Eric Langenbacher. Launching the Grand Coalition: The 2005 Elections and the Future of German Politics. New York: Berghahn Books, 2006. vi + 202 pp. $22.50, paper, ISBN 978-1-84545-283-4.

Reviewed by Douglas Peifer

Published on H-German (November, 2007)

The 2005 Bundestag elections injected a sense Free Democrats (FDP) and new Left Party signif‐ of excitement into the often staid German politi‐ cantly increasing their share of the vote. Political cal landscape.[1] Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, in pundits speculated about exotic party coalitions response to a string of regional electoral defeats such as a "Jamaican Coalition" of Greens, FDP, and culminating in the Social Democrats' loss of North CDU/CSU (whose party colors of green, yellow, and Rhine-Westphalia in May 2005, forced an early na‐ black make up the Jamaican fag) or a red-yellow- tional election by staging and deliberately losing a green "trafc light coalition" of the SPD, FDP, and vote of confdence in the Bundestag. This un‐ Greens even as Merkel, Schröder, and party lead‐ precedented maneuver set the stage for a sus‐ ers hammered out the parameters of 's penseful election campaign during which Angela second "Grand Coalition" government. Merkel and the Christian Democrats frittered Launching the Grand Coalition analyzes the away an impressive double-digit lead over the So‐ signifcance of Germany's 2005 election. The vol‐ cial Democrats to cross the electoral fnish line ume consists of nine chapters, eight of which neck to neck with their main rival. Merkel's gen‐ were previously published in the "Special Issue on der, her East German origins, and her leadership the 2005 Bundestag Election" of German Politics style attracted commentary throughout the cam‐ and Society (Spring 2006), with the fnal chapter paign, adding to the drama of an election season drawn from the fall volume of the journal. Reissu‐ that featured a new Left Party and a reinvigorat‐ ing these articles, written in the immediate after‐ ed Free Democratic party. Germany's two largest math of the election, in book form raises two parties--the Christian Democratic Union/Christian questions: have the interpretations and analyses Socialist Union of Bavaria (CDU/CSU) and the Ger‐ of the authors stood the test of time, and will man Social Democratic party (the SPD)--received readers fnd the volume as a whole to be an en‐ the lowest percentage of the popular vote they during and insightful addition to their book‐ had received in decades, with sufer‐ shelves? ing a moderate loss in the popular vote and the H-Net Reviews

Turning to the frst question, one must look at tive relations, and policy agendas. Given that the the entries individually. A number of articles ad‐ Merkel government had just been formed at the vance structural analyses that remain useful, time, Helms' comparison between the Kiesinger while others feel dated in that they pose questions and Merkel grand coalitions was preliminary and about potential coalition policies without the ben‐ needs updating to refect the successes and fail‐ eft of examining the Grand Coalition's record of ures of the German government since 2005. performance since 2005. Given the uneven nature Dorothee Heisenberg's examination of Merkel's of the contributions, the collection starts on a EU policy and Jackson Janes's essay on transat‐ strong note, with a lively, engaging essay by Eric lantic relations were fresh and insightful in 2005, Langenbacher that makes the case that the elec‐ but have been overtaken by events. Readers inter‐ tion of 2005 deserves special attention. The frst ested in Germany's EU policies and the transat‐ two chapters focus on the outcome of the 2005 lantic relationship will want to consult more re‐ election, yet provide explanations and interpreta‐ cent studies that examine the 2007 G-8 meeting at tions that remain insightful. David Conradt exam‐ Heiligendamm, Merkel's North Atlantic Free ines the declining appeal of the SPD and CDU/CSU, Trade zone initiative, the impact of the 2007 the major parties that dominated the Bonn Repub‐ French national elections, and ongoing United lic. Conradt notes that the combined popular vote States-EU diplomacy regarding Iran, NATO, and of these broad-based parties dipped to its lowest Afghanistan. proportion since 1949, in large part due to a Lars Rensmann contribution on right-wing shrinking core constituency of church-going parties during the 2005 election cycle remains rel‐ Catholics for the CDU and unionized industrial evant, as does Jefrey Kopstein and Daniel Ziblatt's workers for the SPD. Conradt evaluates why Ger‐ piece on the enduring legacy of German unifca‐ many's smaller parties have been able to chip tion. While focusing on the 2005 elections, both away steadily at the dominance of their main‐ contributions provide structural analysis that stream rivals, with his analysis focusing more on point to longer-term trends and challenges. Rens‐ demographics and the dynamics of Germany's mann argues that the extreme Right has been in‐ electoral system than on the issues and policy pre‐ capable of modernizing its appeal, allowing the scriptions that set the parties apart. Hermann Left to tap into insecurities related to globaliza‐ Schmitt and Andreas Wüst, in the following chap‐ tion and Europeanization more efectively. Adept ter, provide a more detailed look at the specifc is‐ at creating an identity-generating subculture dis‐ sues of 2005, and analyze how short-term factors tinguished by racist rock music, dress codes, and interacted with longer-term trends. They likewise behavioral norms, the extreme Right was unable note that split voting served to weaken Germany's to capitalize on its 2004 regional successes in mainstream parties, and posit that the party pref‐ (6.1 percent of the vote) and Saxony erences of German voters will become even less (9.2 percent) during the 2005 national elections. predictable in the future. Kopstein and Ziblatt argue that ffteen years after Ludger Helms shifts the focus from the de‐ Germany's unifcation, two coherent party sys‐ clining fortunes of the SPD and CDU to the issue of tems have emerged, one in the East and one in the coalition governance in his contribution, "The West. They contend that at the national level, two Grand Coalition: Precedents and Prospects." diferent voting patterns combine to produce in‐ Drawing upon the historical experience of the coherent results, as platforms that appeal to west‐ Kurt Georg Kiesinger grand ern voters ofend easterners, while the Left Party of 1966-69, Helms ofers some thoughts on inter- generated little attraction in western areas. Kop‐ governmental decision-making, executive-legisla‐ stein and Ziblatt predict that this divide will en‐

