A Powerful Chancellor: The Rise (And Exit) Of Merkel
When talking about controlling a country, the head of state would seem a significant figure. But that’s not always the case. In fact, in Germany, that is far from the truth.
Yes, Germany does have a president. However, the president is not the actual person with political power. The real guy pulling strings is the Chancellor, and for sixteen years straight, that job has gotten held by one person, Angela Dorothea Merkel. Every term is four years, and Merkel has already held four of these terms. So how did she rise to power, and how did she manage to keep being Chancellor?
Before we get into that, we have to first talk about political terms. Merkel is a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Germany, which also has a smaller counterpart, the Christian Social Union (CSU) in Bavaria. Before Merkel, the CDU/CSU was all far-right. But Merkel started shifting the bloc into the center. What are these right and center things anyway?
Well, they are different kinds of governing concepts. Right-wingers, referring to people with conservative views, believe that government is big and unwieldy and shouldn’t interfere with people’s lives. Government intervention breaks an individual’s right to liberty. They also believe in formal equality, that everyone should be treated equally under the law and by the government. Examples include equal pay for equal work and civil and political rights.
Besides the right, there are also the left, people with liberal views. They believe that governments are a force for change and social justice. So governments should intervene in individuals’ lives to make sure social justice can get achieved. For this reason, left-wingers traditionally support “big” government, while right-wingers “small” government. They also believe that not every individual is the same, so government policy should create substantial equality.
Why right and left? That has to do with their physical directions, which originally referred to seating positions in the 1789 French National Assembly, the Parliament formed after the French Revolution. Relative to the Speaker of this assembly, to the right, sat noble and higher-ranking religious leaders. Seated to the left were commoners and less powerful clergy. The right-hand side became linked with more pro-aristocracy views, and the left-hand side became associated with more pro-middle class views.
Seating positions closer to the “center” likewise got linked with less extreme views. These people are often called moderates. Center-left are people with a perspective just to the left of the political “center” in a country, while center-right is a little to the right of “center.” Angela Merkel and her party fall into the center-right category. Anyway, how did she stay in power so long? Well, she has mastered the political system. In Germany, citizens vote for the Parliament, the Bundestag, which then elects the Chancellor, with more than a half majority to pass. Usually, the leader of the biggest party is the Chancellor.
One reason for her party’s success and her long time in the office is because of the way she deals with crises. Many say that she has a symbol of stability. However, there is also the centrist approach, which we talked about earlier. She showed that she was willing to listen to public opinion and adopt liberal ideas even if it sometimes went against her bloc’s conservative tradition. Merkel’s pragmatism proved popular, but that made room for opposition party AFD to move into the far-right space.
After holding the job for so long, Merkel has decided to step down and not seek another fifth term in office. So who would succeed mighty Merkel in the race for her bloc’s leader, and more importantly, who would be Chancellor? It seems that is still not certain, nor will it be sure before the results are out. And believe me, it seems that will take time too. Many parties would need to agree to form a coalition government since no one party has a large majority in the current election.
The result of the agreement could affect more than just Germany itself. Germany could also affect the whole of Europe. The European Union could affect the world in turn on issues like trading. However, speculation about all this is not always accurate. So it’s best to wait and let time decide all outcomes. That is a production of the New News Newsminute. Thank you, and tune in next time for more global updates and analysis.