Latest news with #ChrisReiter
Irish Times
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Broken Republik: The Inside Story of Germany's Descent into Crisis
Broken Republik: The Inside Story of Germany's Descent into Crisis Author : Chris Reiter and Will Wilkes ISBN-13 : 978-1526679147 Publisher : Bloomsbury Guideline Price : £25 The Germany that Friedrich Merz has inherited as chancellor is in shocking shape. Now in its third year of recession, Germany's postwar engineering-export business model - and underlying prosperity - have been hammered by war on its doorstep, soaring energy prices, brutal bureaucracy, reform-shy politicians and chastening Chinese competition. At the end of Broken Republik, Bloomberg journalists Chris Reiter and Will Wilkes say they 'remain hopeful that Germany can arrest its slide toward the abyss'. For the 278 previous pages, they have gone to considerable lengths to explain why this is unlikely. After a scorchingly negative introduction, which may sap the casual reader of the will to continue, the book races through the postwar period before settling into its themes of modern decline and collective denial. READ MORE Their insider-outsider gaze provides timely, brutal diagnoses of the hollowed-out promises of modern Germany, in particular dwindling social equality and threadbare welfare nets. Some chapters shine with original reporting, analysis and clever data collation, in particular Germany's naive self-deception in its trade ties to China and Russia. Other sections are more desk-bound and Wikipedesque. Curiously absent throughout: German voices or insights into the origins of the status quo or prospects of change. The British-US team stumble occasionally over their own expat assertions and assumptions of their adopted homeland. Decrying Germany's lack of national heroes or touchstones, for instance, they go on to dismiss pride in their national writers Goethe and Schiller 'as a form of chauvinism that props up a fragile national identity'. Their repeated insistence that greater German nationalism - shunned since Nazi era abuse- is the answer for this country's ills seem strange advice in the era of Maga America and Brexit Britain. After 250 pages of stringent analysis that is strong on what but weak on why, their proposals to save Germany are a mixed bag. A welcome but unoriginal idea is to boost affordable housing with interest-free loans and simpler bureaucracy. Another of their ideas -- for a national asparagus holiday -- has, given the kilo price of this seasonal vegetable, would thrill Marie Antoinette. For all their knowledge and insights, three decades here mean some of Germany's worst national characteristics have seeped into Broken Republik. Looking on the bright side: its doleful doommongery and hectoring humourlessness will have you whingeing like a local in no time. Derek Scally is Berlin Correspondent
Bloomberg
18-02-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
German Election Set to Shrink World's Largest Parliament
By Tom Fevrier Chris Reiter With 735 seats, Germany's Bundestag is the largest elected parliament in the world. It'll get significantly smaller after the election on Sunday as the result of an overhaul of the voting system that has been in the works since the last effort fell short five years ago. Difficulties in reaching consensus on the reform are a glimpse of possible discord facing the next government as it tries to revive Europe's largest economy. The current Bundestag is 23% larger than its 598-seat base due to complex procedures that aim to balance local representation with national political support. As a result, costs for the lower house of parliament climbed to €1.24 billion last year, roughly 25% more than in 2020. The growing costs associated with hundreds of additional lawmakers jars with the need to reduce bureaucracy and streamline decision making. At the vote, Bundestag seats will be capped at 630. While that's a step forward, the number is still 32 seats above the base. The legislation was also partially watered down in court after being contested by parties including the poll-leading Christian Democratic Union as well as the Left, which is fighting to maintain its place in the chamber. It's clear to see why it was so contentious. If the rules were applied to the 2021 election results, the Bundestag would've been cut by 105 seats. The Bavarian center-right Christian Social Union — an ally of the CDU — would've lost the biggest share of seats in the chamber, as it was allowed to keep three so-called overhang seats, which skewed proportionality. How the New Voting System Would've Changed Parliament Difference between each party's seat share in the 2021 election and its seat share according to the new voting system, in percentage points Here's how it all works When Germans go to the polls, they cast two votes: the first one for a local candidate and the second for party preference. The latter is ultimately what matters for the makeup of the Bundestag. Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats, for instance, won the last election by getting 25.7% of the second votes, beating the CDU/CSU bloc's 24.2%. Because of the system, parties can end up with more seats than they would be entitled to based solely on their share of the national vote. These extra representatives are known as 'overhang seats.' To restore proportionality based on the second vote, 'leveling seats' were introduced in 2013 and were granted to other parties to balance out the overhang. How Parliament Ballooned Number of additional seats in the Bundestag, by federal election year That meant the more overhang seats from local winners, the more leveling seats were needed to balance them out. In other words, the solution created a new problem, leading to a surge in the number of lawmakers in the last two election cycles. Legislation in 2020 sought to trim seats by not balancing out as many as three overhang seats, but that failed mainly because the CSU won so many districts in Bavaria. The 2023 electoral law will now focus on proportional representation. Overhang and leveling seats have been abolished, and local candidates will only win a spot in parliament if there are sufficient party votes to back the seat. How the New Voting System Plays Out How reform affects smaller parties Initially, the government eliminated the threshold that allows parties to enter parliament if they have candidates leading in three or more districts, the so-called 'basic mandate' clause. This was criticized by the Left, the CDU and the CSU for being unfair to smaller parties. In June 2024, the German Constitutional Court reinstated the 'basic mandate' clause for lack of a better solution, resulting in the current system. That could be good news for some parties. Recent polls project that the business-friendly Free Democrats and the new far-left splinter party BSW will fall below the 5% threshold for representation in the Bundestag. They could still make it in then, if they can secure at least three districts. That's not unheard of. In 2021, the Left managed to make it into the Bundestag despite getting just 4.9% of the second votes. If it sounds complicated, it's because it is. But at least Germany will have a smaller Bundestag now.
