German Elections & Politics

[politicus]

The only SPD district belongs to Gotha and is won by Matthias Hey.

There is a certain historical beauty to SPD still winning Gotha in a monumental defeat.

[solarstorm]

What position would the Freie Wähler members take generally--generic conservative/center-right?

I think the American equivalent is "moderate".
Their members are the typical "nice men/women next door" with a clean sidewalk and a garden goblin.

[njwes]

What position would the Freie Wähler members take generally--generic conservative/center-right?

I think the American equivalent is "moderate".
Their members are the typical "nice men/women next door" with a clean sidewalk and a garden goblin.

lol wait that's great, they should be getting more votes

[solarstorm]

What position would the Freie Wähler members take generally--generic conservative/center-right?

I think the American equivalent is "moderate".
Their members are the typical "nice men/women next door" with a clean sidewalk and a garden goblin.

lol wait that's great, they should be getting more votes

On the municipal level, they are extremely strong, in every Land.
On the state level, they are only relevant in Bavaria.

They are not meant for the federal stage; they rather care for municipal issues.

[solarstorm]

The next two Lands to hold elections are Hamburg (Feb 2015) and Bremen (May 2015).
If the AfD manages to enter those two states' Bürgerschaften, it won't be possible anymore to imagine the political landscape without them.

[njwes]

The next two Lands to hold elections are Hamburg (Feb 2015) and Bremen (May 2015).
If the AfD manages to enter those two states' Bürgerschaften, it won't be possible anymore to imagine the political landscape without them.

But if the other parties continue to refuse to form coalitions with them and essentially ignore them, what role would they have to play? At least until the next parliamentary election?

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Where can we find recent polling for Bremen and Hamburg?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

The only SPD districts belongs to Gotha

Haha, that's perfect.

[solarstorm]

Where can we find recent polling for Bremen and Hamburg?

Here.

[solarstorm]

The next two Lands to hold elections are Hamburg (Feb 2015) and Bremen (May 2015).
If the AfD manages to enter those two states' Bürgerschaften, it won't be possible anymore to imagine the political landscape without them.

But if the other parties continue to refuse to form coalitions with them and essentially ignore them, what role would they have to play? At least until the next parliamentary election?

The same role the Linke has been playing for 9 years.

[solarstorm]

The Social Democratic voters in Thüringen prefer SPD to continue governing with CDU in a grand coalition.

When was this poll conducted? Before or after the election?

[Tender Branson]

When was this poll conducted? Before or after the election?

It's part of the ARD-exit poll:

http://www.tagesschau.de/multimedia/bilder/uvotealbum-196.html

[solarstorm]

When was this poll conducted? Before or after the election?

It's part of the ARD-exit poll:

http://www.tagesschau.de/multimedia/bilder/uvotealbum-196.html

Another question, another answer:



That proves the silliness of polls again...

[Tender Branson]

When was this poll conducted? Before or after the election?

It's part of the ARD-exit poll:

http://www.tagesschau.de/multimedia/bilder/uvotealbum-196.html

Another question, another answer:



That proves the silliness of polls again...

Well, this is the answer from ALL people polled, not just SPD-voters ...

[solarstorm]

Well, this is the answer from ALL people polled, not just SPD-voters ...

I didn't allege inconsistency, but rather silliness.
That one exist poll doesn't say either that the remaining SPD voters oppose a MP Ramelow, they just prefer Lieberknecht.

Another example of its silliness:
27,000 former SPD voters turned towards the Linke, only 12,000 towards the CDU.
What do those exit polls do for the SPD?

[Middle-aged Europe]

The next two Lands to hold elections are Hamburg (Feb 2015) and Bremen (May 2015).
If the AfD manages to enter those two states' Bürgerschaften, it won't be possible anymore to imagine the political landscape without them.

But if the other parties continue to refuse to form coalitions with them and essentially ignore them, what role would they have to play? At least until the next parliamentary election?

That of an opposition party?

[Franzl]

At this point, the AfD has no interest in governing. Why would they?

[Tender Branson]

Where can we find recent polling for Bremen and Hamburg?

Here.

But:

The most "recent" polls from Hamburg and Bremen are already several months/half a year old, which makes them meaningless, considering AfD's recent surge.

[DL]

At this point, the AfD has no interest in governing. Why would they?

Isn't the raisin d'être of a political party to be in government and have an impact on public policy?

[politicus]

At this point, the AfD has no interest in governing. Why would they?

Isn't the raisin d'être of a political party to be in government and have an impact on public policy?

You can have an impact without being in government. Protest parties puts things on the agenda and pressure established parties to change or moderate some of their policies. Just look at the effect of right wing populism on European immigration policy or Greens on SD and Social Liberal environmental policies.

[Middle-aged Europe]

At this point, the AfD has no interest in governing. Why would they?

Isn't the raisin d'être of a political party to be in government and have an impact on public policy?

Not always. Especially when the party in question is still young. If they're electorally successful, they'll eventually end up seeking participation in government at one point though.

In Germany, both the Greens and the PDS/Left had long, internal debates on whether they should join governments. For the whole duration of the 1980, the Green Party was split between a "yes" (the Realos) and a "no" (the Fundis) camp. A conflict which wasn't fully resolved until the early 90s, when the Realo position finally became accepted as the mainstream position within the party and the Fundis started to get replaced by the so-called "Regierungslinke" (Governmental Left).

The PDS/Left went through a similar development, and in this case it isn't even fully resolved to this day with regards to the federal level and also some of the Western states.

A motivation for holding such a position is that the respective party questions the existing party system and considers itself as an alternative to the system at large. If this is the case, there's always a natural resistance against becoming a part of the very system they criticize.

[Middle-aged Europe]

FDP keeps a campaign promise for a change :

[Zinneke]

Where can we find recent polling for Bremen and Hamburg?

Here.

But:

The most "recent" polls from Hamburg and Bremen are already several months/half a year old, which makes them meaningless, considering AfD's recent surge.

AfD will crash in Hamburg for sure, they profit the most from EU. I'm not sure about Bremen's demographics but keep in mind these are two free cities we are talking about and not regions. AfD took votes of Die Linke in the urban centres of the two states here so I can only see the making inroads in Bremen where Die Linke did well 10 years ago.

[Beezer]

Let's not forget that Hamburg gave Richter Gnadenlos almost 20 percent of the vote not too long ago. The East German campaign also wasn't about the euro but instead had more of a law and order flavor to it.

[Yeahsayyeah]

Where can we find recent polling for Bremen and Hamburg?

Here.

But:

The most "recent" polls from Hamburg and Bremen are already several months/half a year old, which makes them meaningless, considering AfD's recent surge.

AfD will crash in Hamburg for sure, they profit the most from EU. I'm not sure about Bremen's demographics but keep in mind these are two free cities we are talking about and not regions. AfD took votes of Die Linke in the urban centres of the two states here so I can only see the making inroads in Bremen where Die Linke did well 10 years ago.

East isn't West