Abstract
Angela Merkel's rise to power within the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is surprising. Both common sense and political science theory tell us that the goal of political parties is to win elections, yet Merkel's purported lack of charisma and her inability to forge a connection with voters were well known prior the CDU's choosing her to run for Chancellor in 2005. Merkel's successful career can only be understood by studying the internal party dynamics of the CDU and Merkel's leadership approach. Merkel owes her initial rise to prominence within the CDU to her ability to help the party satisfy a variety of informal internal party quotas. Once in power, she primarily followed the party manager approach to leadership, balancing tensions among various internal party groups while avoiding affiliating herself with any group in particular. Without understanding the CDU's internal dynamics and Merkel's leadership technique, Merkel's rise to power is inexplicable.
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