Financial concerns and the economy will be on the minds of German voters on Sept. 27, when national parliamentary elections take place. According to Volker Berghahn, Seth Low Professor of History, Europe’s largest economy “has been deeply affected by the meltdown that started in the United States.”

 

 

Since 2005, the CDU and its rival the Social Democrats have governed Germany in a “grand coalition,” but this coalition has been on the verge of breaking apart. On July 15, the CDU cut ties with the Social Democrats in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany’s northernmost state, and it is still unclear which party or parties may rise to fill the power gap. As new alliances take shape, Berghahn said, “it has become difficult to predict if the Liberals will further improve their position so that Merkel can forge a majority with them and the Bavarian Social Union to continue as chancellor.”

 

He added, “The position of the Green Party will also be interesting to watch. Founded as an environmentalist party on the left, it gained in the European Union elections, and has recently entered a coalition with the CDU in the city-state of Hamburg.”

 

Overall, Berghahn said, “voting behavior will depend to a considerable extent on the development of the German economy over the summer.”  

 

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