Germany’s
election is a hot topic for one professor
By Todd Leland
On-line Forty-Niner
Germany’s
2002 election have been touted as the most
exciting in recent history by a Cal State
Long Beach professor.
Professor
Christian Soe, senior Europeanist in the
political science department gave a lecture
Wednesday afternoon on the status of German
politics and the country’s recent elections.
“This
year’s elections were supposed to be somewhat
lackluster,” Soe said. “Obviously it turned
out to be very interesting.”
The
excitement, Soe said, was due to a number
of relevant issues that unfolded in Germany
and on the international stage over the
summer.
“The
Bush-Iraq situation, the flooding in East
Germany and anti-Semitic debate triggered
a shift in electoral tendencies,” Soe said.
The
shift resulted in the closest vote between
the two major political parties to date.
“The
margin of victory between the Social Democrat
Party and the Christian Democratic party
was 9,000 votes,” Soe said.
What
also made the elections memorable Soe says
was the number of political parties in Germany.
Twenty-eight of parties participated in
this election, Soe said.
“Diversity
reminds us of something precious in society,”
Soe said of the wide range of political
parties.
More
impressive than the diversity of German
politics is the voter turnout of German
citizens.
This
year 79.1 percent of the German population
voted. Since 1949, no less than 77.8 percent
of the population has cast their vote.
To
put that into perspective, Soe says the
voter turnout of France floats around 60
percent while Great Britain hovers around
the same percentage.
What
troubles Germany and its politics, Soe said,
is the inability of the current government
to establish reform.
“Chancellor
Schroeder’s government has been unable to
take their reform concepts and make them
realities,” Soe said.
The
inability of the government to instill reform
is caused by the lack of the citizenry to
welcome risky political concepts and a highly
developed system of checks and balances,
Soe said.
“The
checks and balances system tends to create
a political logjam,” Soe said. “You can’t
really blame it though, it arose in post-Hitler
politics.”
Schroeder’s
government has not been a total failure
Soe said; his government has established
positive reforms in the areas of German
citizenship, ecological concerns and tax
reform.
What
Soe said Germany and German policy makers
must do to become more stable is take risks.
“Germany
is in need of a shakeup,” Soe said. “Germany
needs to stave off policy stagnation and
the political logjam.”
Two
problems Soe said Germany and its politicians
must face in the future are the soaring
unemployment rate that Schroeder has been
unable to address and the strain in Trans
Atlantic relations due to Germany’s decision
to oppose the U.S. campaign against Iraq.
Also the political logjam that persistently
delays and nullifies reform in Germany must
be bypassed.
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