This edited volume, which brings together the leading experts in German politics from around the US and Germany, combines rich descriptive data with insightful analyses regarding one of the most dramatic and important election years in postwar Germany. A variety of more specialized issues and perspectives is addressed, including the transatlantic relationship, EU policy, voting behavior and far Right parties. This book will be essential reading for students of German, European and comparative politics.
Table of Content
Introduction: The Drama of 2005 and the Future of German Politiics
Eric Langenbacher
Chapter 1. The Tipping Point: The 2005 Election and the Deconsolidation of the German Party System?
David Conradt
Chapter 2. The Extraordinary Bundestag Election of 2005: The Interplay of Long-term Trends and Short-term Factors
Hermann Schmitt and Andreas M. Wüst
Chapter 3. The Grand Coalition: Precedents and Prospects
Ludger Helms
Chapter 4. From High Hopes to On-going Defeat: The New Extreme Right’s Political Mobilization and its National Electoral Failure in Germany
Lars Rensmann
Chapter 5. Angela Merkel: What Does it Mean to Run as a Woman?
Myra Marx-Ferree
Chapter 6. Merkel’s EU Policy: ‘Kohl’s Mädchen’ or Interest-driven Politics?
Dorothee Heisenberg
Chapter 7. The Change in Government and Transatlantic Relations
Jackson Janes
Chapter 8. Honecker’s Revenge: The Enduring Legacy of German Unification in the 2005 Election
Jeffrey Kopstein and Daniel Ziblatt
Chapter 9. From the Outside In: Angela Merkel and the CDU
Clay Clements
Notes on Contributors
Index
About the author
Eric Langenbacher is a Visiting Assistant Professor and Director of Special Programs in the Department of Government, Georgetown University, where he teaches courses on comparative politics and political culture.