Short version is they cannot govern without a coalition partner, but they gain other rights in the parliament, such as filling important positions in the administration. When they reach 1/3 of the votes, so 33% they have a Sperrminorität, which means they can prevent changes in the constitution and also hinder new judges in the constitutional court.
Also 25% in an election would allow installing parliamentary inquiry commissions, which can be a decent way to obstruct the government by busying the bureaucracy and hogging media time.
This is post election. They didn’t have the majority during the elections, so while it is impressive, it doesn’t give them new political powers. Also, they require coalition partners, but nobody is willing to do that. If a coalition can be formed between (looking at the chart) Union, SPD, and Greens, that puts them at >50% giving them a majority to govern.
If the new coalition is formed and they don’t get their act together within the time of governance, the next elections could be fatal for democracy in Germany. Honestly, like in most other European countries facing threats to democracy, their current governments must take decisive and quick action to make more people happy. However, current governments are trying to play the nazi’s game, and they are predictably losing ground because that’s not a solution.
Major parties are playing identity politics, trying to be populistic, bundling nazi ideas as their own, or quite simply not uniting like for example the French left-wing parties did (however short-lived that was). They should be:
decreasing the gap between the rich and everybody else
improving EU and national sovereignty by promoting non-US products and services to stop the influx of US and Russian propaganda
taking radical action to make lodging and life in general more affordable (more social housing, making multi-home ownership less attractive, regulating the market more, etc.)
improving public transport to reduce car dependence to reduce air and noise pollution in cities, which also makes transport more affordable
providing more education with paid educational leave to allow career switches
reduce hurdles for creating small businesses and provide guidance for those willing to start businesses
invest in technology that makes life easier and more comfortable (better internet to reduce trips to office and government offices in particular, subsidies and research into improved heating and heat retention to reduce electricity and gas bills, …)
and so so much more. A happy, educate populace is much less likely to be duped and and magnitudes less likely to vote against their own interests (like voting for lying politicians or nazis).
donno about Germany, but here in UK the current government is actually putting through unexpected changes, but its probably invisible to general public. news outlets are generally pro conservatives here
We’ll see about Germany. I think the last government tried to do stuff but one coalition “partner” cutting away at the coalition’s Achilles heel (the budget). The media reporting on Germany also seems to be quite conservative, so a bunch of the good stuff the coalition did was swept under the rug e.g for the first time in decades the German railway infrastructure didn’t get worse (it also didn’t get better, but at least it didn’t get worse).
The graphic that OP posted has the conservatives as the second most popular party, but they were the most popular one after the last elections. It’s the same party of Merkel, the same one that was in power for 15 years and didn’t improve the country during that entire time, thus planting the seeds for the nazis.
As long as they have less than 50% the other parties could (in theory) band together against them and create a coalition government.
The problem arises when that coalition has to become more diverse. As you can imagine the populist right would rather work together with the far right than with the populist left, so the coalition becomes shaky, paralyzed because they cannot come to agreements. The common denominator will be so small that basically nothing gets done, and the oppositional party will profit from that.
Shaky coalition governments can lead to government breakups and snap elections which in combination with the resulting loss of trust and inability to do anything of the government will likely lead to an even stronger opposition and even more shaky governments or right out majority for the plurality party.
Also, the leader of the opposition usually chairs important committees like the Budget Committee, the opposition also gets important roles in the committees for Foreign Affairs, Internal Affairs and Defense. It also gets priority in debates, which is usually a good thing, since this works as a check and balance to hold government accountable, but when this role is in the hands of populists, they will certainly use it to further their own narrative.
As you can imagine the populist right would rather work together with the far right than with the populist left
Ah fuck it let’s give the Churches money to build apartments, then. They don’t believe in anything anyway so let’s just capture a vague sense of conservativeness.
Can someone explain how powerful a party can be in Germany with a plurality but without a majority?
Short version is they cannot govern without a coalition partner, but they gain other rights in the parliament, such as filling important positions in the administration. When they reach 1/3 of the votes, so 33% they have a Sperrminorität, which means they can prevent changes in the constitution and also hinder new judges in the constitutional court.
Also 25% in an election would allow installing parliamentary inquiry commissions, which can be a decent way to obstruct the government by busying the bureaucracy and hogging media time.
Extra context: Sperrminorität translates to a blocking minority, as in you have enough votes to prevent a 2/3 majority vote.
This is post election. They didn’t have the majority during the elections, so while it is impressive, it doesn’t give them new political powers. Also, they require coalition partners, but nobody is willing to do that. If a coalition can be formed between (looking at the chart) Union, SPD, and Greens, that puts them at >50% giving them a majority to govern.
If the new coalition is formed and they don’t get their act together within the time of governance, the next elections could be fatal for democracy in Germany. Honestly, like in most other European countries facing threats to democracy, their current governments must take decisive and quick action to make more people happy. However, current governments are trying to play the nazi’s game, and they are predictably losing ground because that’s not a solution.
Major parties are playing identity politics, trying to be populistic, bundling nazi ideas as their own, or quite simply not uniting like for example the French left-wing parties did (however short-lived that was). They should be:
and so so much more. A happy, educate populace is much less likely to be duped and and magnitudes less likely to vote against their own interests (like voting for lying politicians or nazis).
donno about Germany, but here in UK the current government is actually putting through unexpected changes, but its probably invisible to general public. news outlets are generally pro conservatives here
We’ll see about Germany. I think the last government tried to do stuff but one coalition “partner” cutting away at the coalition’s Achilles heel (the budget). The media reporting on Germany also seems to be quite conservative, so a bunch of the good stuff the coalition did was swept under the rug e.g for the first time in decades the German railway infrastructure didn’t get worse (it also didn’t get better, but at least it didn’t get worse).
The graphic that OP posted has the conservatives as the second most popular party, but they were the most popular one after the last elections. It’s the same party of Merkel, the same one that was in power for 15 years and didn’t improve the country during that entire time, thus planting the seeds for the nazis.
Up to 49%.
That entirely depends on the other parties.
As long as they have less than 50% the other parties could (in theory) band together against them and create a coalition government.
The problem arises when that coalition has to become more diverse. As you can imagine the populist right would rather work together with the far right than with the populist left, so the coalition becomes shaky, paralyzed because they cannot come to agreements. The common denominator will be so small that basically nothing gets done, and the oppositional party will profit from that.
Shaky coalition governments can lead to government breakups and snap elections which in combination with the resulting loss of trust and inability to do anything of the government will likely lead to an even stronger opposition and even more shaky governments or right out majority for the plurality party.
Also, the leader of the opposition usually chairs important committees like the Budget Committee, the opposition also gets important roles in the committees for Foreign Affairs, Internal Affairs and Defense. It also gets priority in debates, which is usually a good thing, since this works as a check and balance to hold government accountable, but when this role is in the hands of populists, they will certainly use it to further their own narrative.
Ah fuck it let’s give the Churches money to build apartments, then. They don’t believe in anything anyway so let’s just capture a vague sense of conservativeness.