What's going on in Germany right now?
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  What's going on in Germany right now?
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Author Topic: What's going on in Germany right now?  (Read 14006 times)
freek
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« Reply #25 on: May 28, 2004, 06:00:49 AM »


Or unless they get more districts that what belongs to them by PR, although this doesnīt happen so often.
Actually, it happens quite a lot, especially since 1990, that CDU, and SPD get more districts than their total of seats allocated in PR. The solution is to extend the number of seats in the Bundestag, socalled "Uberhangmandate" (overhang seats).
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minionofmidas
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« Reply #26 on: May 28, 2004, 09:21:38 AM »

Exactly.
The FDP actually managed to win a district in East Germany in 1990, btw, on the wave of Genscher's popularity in his home area.
Normally, however, the FDP gets only half as many district votes as proportional votes - and polling regularly confirms that half their voters prefer the CDU to the FDP. This was less pronounced than usual in 2002, though.
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YoMartin
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« Reply #27 on: May 28, 2004, 09:13:23 PM »


Or unless they get more districts that what belongs to them by PR, although this doesnīt happen so often.
Actually, it happens quite a lot, especially since 1990, that CDU, and SPD get more districts than their total of seats allocated in PR. The solution is to extend the number of seats in the Bundestag, socalled "Uberhangmandate" (overhang seats).

There is also a way to avoid the change in the number of seats (I honestly donīt remember how). Itīs useful in cases where (e.g., bc the constitution doesnīt allow it) you canīt change the number of seats.

This system has it all...
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freek
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« Reply #28 on: May 30, 2004, 05:50:39 PM »


There is also a way to avoid the change in the number of seats (I honestly donīt remember how). Itīs useful in cases where (e.g., bc the constitution doesnīt allow it) you canīt change the number of seats.
That would be very handy, since in Holland politicians all of a sudden want to change the electoral system. It works fine since 1918, but now they think that they lost the connection with the voters, so they want some districts. But the constitution says that elections have to be performed with a system of PR, and that the parliament has 150 seats, so they seem to settle for the German system, but they need some adjustments.
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minionofmidas
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« Reply #29 on: May 31, 2004, 07:15:02 AM »


Or unless they get more districts that what belongs to them by PR, although this doesnīt happen so often.
Actually, it happens quite a lot, especially since 1990, that CDU, and SPD get more districts than their total of seats allocated in PR. The solution is to extend the number of seats in the Bundestag, socalled "Uberhangmandate" (overhang seats).

There is also a way to avoid the change in the number of seats (I honestly donīt remember how). Itīs useful in cases where (e.g., bc the constitution doesnīt allow it) you canīt change the number of seats.

This system has it all...
The only way how you can avoid changing the no of seats would be not to award seats to the narrowest winners of that party - this is actually done in Bavaria, though it only ever happened once there.
What's done in most German states is to give additional seats to all the other parties as well (Ausgleichsmandate), so that representation remains strictly proportional.
However, that can't be done in the federal elections because you'd have to adjust between the states as well as between the parties. Now, if the SPD wins all 10 direct seats in, say, Sachsen-Anhalt (as they did in 2002), but should only have 7 (8 in 2002, but 7 wouldn't be impossible if the PDS has a good year), you'd have to expand parliament by almost 50%!
So, in federal elections, nothing of the kind is done.
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Michael Z
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« Reply #30 on: May 31, 2004, 12:39:30 PM »

I really doubt the CDU will win a single Hamburg district.

The CDU won the last mayoral election in Hamburg.

You fell into the trap!

D'oh.

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True... even though I can see the CDU doing well in some of Hamburg's more conservatively-minded suburbs. But of course you're right, the SPD (and also the Greens) tend to do extremely well in Hamburg in federal elections.
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Storebought
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« Reply #31 on: June 17, 2004, 08:40:03 AM »

This thread deserves updating since the EU elections.

It was pleasant to see Schroeder's SPD get absolutely slaughtered in the polls (24% to 46% for the CDU). Not that the EU parliament has any authority.
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Jens
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« Reply #32 on: June 17, 2004, 09:38:35 AM »

Not that the EU parliament has any authority.
I beg to differ. The parliament is responsible for 50-70 % of national legislation, especially in areas such as environment and agriculture
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cwelsch
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« Reply #33 on: June 19, 2004, 07:50:27 AM »

Well, I'm rooting for Die Liberalen (FDP) to get a bigger share of the vote, but they're kinda wavering despite having the best ideas in the country.  I'd say mismanagement.  Klein aber fein!

Prediction-wise, probably a Christian Democrat victory, and then the CDU-CSU coalition with the FDP.  Schroeder pulled it off last time by playing off German fears of being a right-wing bigot country.  Combined with rising anti-immigrant xenophobia in other European countries, and especially the US move toward war, enough germans were fearful of the right to vote SPD despite reservations about them.  With the war winding down or over (Iraqi sovereignty by the end of this month) I think this will be considerably less of an issue in the next election.
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