On the 26th September, German citizens headed to the polls to elect the members of the 20th Bundestag. With Angela Merkel stepping back as Chancellor after 16 years in office, German voters also began the process of creating a new future for their country. Undergraduate finalists Lily Venables and Kitty Williams had the opportunity to join Sussex’s Dan Hough and other academics from the International Association for the Study of German Politics to observe the election process through meetings and conversations with participants. This blog follows our account as the first undergraduates to take part in the election observing process with the IASGP.
Since taking ‘Politics of Governance: Germany’ in the Spring of 2021, we followed the 2021 German election keenly. We subsequently jumped at the chance to be a part of the IASGP’s quadrennial trip to observe it. The opportunity to watch the election so closely, attending rallies and speaking with politicians, allowed us to put what we had learnt in the previous term into context. We were able to identify similarities and differences between this election and ours in the UK. This led to many questions, which the academics in attendance were gracious in answering.
Simply being in Berlin during the campaign was eye-opening. The city was filled with campaign posters, and we found it interesting drawing conclusions from which ones had been defaced (something that’s illegal but clearly still happens), or which parts of the city different parties were focussing on. The opportunity to be ‘in the thick of it’ was crucial in gaining a deeper insight into public opinion beyond election polling. Hearing the group’s opinions on the campaign posters was particularly insightful. The Greens’ ‘alien-looking’ posters caused quite the stir within the group whilst the AfD’s appeared to be unwelcome throughout most of the city. Germany’s on-the-ground campaign is heavily candidate-focused and that, to us at least, offered a sharp contradiction to what we know from the UK.
When we attended Die Linke’s final rally (see image above), we noticed that attendance seemed low. Ed Turner, the organiser of the trip, explained to us that we were spot on, and that compared to the last election the Linke’s election rally turnout was (for them) disconcertingly small. This foreshadowed the election results with Die Linke only just managing to get representation in the Bundestag. They won three constituencies directly so rendering the fact that they narrowly failed (4.9 per cent) to reach the 5 per cent threshold redundant. It was details like these that made this trip so valuable in gaining a deeper understanding of such an important election.
We also enjoyed meeting and speaking with academics, particularly those we had recently cited in our essays – shout out to Eric Langenbacher! These people are experts in their respective fields – ranging from the economy and gender-based studies, to public opinion and corruption. From speaking with them, we discovered aspects of German politics we had not before considered and came away from conversations reeling with new information. Not only were they knowledgeable about German politics, but they also offered an insight into Berlin itself (including its nightlife!). Whilst walking through the city we enjoyed a running commentary on the history of Berlin, buildings that once stood and anecdotes about their past ventures in the previously divided concrete jungle.
One event which was exactly as we expected was the meeting with Rainer Erkens, Head of Office for the AfD Leader in the Berlin House of Deputies. Despite him not being a politician himself, his persona was the epitome of a populist stereotype. He was certainly a useful case study as we begin planning our dissertations!Hearing from him behind closed doors we gained a greater insight into the values of the AfD, including their future plans for the party and their main concerns – some of which being e-scooters left on pavements and litter. Comparing his talk with those from the other parties, it is clear to see that the AfD have crafted themselves as an effective outsider party within Germany.
A highlight of the trip was the election night party of the Progressives Zentrum, a Berlin-based think tank. That party took place at the Rhineland Palatinate state representation where we watched intently as the results came in. Progressives Zentrum is a left-aligned think tank and so despite the results being in German, we were able to infer the cheers meant that the SPD was doing well! We are also grateful to Dan Hough, whose translating abilities made sure we understood every complexity, even including the Elefantenrunde (meaning Round of Elephants). This is where the leaders of each party hold a television debate and discuss the election results after the first votes are counted, it is the first point in the election process where the public get a feel for how the coalition might pan out. Some options include; a ‘traffic light’ (centre-left), ‘Jamaica’ (centre-right), or ‘red-green’ coalition.
Unlike in the UK where governments are formed within hours of election night, this process takes a little bit longer in Germany with coalition talks taking place over the coming months – meaning we won’t be saying goodbye to Angela Merkel just yet. At the moment it is looking like a ‘traffic coalition’ is the most likely option as the Social Democrats (red) enter talks with the Green Party (green) and the liberal FDP (yellow). That means a broadly centre-left government is more likely to replace the Grand Coalition that Merkel has led for 12 of the last 16 years. We will be following the progression in the months to come with our fingers tightly crossed that by Christmas the German people will receive the gift of a new government.
Overall, this was an incredible experience. Thank you to the IASGP, particularly Dan, Ed and Juline, for organising it and allowing us to be amongst the first undergraduates to attend.
politics@sussex 