{"id":10292,"date":"2018-11-07T15:27:37","date_gmt":"2018-11-07T15:27:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=10292"},"modified":"2018-11-07T15:27:37","modified_gmt":"2018-11-07T15:27:37","slug":"whos-who-in-german-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/whos-who-in-german-politics\/","title":{"rendered":"Who’s Who In German Politics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guten Tag! As you may have heard in the news, Angela Merkel will not be running for re-election as Bundeskanzlerin<\/b> (Chancellor) of Germany in 2021 \u2013 nor will she be running to be elected as CDU party leader. She has been the German chancello<\/span>r for almost 13 years, starting <\/span>way back <\/span>in 2005<\/span>. So <\/span>as this will no doubt be a hot news topic in the run-up to the next <\/span>Wahl<\/b><\/span> (<\/span>election<\/span>)<\/span>,<\/span> here is an easy overview of all of the major political parties in Germany, <\/span>so you can get a better idea of who\u2019s who in German <\/span>Politik<\/b><\/span> (politics)!<\/span><\/p>\n

Who’s Who In German Politics<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Image via Pixabay<\/p><\/div>\n

Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU)<\/span><\/h3>\n

Name in German: Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands<\/strong> (CDU)
\nCurrent<\/span> party leader<\/span><\/span>:<\/span><\/span> Angela Merkel
\n<\/span>Party colour: Schwarz<\/strong> (black)
\n<\/span>Party focus:<\/span> Centre-right. Conservative on social issues, but supports a free market economy & European integration. Calls itself<\/span> <\/b>die <\/b><\/span>Volkspartei<\/b><\/span> – a party for everybody, rather than one that caters to specific ideologies.<\/span>
\n<\/span>Main <\/span>voter<\/span> base<\/span>: Traditionalists\/conservatives; <\/span>people <\/span>in <\/span>more <\/span>Catholic regions; the older generation.<\/span><\/p>\n

The CDU has <\/span>die <\/span><\/strong>Schwesterpartei<\/strong> (<\/span><\/span>sister-party<\/span><\/span>)<\/span><\/span> called CSU, which stands for Christian Social Union in Bavaria (Christlich-Soziale Union in Bayern<\/strong>). The CSU is unique in German politics, as it is the equivalent of the CDU but for Bavaria only. However, the CSU has been known to hold more conservative views than the CDU, so the parties do sometimes clash. There is a bit more about Bavarian politics in<\/span><\/span> this post.<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Social Democratic Party of Germany (SDP)<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

Name in German: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands<\/strong> (SDP)
\n<\/span><\/span>Current party leader: Andrea Nahles
\nParty colour: Rot<\/strong> (red)
\n<\/span><\/span>Party focus: <\/span><\/span>Centre-left. Social democracy, protecting the poor via a welfare state.<\/span><\/span>
\nMain voter base: Working class; people in more industrial regions; people in big cities, especially in the north and west of the country.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Free Democratic Party (FDP)<\/h3>\n

Name in German: Freie Demokratische Partei<\/strong> (FDP)
\nCurrent party leader: Christian Lindner
\nParty colour: Gelb<\/strong> (yellow)
\nParty focus: Centre-right. Liberals. Internationalism, civil\/human rights, free enterprise, individual freedom.
\nMain voter base: The self-employed and business owners.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Green Party\/<\/span><\/span>Alliance 90<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

Name in German: Die Gr<\/strong><\/span><\/span>\u00fc<\/span><\/span>nen \/ <\/span><\/span>B<\/span><\/span>\u00fc<\/span><\/span>ndnis 90<\/span><\/span><\/strong>
\nCurrent party leader: <\/span><\/span>Annalena Baerbock \/ Robert Habeck.<\/span><\/span>
\nParty colour: Gr<\/strong><\/span><\/span>\u00fcn<\/strong> (green)
\n<\/span><\/span>Party focus: <\/span><\/span>Centre-left.<\/span><\/span> Environmental protection, economic and social sustainability. <\/span><\/span>
\nMain voter base: Young people; <\/span><\/span>people in university towns and cities; well-educated people; nowadays popular amongst over 35s, too.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

*<\/h1>\n

A<\/span><\/span>lternative for Germany (AfD)<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

Name in German: Alternative f<\/strong><\/span><\/span>\u00fc<\/span><\/span><\/strong>r Deutschalnd<\/strong> (AfD)
\nCurrent party leader: J<\/span><\/span>\u00f6<\/span><\/span>rg Meuthen\/<\/span><\/span>Alexander Gauland.<\/span><\/span>
\nParty colour: Blau<\/strong> (blue)
\nParty focus: Right-wing\/<\/span><\/span>far-right<\/span><\/span>. German nationalism, Eurosceptic, anti-immigration, <\/span><\/span>anti-Islam.<\/span><\/span>
\nMain voter base: <\/span><\/span>Fairly diverse. People who are unhappy with the status quo, or with other party ideologies, often vote AfD. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

*<\/h1>\n

The Left\/Left Party<\/h3>\n

Name in German: Die Linke \/ Die Linkspartei<\/strong>
\nCurrent party leader: Katja Kipping\/Bernd Riexinger.
\nParty colour: Rot<\/strong> (red)
\nParty focus: Left-wing\/far left. Wants to eradicate capitalism and put more government funding into education, research & culture.
\nMain voter base: This party is a direct descendent of the former East German governing party, the Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands<\/strong> (Socialist Unity Party), so its voter base consists mostly of supporters of the former GDR (East Germany), communists, social democrats, and people who are generally unhappy with the other, more traditional parties.<\/p>\n

I hope this has been helpful! <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Bis bald\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/strong>(see you soon)!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Constanze<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Guten Tag! As you may have heard in the news, Angela Merkel will not be running for re-election as Bundeskanzlerin (Chancellor) of Germany in 2021 \u2013 nor will she be running to be elected as CDU party leader. She has been the German chancellor for almost 13 years, starting way back in 2005. So as…<\/p>\n

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