This is a list of political parties in Germany.
The Federal Republic of Germany has a plural multi-party system. The largest by members and parliament seats are the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), with its sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU) and Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).
Germany also has a number of other parties, in recent history most importantly the Free Democratic Party (FDP), Alliance 90/The Greens, The Left, and more recently the Alternative for Germany (AfD), founded in 2013. The federal government of Germany often consisted of a coalition of a major and a minor party, specifically CDU/CSU and FDP or SPD and FDP, and from 1998 to 2005 SPD and Greens. From 1966 to 1969, from 2005 to 2009 and from 2013 to 2021, the federal government consisted of a coalition of the two major parties, called Grand Coalition.[1] Coalitions in the Bundestag and state legislatures are often described by party colors. Party colors are red for the Social Democratic Party, green for Alliance 90/The Greens, yellow for the Free Democratic Party, purple (officially red, which is customarily used for the SPD) for the Left, light blue for the AfD, and black and blue for the CDU and CSU respectively.[2][3]
Current parties
Parties represented in the Bundestag and/or the European Parliament
Other parties represented in state parliaments
Logo | Name | Abbr. | Leader | Ideology | Elected in state (Seats) | Position | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Citizens in Rage Bürger in Wut |
BIW | Jan Timke | Right-wing populism | Bremen (1) | Right-wing | |||
Brandenburg United Civic Movements/Free Voters Brandenburger Vereinigte Bürgerbewegungen / Freie Wähler |
BVB / FW | Péter Vida | Regionalism | Brandenburg (3) |
Minor parties
Historical parties
Parties existing up to World War I
Parties in Weimar Republic
- Bavarian People's Party (BVP)
- Centre Party (Zentrum)
- Christian Social People's Service (CSVD)
- Communist Party of Germany (KPD)
- Communist Party of Germany (Opposition) (KPO)
- Conservative People's Party (KVP)
- German Democratic Party (DDP)
- German National People's Party (DNVP)
- German People's Party (DVP)
- German Racialist Freedom Party (DVFP)
- German State Party (DStP)
- German Workers' Party (DAP)
- Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD)
- National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP)
- Socialist Workers' Party of Germany (SAPD)
Defunct parties in (former) West Germany
- Alliance of Germans (BdD)
- German Party (DP)
- German Conservative Party - German Right Party (DKP-DRP)
- German Reich Party (DRP)
- All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights (GB/BHE)
- All-German People's Party (GVP)
- Communist Party of Germany (Roter Morgen)
- German Peace Union (DFU)
Parties banned by the Constitutional Court
- Socialist Reich Party (SRP), banned in 1952
- Communist Party of Germany (KPD), banned in 1956
Parties in (former) East Germany
Bloc parties in the socialist state (1949–1989)
- Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), "Leading Role" per 1968 Constitution
- Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDUD)
- Liberal Democratic Party of Germany (LDPD)
- Democratic Farmers' Party of Germany (DBD)
- National Democratic Party of Germany (NDPD)
During transition (1989–90)
- Alliance 90
- Alliance for Germany
- Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
- Democratic Awakening (DA)
- German Social Union (DSU)
- Association of Free Democrats (BFD)
- Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)
- Free Democratic Party (FDP)
- German Forum Party (DFP)
- Democratic Farmers' Party of Germany (DBD)
- Green Party (Greens)
- National Democratic Party of Germany (NDPD)
- Social Democratic Party in the GDR (SDP)
- Socialist Unity Party of Germany—Party of Democratic Socialism (SED-PDS)
- United Left (VL)
Parties founded from 1989
- The Grays – Gray Panthers (GRAUE)
- Party for a Rule of Law Offensive (Offensive D)
- Statt Party
- The Freedom - Civil rights Party for more Freedom and Democracy
- Citizens for Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
- Pro Germany Citizens' Movement
- The Blue Party
- New Liberals
See also
- Lists of political parties; categories by country and ideology.