2 H-Net Reviews dure unless the Social Democrats and Christian useful, but as a collected volume, this work has a Democrats develop new electoral strategies. limited shelf-life fast approaching expiration. Myra Marx-Ferree and Clay Clemens both fo‐ Note cus on Merkel in their respective contributions. [1]. The views expressed in this review are Marx-Ferree addresses the issue of gender in "An‐ those of the author and do not refect the ofcial gela Merkel: What does it Mean to Run as a Wom‐ policy or position of the U.S. Air Force, the Depart‐ an?" while Clemens examines Merkel's role as op‐ ment of Defense, or the U.S. government. position leader during the period 2000-05. Marx- Ferree addresses changing expectations for wom‐ en in public life, shifting defnitions of "women's interests," and challenges women face in navigat‐ ing "old boys' networks" without alienating fe‐ male networks and interest groups. Marx-Ferree's central argument is that while Merkel may not consider herself a feminist, as Germany's frst fe‐ male chancellor one must nonetheless under‐ stand her role and function in that way. Clemens provides perhaps the best chapter of the collec‐ tion in his analysis of Merkel in opposition. His analysis of Merkel's leadership style, her analyti‐ cal objectivity, grasp of detail, and wariness of dogma suggest that Merkel should not be underes‐ timated. Both chapters whet the reader's interest in Merkel as a woman, conservative politician, and easterner. Merkel's multifaceted identity will no doubt generate longer and detailed studies, but Marx-Ferree and Clemens provide two excellent essays on the Merkel factor in the 2005 elections. Specialists on the German party system and electoral politics will fnd this volume a useful ad‐ dition to their libraries, providing a handy snap‐ shot of Germany's political landscape during the run-up to and in the immediate aftermath of the 2005 elections. The collection does a marvelous job raising the questions and challenges of Ger‐ many's second experiment of grand coalition gov‐ ernance from the perspective of 2005, yet the timeliness of the articles (chapters) precluded an assessment of that government in action. Those seeking broader analyses of German foreign poli‐ cy issues, social trends, or themes such as immi‐ gration, Islam, and economic reform will fnd in‐ dividual chapters (or the original journal articles)

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Citation: Douglas Peifer. Review of Langenbacher, Eric. Launching the Grand Coalition: The 2005 Bundestag Elections and the Future of German Politics. H-German, H-Net Reviews. November, 2007.

URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=13905

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