Elections highlight role of PR in coalition-building
Overnight election results in Austria and the north German state of Lower Saxony have highlighted the impact of proportional representation systems in forcing political parties to form joint governments. Voting … Continue reading
Final German election for 2017 may buck right-ward swing
After three earlier state elections and a dramatic federal election, the northwestern German state of Lower Saxony rounds out the nation’s 2017 electoral year this Sunday. And the signs are … Continue reading
Bundestag expands by over 100 seats
One extraordinary result of Sunday’s election in Germany is that the Bundestag will expand by over 100 seats to ensure that each of seven political parties has a strictly proportional … Continue reading
Third good state result for German right
Germany’s centre-right Christian Democrat Union party has come first in the third of three German state elections in recent months – welcome news for national chancellor Angela Merkel. North Rhine-Westphalia … Continue reading
The Schleswig-Holstein question: Is the far-right on the rise?
As the French have been busy seeing off the National Front from their nation’s presidency, Germans have watched yesterday’s state election in the northern region of Schleswig-Holstein for indications of … Continue reading
German state swings right, but not far-right
Voters in the small German state of Saarland have swung behind national Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party. The centre-right CDU party will fall just short of a majority in … Continue reading
First German test for the far-right
Elections in Germany during 2017 begin this weekend with the poll for the state assembly of Saarland. All eyes will be on the performance of the far-right Alternative for Germany … Continue reading
On Elections 