Yanks' Party System Better than Germans' (Die Zeit, Germany)
"When an American votes, he wants his party to win, which,
after all, is why he votes for the party he wants. And lo and behold. After the
election, at least 51 percent of Americans actually know their party won.
That's simple arithmetic. ... When a German votes, he uses advanced probability
to calculate: 'I want the SPD (German Social
Democratic Party) to win, so I'll vote for the Green Party so they can form a
coalition," with the outcome being exactly what no one wanted: a grand
coalition, for example.'"
Chancellor Angela Merkel: After winning a historic third term on Sept. 22, now begins the arduous task of cobbling together a ruling coalition with some of Germany's lesser parties.
Germans
sure have a funny way of voting. When an American votes, he wants his party to
win, which, after all, is why he votes for the party he wants. And lo and
behold. After the election, at least 51 percent of Americans actually know
their party won. That's simple arithmetic.
When
a German votes, he uses advanced probability to calculate: "I want the SPD (German Social Democratic Party) to win, so I'll vote
for the Green Party so they can form a coalition," with the outcome being
exactly what no one wanted: a grand coalition, for example.
My
friends and I often discuss which system is better: a two-party system such as
in America, where one party always wins and forms the government, or a system
of coalitions like in Germany, where no one knows whom their vote will
ultimately benefit? The debate usually ends in a draw, but I am often surprised
by my friends' arguments. For instance, the notion that a coalition system,
which gives voters more parties to choose from, also provides "more"
democracy. Is a woman who will shortly give birth to twins "more
pregnant" than a woman who expects to give birth to a single child?
The Tea Party's
approach was brilliant
I
find fragile European coalition systems fascinating, but as an American I ask
myself why no one is bothered by their instability. That coalitions easily fall
apart has been frequently observed over the course of German history: In 1982,
for example, when the FDP [Free Democratic Party] opted out of a coalition
with the SPD in the middle of their term, and just like that, hand power to the CDU [Christian Democratic Union]. And
this - when the FDP had only 10.6 percent of the vote. A
party with a minority of votes was solely responsible for deciding who governs,
and voters had no say in the matter.
Another
argument often used in favor of the coalition system is that it makes possible
the formation of new parties, thus renewing the political landscape as a whole.
It's
true that new parties have no chance in America. We too have a Green Party and a
Pirate Party, but every voter knows that to cast a vote for either means a vote
wasted. As a result, they never really get anywhere. For this, I admire the
coalition system, in which new parties can come to power at any time.
Which
is to say, I admired that system until I became acquainted with the Tea Party.
No
matter what one may think of its content, one cannot emphasize enough that the
Tea Party was brilliant in its approach - precisely because it was not a party,
but simply a "movement." As a party it wouldn't have stood a chance
of coming to power, but as a movement within the Republican Party, it did: in
this way, it will influence American politics for decades to come.
I'm
starting to wonder what would have happened, if the AfD [Alternative
für Deutschland] had simply operated as a
movement within the CDU/CSU, rather than establishing
itself as an independent party. After all, many conservative voters are quite
sympathetic to the party's anti-euro line. But they would never vote for the AfD because that would mean a vote lost for the CDU/CSU.
Imagine
if AfD leaders, instead of establishing their own
party and generously proclaiming themselves party leaders, had consistently
spread this challenge: "Hey people! Become members of the CDU/CSU, go to every event and speak out loudly against the
euro, distribute leaflets at the events, find allies and financial supporters
for our cause, really get on people's nerves, until party leaders have no
choice but to change direction and speak out against the euro."
Because
that's exactly what the Tea Party has done, and they have been very successful.
The AfD, I am willing to bet, would have been
successful as well - and they wouldn't be the only ones: Using this method, the
Pirates would have been able to renew and rejuvenate the SPD.
Or the Greens: Imagine if, rather than establishing a party, the Greens had
created a movement within the SPD.Today, the SPD
would be younger, greener and more successful. And most important: For a
change, it would have a really interesting contender for the office of
chancellor: Joschka Fischer. [A leading Green
Party figure, Fischerwas foreign
minister and vice chancellor under Chancellor Gerhard Schröder
from 1998 to 2005.]
Even
from a mathematical standpoint, starting a movement within a party is more useful
than creating a new party. Every four years, the CDU/CSU
and the SPD have about a 50 percent chance of being
part the government. A smaller party's chance of successfully joining the
government is much smaller - probably less than 25 percent, since the big
coalition partners usually have a choice of several smaller partners.
Posted By
Worldmeets.US
Small
parties provide politicians the advantage of being able to advance their
careers more quickly, but from a power politics perspective, they are like
wallflowers who are only asked to dance when all the pretty girls are taken.
Eventually, if they stand around long enough, they too will get a chance to
dance, but not often enough to become really good dancers.
However,
there are subtle signs that some Germans may be changing their attitudes. In
Bavaria, the CSU governs with an absolute majority and in the Bundestag
elections, the CDU/CSU almost won an absolute
majority.
Perhaps
voters are increasingly getting the idea that by simply voting for their party
of choice, that party may actually come to power.
*Eric T. Hansen
is an American, an author (Planet Germany) and a satirist, who has spent half
his life in Germany and is currently in Berlin. His latest book is Planet Amerika.
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