Impression from the German Election

After undergoing the coalition agreement process, I gained a better understanding of German politics as a whole. I was impressed by the ability of that government, as displayed in our mock election, to work together rather than against each other in determining certain policy issues. Surprisingly, the FDP gained no representation even though they shared the most similarities with each of the other parties (mainly because of arrogance from the party’s representative).

Amazing to myself and I’m sure many of the other students in the class, my party (the Greens) actually gained some representation as each of the three remaining parties (Greens, CDU, and SPD) worked against the usual winner (FDP) to find a stable equilibrium of party wants and needs. As the main need of the Greens, my party luckily gained the Environment cabinet position, but failed in attaining Education. The SPD gained Labor and Health, with privatized labor and “limited” health benefits as us Greens could agree upon. The CDU gained Education and the Interior, as well as the Chancellorship, which we all agreed would serve the best for the people as it had the majority membership out of the three parties.

Overall, the election proved to be a success in a more equitable form of government with more representation from the different parties. Although not all views were the same on all issues, each party could settle for accepting another party’s cabinet position, given that they too would gain some superior representation in a different area. In the end, I was just happy that the Green Party finally gained some representation,(some one even considered giving us the chancellorship) in contrast with the lack of representation it has had in past years.