Left-wingers Take Power in Germany

by Jay Figurski

Legend has it, back in his days as a member of the German parliament in the 80s, Gerhard Schroeder stood in front of the chancellor’s building in Bonn and yelled “I want to get in there.” Well, his wish came true in Germany’s federal elections this September, with Schroeder’s Social Democratic party winning 41% of the votes. Incumbent chancellor Helmut Kohl’s Christian Democratic party, which has been in power for sixteen years, suffered their worst election results in forty years, taking a mere 35% of the votes.

The differences between Schroeder and Kohl transcend appearance, personality, and, yes, as unthinkable as it may seem, even politics. The two men represent very different eras in modern German history — and Schroeder’s victory signals the end of the older generation’s domination in government.

Schroeder’s generation (commonly referred to as the “68ers” due to the social change brought about by student protests in 1968) lacks the guilt of their elders that has been in existence since World War II. The older generation felt responsible to the world for the destruction and ill will caused by the Germans’ role in the war. This guilt has played a major role in determining German domestic and foreign policy, as the people of that generation have always been the ones in power in post-war Germany. The younger generation, born well after the war, does not feel responsible for a war they had nothing to do with, and has distanced themselves from this guilt.

U-M political science professor Ron Inglehart foresees this new generation as being “more assertive and less apologetic” in their newly-won roles in government. Germany, which has often taken a backseat in major European and worldwide political and social issues despite being the primary economic power in Europe, will do so no more.

Though a duty to the nation and a great sense of self-sacrifice embodied the Kohl generation, which supposedly represented a traditionally simple and hard-working Germany, Schroeder and his peers will tend to be more interested in individual freedom. They will be more inclined to be in touch with a Germany that has changed a lot since the Kohl generation shaped its political ideology. The traditionally hard-working nation now relaxes with the shortest working week and the most paid holidays of any industrialized country in the world.

Schroeder, 54, once a full-fledged Marxist, gradually made his platform less extreme and widened voter appeal. Much like Bill Clinton, Schroeder journeyed down a political pathway known as the “third way,” which advocates moderation as opposed to extreme free-market rightist ideology or socialist left ideology.

The 41% margin which the Social Democrats won in the election is not a majority in the German Bundestag (parliament). In German political tradition, the party which has the most seats (the Social Democrats) chooses to form a coalition with another party in the government in order to establish a solid majority. Although a coalition for the new government has not yet been formed, Schroeder has announced that his party will team up with the Greens, an international political party formed around environmental activism. The Greens, traditionally known in Germany for their often extreme positions, especially concerning environmental issues, seemed simultaneously surprised and ecstatic about having a chance to indulge themselves in real political influence. Within days after Schroeder made the first public statement alluding to a possible Social Democrat-Green coalition, Green party parliamentary leader Joschka Fischer was inspired to suddenly renounce his party’s more extremist platforms, such as pulling Germany out of NATO. Inglehart predicts this pattern of moderation in the Green party will continue. He states: “The [Green] party will keep alienating themselves from extremism, and the nobly idealistic wing will have to shut up.” Inglehart also explained that the Green leadership represents the moderate faction of the party, and that the major decision-making will ultimately rest with them. He cited a classic political pattern that “when extreme parties get into power, they are tamed.”

Inglehart foresees very little change with regard to the social issues and rights of German racial minorities, primarily Turkish working-class immigrants. While Schroeder might be inclined to push for more voting and citizenship rights for the German underclass, Inglehart sees Schroeder as “not being concerned with it [minority issues] too much." This would be a continuation of the Kohl government’s handling of the issue. Kohl, who was successful at avoiding the question of minority rights in an extremely racially stratified society, traditionally kept the issue out of the public spotlight.

It will be interesting to observe the change that is bound to occur in Germany over the next few months as a left-wing government receives the reins of power for the first time since 1982. MRMR Let’s just hope the left-wingers eventually emerge from their stay in power with a public image a bit less scathed than they have in the current administration in this country. MR

This article was published in the 28 October 1998 edition of The Michigan Review (Volume 17, Number 3).
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