- History of Germany since 1945
- Liberalism in Germany
References
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-11-08. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Political parties form colorful spectrum in Germany". Deutsche Welle. 2009-08-18. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
- ^ The Green party: Getting used to opposition, Deutsche Welle, 2009-08-24, retrieved 2009-10-12,
This made a so-called Jamaica coalition with the Christian Democratic Union and the Free Democratic Party impossible.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Parties and Elections in Europe". www.parties-and-elections.eu. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
- ^ "Armin Laschet elected new leader of Germany's CDU party". Euronews. 16 January 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
- ^ Christina Boswell; Dan Hough (2009). Politicizing migration: Opportunity or liability for the center-right in Germany. Immigration and Integration Policy in Europe: Why Politics – and the Center-Right – matter. Routledge. pp. 18, 21.
- ^ Klaus Detterbeck (2012). Multi-Level Party Politics in Western Europe. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 105.
- ^ Margret Hornsteiner; Thomas Saalfeld (2014). Parties and the Party System. Developments in German Politics. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 80.
- ^ George C. Lodge; Ezra F. Vogel (1987). Ideology and National Competitiveness: An Analysis of Nine Countries. Harvard Business Press. p. 85. ISBN 978-0-87584-147-2.
- ^ Russell A. Berman (2010). Freedom Or Terror: Europe Faces Jihad. Hoover Press. p. 110. ISBN 978-0-8179-1114-0.
- ^ "After migrants, German nationalist party takes aim at Islam". Yahoo News. 23 May 2016.
- ^ "Germany's Nationalist Party Set for Gains as Three States Vote". Voice of America. 11 March 2016.
- ^ Frank Decker (2015). "Follow-up to the Grand Coalition: The Germany Party System before and after the 2013 Federal Election". In Eric Langenbacher (ed.). The Merkel Republic: An Appraisal. Berghahn Books. pp. 34–39. ISBN 978-1-78238-896-8.
- ^ "The growing strains between Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron". The Economist. 26 May 2018. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
- ^ Raphaël Fèvre, ed. (2021). A Political Economy of Power: Ordoliberalism in Context, 1932-1950. Oxford University Press. p. 2. ISBN 9780197607800.
This reference to ordoliberalism has also resonated across the wide spectrum of German politics— albeit in a spirit of opposition to the CDU— from left- wing party leaders of Die Linke to the far- right of Alternative für Deutschland
- ^ Assessing the 2019 European Parliament Elections. Taylor & Francis. 2020. p. 263. ISBN 9781000057263.
As in 2014, seven minor parties with vote shares below 5 per cent gained seats in the European Parliament, ranging from single-issue parties like the Animal Protection Party (one seat) or the Family Party (one seat) to the satirical 'Die Partei' (two seats) or the liberal-Conservative 'Free Voters'.
- ^ José Magone (2011). Contemporary European Politics: A Comparative Introduction. Routledge. p. 392.
- ^ a b William T Daniel (2015). Career Behaviour and the European Parliament: All Roads Lead Through Brussels?. Oxford University Press. p. 135. ISBN 978-0-19-871640-2.
- ^ Simon Franzmann (2015). "The Failed Struggle for Office Instead of Votes". In Gabriele D'Ottavio; Thomas Saalfeld (eds.). Germany After the 2013 Elections: Breaking the Mould of Post-Unification Politics?. Ashgate. pp. 166–167. ISBN 978-1-4724-4439-4.
- ^ a b Wagschal, Prof Dr Uwe. "Arminus - Bund des deutschen Volkes (Arminus - Bund) | bpb". bpb.de (in German). Retrieved 2020-06-14.
External links
- Political Parties (Germany) - List of German political parties since 1949
- Overview of the elections since 1946 (Übersicht der Wahlen seit 1946) (on the website of the Tagesschau news service) - Election results in Germany since 1946 on state, federal and European levels (German descriptions, but graphics and data can be accessed without these).