The great losers. Social Democratic Chancellor candidates in the years 2009-2017 Cover Image

Wielcy przegrani. Socjaldemokratyczni kandydaci na kanclerza Niemiec w latach 2009-2017
The great losers. Social Democratic Chancellor candidates in the years 2009-2017

Author(s): Bogdan Koszel
Subject(s): Government/Political systems, Electoral systems
Published by: Instytut Zachodni im. Zygmunta Wojciechowskiego
Keywords: Frank-Walter Steinmeier; Peer Steinbrück: Martin Schulz; Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD); Chancellor candidates

Summary/Abstract: In the article the author analyzes the election campaigns to the German Parliament of three Social-Democratic candidates (P. Steinbrück, F.-W. Steinmeier, M. Schulz) in the years 2009-2017. The author describes the political career of the candidates, focusing especially on the preparation for and progressof the successive election campaigns in 2009, 2013 and 2017. The main hypothesis was to verify the claim that although the candidates were well prepared and showed personal commitment, they had nochance of winning in confrontation with the experienced Chancellor Merkel. Their election defeat was an outcome of an all-European crisis of the social-democratic formation with a shrinking social (workingclass) backing. In this respect SPD did not differ much from the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE)or the crumbling Socialist Party of France. Besides, CDU cynically took over the social slogans of theleft and lifted them on its own banners. Merkel did not hesitate to take over from SPD the postulate of a minimum per hour wage of € 8.50, or the idea to close down nuclear power plants, which was the maindriving engine of The Greens’ election campaigns. In the article the descriptive, comparative, decisionand statistical research methods were used.

  • Issue Year: 367/2018
  • Issue No: 02
  • Page Range: 39-59
  • Page Count: 21
  • Language: English, Polish