that hasn’t been done in Germany since 1945.

    The PDS is determined to build a new political worker’s party. They demand improvement of the welfare system; propose to withdraw proposed cuts in pensions and seek to allocate more money for education as an investment for the future. They aspire to work closely with SPD and CDU with the common goal of imposing social and austerity measures against the population.

Structure

    The PDS has several sects and branches including the KPF, which has the most communist platform. It has 9,000 members, 66% of which are over 60 years old. Unlike other political groups in Germany, the PDS only has 300 active members in youth organizations.

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