Considerations of a swing voter

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sebastian Haffner (1907–1999 ) explores the question of how democracy works in Germany in the book Considerations of a Voter (1980) .

Democracy in Germany

Since 1949, governments have no longer been appointed by the head of state (sovereign) - the Kaiser (until 1918) or the Reich President (until 1933) - but are elected by the Bundestag (parliament). The electorate has thus assumed the function of sovereign. The electorate first had to learn this new role. In the final phase of the Weimar Republic , the electorate voted for parties that represented interests vis-à-vis the government appointed “from above”, but had little interest in a functioning government: They controlled and criticized the government and, in case of doubt, overthrew the government with a vote of no confidence . The interests of the Weimar parties were different: The Center Party (Catholic) and the DNVP (civil, national) wanted to return to the monarchy (“We want our old Kaiser Wilhelm back”). The KPD and the NSDAP wanted the socialist ( central administration economy ) and the National Socialist (Germanic master race, anti-Semitism ) one-party state. Only the SPD wanted to keep the Weimar Republic.

The Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany

With the provision of Article 63 of the Basic Law , according to which the Federal Chancellor (head of government) is elected by the Bundestag, the fathers of the Basic Law ensured that the government functions democratically. At least the ruling party will hardly overthrow its own government itself, and the criticism and control of the government, which is elected with a majority in the Bundestag, is also milder. Perpetual opposition to the government appointed by the head of state was ruled out in this way. The "chat room" (parliament) became a house, from the middle of which the government is formed.

The consensus society

In contrast to the parties in the Weimar Republic, today's two state-supporting parties (SPD and CDU ) are not representations of interests and not ideological parties . There are people's parties that can represent the most varied of interests and world views - which of course also made the SPD and CDU less meaningful and more interchangeable. The idea that today's SPD is only elected by workers is just as absurd as that the bourgeoisie only elects the CDU. This interchangeability and arbitrariness of the SPD and CDU is a consequence of Article 20 of the Basic Law: “The state is democratic and social ”. Thus, both the SPD and the CDU are inevitably social democratic parties. Otherwise they would be unconstitutional and could be banned (Article 21 of the Basic Law). Helmut Schmidt (1918–2015) puts it this way: “The principle of democracy is sibling with the principle of the welfare state.” With the “social democratization” of the parties in Germany, inner peace is guaranteed (“consensus society”).

Government and reserve government

It goes without saying that the SPD and CDU are democratic parties - that is, a) capable of governing and b) voted out of office. That was not the case in the Weimar Republic. The SPD, the Center Party and the DNVP constantly replaced each other in changing coalitions in the government (incapacity to govern, ie the parties were unable to form a coalition with one another). The KPD and the NSDAP did not want to tolerate any other parties besides them (elimination of voting rights not guaranteed). The lesson learned by the electorate between 1949 and 1976 was that they distributed their votes evenly between only two parties: the SPD and the CDU. Both parties only differ by a few percent. Haffner interprets this voting behavior to the effect that the Germans want a government and a reserve government close by, as soon as the current government has reached its “natural end”. Haffner estimates that a government wears out after two to three legislative terms. And this is where the swing voter comes in; in the transition from government to reserve government. The parties generally try to address two types of voters in the election campaign. The regular voter, in that the parties demonize the respective rival party and address the emotions of the regular voter ("beer tent atmosphere") and the alternate voter, who must convince the parties with factual arguments and useful suggestions on how something can be done better. It is therefore the swing voters who ultimately decide the outcome of the Bundestag elections and only through the swing voters does a democracy and the possibility of an election come into effect - keeping the current government or changing to the reserve government that is close at hand.

Quotes

  • The correct number of parties in a functioning democracy is two and no more; what is above it is evil.
  • A Chancellor's Electoral Association is exactly what a party in a democracy primarily has to be. The party program is secondary.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Helmut Schmidt in conversation with Theo Sommer (CD-Hör-Buch, 2010), Hoffmann and Campe Verlag (comments on the Basic Law and the welfare state)
  2. ^ 1st Bundestag (1949): Nine parties including KPD and German Reich Party
  3. ↑ 8th Bundestag (1976): Two and a half parties (the FDP only counts "half" because it does not have its own candidate for Chancellor)
  4. ↑ Helmut Kohl (CDU) could not replace the SPD-FDP government under Helmut Schmidt (SPD) in 1976 despite an election result of 48%.

literature

  • Sebastian Haffner: "Considerations of a change voter" (1980) (second-hand bookshop)