The year 2014 was particularly dense, with simultaneous regional, parliamentary and European Parliament elections on 25 May. This was followed by a relatively short government formation process towards an unprecedented ‘Swedish’ federal cabinet. The electoral cycle took place in the context of a still quite difficult socioeconomic situation and ethnolinguistic tensions at the elite level.

Against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal parliamentary election as well as five regional elections in Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Berlin were held in Germany in 2021. For the first time, Germany is now governed by a so-called traffic light coalition of the Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens and the Free Democrats (FDP). After 16 years of Angela Merkel's (CDU) chancellorship, Olaf Scholz (SPD) became the new Chancellor. The issue of climate change gained particular traction in the election campaign after devastating floods hit Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia in July. In April, the Federal Constitutional Court had ruled the Climate Protection Act not to be far-reaching enough to protect the rights of future generations, calling for a revision that the outgoing governing coalition completed in June.

Zusammenfassung

Vor dem Hintergrund der COVID-19-Pandemie fanden in Deutschland im Jahr 2021 die Bundestagswahl sowie fünf Landtagswahlen in Baden-Württemberg, Rheinland-Pfalz, Sachsen-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern und Berlin statt. Zum ersten Mal wird Deutschland von einer sogenannten Ampelkoalition aus SPD, Grünen und FDP regiert. Nach 16 Jahren Kanzlerschaft von Angela Merkel (CDU) ist Olaf Scholz (SPD) der neue Bundeskanzler. Das Thema Klimawandel hat im Wahlkampf eine besondere Bedeutung erlangt, nachdem es im Juli in Rheinland-Pfalz und Nordrhein-Westfalen zu verheerenden Überschwemmungen kam. Im April hatte das Bundesverfassungsgericht entschieden, dass das Klimaschutzgesetz nicht weit genug geht, um die Rechte künftiger Generationen zu schützen, und eine Überarbeitung gefordert, die die scheidende Regierungskoalition im Juni abgeschlossen hat.

The coalition of New Democracy and the Panhellenic Socialist Party governed with a severely weakened majority in parliament (153 of 300 seats in January 2014). The Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) secured a clear lead in the May European Parliament elections. As a result of this defeat, a significant government reshuffle ensued. The choices made in this reshuffle signaled an attempt to regain the support of right-wing voters, while at the same time putting on hold the reform process. Unemployment remained high, at 26.5 per cent, and the economy remained in recession. Despite a modest improvement in several metrics in the third quarter of the year, the government reached an impasse with the ‘Troika’ during the final evaluation of the programme and Prime Minister Samaras called early presidential elections, which ultimately led to early parliamentary elections on 25 January 2015.