Thomas Poguntke
Thomas Poguntke argues that the shock results of recent elections in two German Länder show how Germany's party system has lost its capacity to integrate radical challengers. As a result, coalition formation now increasingly requires alliances which do not work – and this feeds popular disaffection. Read more
Joris Frese
People with migrant backgrounds are underrepresented in party politics. Yet, writes Joris Frese, most parties in Germany do not have a deliberate strategy for the integration of migrants, and few party chapters aspire to attract them Read more
Hager Ali
Years of austerity has stifled Germany’s army, the Bundeswehr, but Hager Ali argues that money is the least of it. Salvaging the Bundeswehr means reconfiguring German military professionalism – and fixing its relations with the public Read more
Katjana Gattermann
Media reports on elections often refer to the 'winners' and 'losers'. Yet, especially in multi-party systems, there is often more than one way to interpret election results. How the media frames election results does not depend only on parties’ objective performance, write Katjana Gattermann, Thomas M. Meyer and Katharina Wurzer. It also depends on also on party ideology Read more
Gabriele Beretta
The CDU is facing its first post-Merkel electoral campaign, and the SPD is struggling to gain more than a 15% vote share. The Greens, meanwhile, are the second largest party in Germany. The impact of their results on the new German government may be the Eurozone’s most important political development of 2021. Gabriele Beretta argues that this could also have dramatic macroeconomic consequences for the Euro Area Read more
Sabine Volk
Actors from across the political spectrum, including the populist far right, have voiced concerns about safeguarding democracy amid the coronacrisis, writes Sabine Volk. But their different understandings of democracy reveal Germany’s political polarisation, rather than its unity Read more
Isabelle Hertner
Germany has developed into a hugely diverse country, but Angela Merkel’s centre-right CDU is still grappling with this reality, writes Isabelle Hertner. Over Merkel's 16-year Chancellorship, her party has been torn between pragmatic immigration policy, and the demand for cultural assimilation Read more
The Loop
Cutting-edge analysis showcasing the work of the political science discipline at its best.
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