A Tale of Two Parties? The Failure of the Catch-All Parties in the 2005 German Elections

Abstract

The German elections of 2005 proved a critical turning point for a number of reasons. The result led to the fall of Gerhard Schröder's Red-Green government, to the first ‘grand coalition’ between the two Volksparteien (catch-all parties) since the 1960s, and to the election of Germany's first woman and first easterner to the job of chancellor. The election campaign saw the Christian Democrats throw away a strong lead and lose the opportunity to govern with their preferred coalition partner, the liberal Free Democratic party. The results raised key questions about the German party system. Why did the Social Democrats and Christian Democrats achieve their lowest combined score since 1949? How should we explain the success of the smaller parties? To what extent can this be considered a lasting development? This article argues that shrinking support for the two main parties is likely to lead to greater instability in the party system without a clear improvement in the German economy.