List of political parties in Germany

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This is a list of political parties in Germany.

The Parliament of Germany, the Bundestag, has a plural multi-party system, with two major parties, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), with its sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU) in the same parliamentary group, also known as CDU/CSU or the Union.

Germany also has a number of minor parties, most importantly The Left, and Alliance '90/The Greens. The federal government of Germany usually consisted of a coalition of a major and a minor party, most typically CDU/CSU and Free Democratic Party (FDP), or a 'red-green alliance' of the SPD and Greens. From 1966 to 1969, from 2005 to 2009 and again since 2013, the federal government consisted of a Grand Coalition.[1] In 2013, the FDP was voted out of the national Parliament, and in the following months also out of some state Parliaments such that it is not participating in any governments any longer.

Coalitions in the Bundestag and state legislators are often described by party colors. Party colors are the Social Democratic Party being red, the Alliance '90/The Greens green, the Free Democratic Party yellow, the Left dark red or purple, and the CDU/CSU black or blue.[2][3]

The parties

Parties represented in the Bundestag or the European Parliament

Logo Name Abbr. Leader Ideology MdBs MEPs Political Position Notes
Christian Democratic Union of Germany
Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands		 CDU Angela Merkel Christian democracy,[4] Liberal conservatism,[4]
Economic liberalism[5]		 255 29 Centre-right [A]
Christian Social Union of Bavaria
Christlich-Soziale Union in Bayern		 CSU Horst Seehofer Christian democracy,[4] Conservatism,[4] Regionalism[4] 56 5 Right-wing
Social Democratic Party of Germany
Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands		 SPD Sigmar Gabriel Social democracy[4] 193 27 Centre-left
The Left
Die Linke		 LINKE Katja Kipping and Bernd Riexinger Democratic socialism[4] 64 7 Left-wing
Alliance '90/The Greens
Bündnis 90/Die Grünen		 GRÜNE Simone Peter and Cem Özdemir Green politics[4] 63 11 Centre-left
Alternative for Germany
Alternative für Deutschland		 AfD Bernd Lucke, Frauke Petry and Konrad Adam Euroscepticism,[4] National conservatism,[4] Economic liberalism[4] 0 7 Right-wing
Free Democratic Party
Freie Demokratische Partei		 FDP Christian Lindner Liberalism,[4] Classical liberalism[6][7] 0 3 Centre-right
Free Voters
Freie Wähler		 FREIE WÄHLER Hubert Aiwanger Populism, Localism, Direct Democracy 0 1 Centre
Pirate Party Germany
Piratenpartei Deutschland		 PIRATEN Stefan Körner Pirate politics, Direct democracy 0 1 Centre
National Democratic Party of Germany
Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands		 NPD Frank Franz Right-wing extremism, Neo-Nazism 0 1 Far-right
Family Party of Germany
Familien-Partei Deutschlands		 FAMILIE Maria Hartmann Social conservatism 0 1 Centre-right to Right-wing
Ecological Democratic Party
Ökologisch-Demokratische Partei		 ÖDP Sebastian Frankenberger Green conservatism 0 1 Centre to Centre-right
Die PARTEI
Partei für Arbeit, Rechtsstaat, Tierschutz, Elitenförderung und basisdemokratische Initiative		 Die PARTEI Martin Sonneborn Satire 0 1 Apolitical
A The CDU and CSU form the CDU/CSU faction in the Bundestag; CSU runs only in Bavaria, CDU elsewhere.

Parties represented in state parliaments

Logo Name Abbr. Leader Ideology Elected in State (Seats) Position Notes
South Schleswig Voter Federation
Südschleswigscher Wählerverband		 SSW Flemming Meyer Regionalism, ethnic minority politics, social liberalism Schleswig-Holstein (3) Centre-left [A]
Citizens in Rage
Bürger in Wut		 BIW Jan Timke Right-wing populism Bremen (2) Right-wing
A Represents the Danish and Frisian minorities. Not subject to the general requirement of passing a 5% vote threshold.

Minor parties

Historical parties

Parties existing up to World War I

Parties in Weimar Republic

Defunct parties in (former) West Germany

Parties banned by the Constitutional Court

Parties in (former) East Germany

Bloc parties in the socialist state (1949–1989)

During transition (1989–90)

Parties founded from 1989

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.dw-world.de/popups/popup_printcontent/0,,1647406,00.html
  2. ↑ "Political parties form colorful spectrum in Germany". Deutsche Welle. 2009-08-18. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
  3. ↑ The Green party: Getting used to opposition, Deutsche Welle, 2009-08-24, retrieved 2009-10-12, This made a so-called Jamaica coalition with the Christian Democratic Union and the Free Democratic Party impossible.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 4.10 4.11 Parties and Elections in Europe: The database about parliamentary elections and political parties in Europe, by Wolfram Nordsieck
  5. ↑ Mark S. Milosch (2006). Modernizing Bavaria: The Politics of Franz Josef Strau[beta] and the CSU, 1949-1969. Berghahn Books. pp. 18–. ISBN 978-1-84545-123-3. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
  6. ↑ George C. Lodge; Ezra F. Vogel (1987). Ideology and National Competitiveness: An Analysis of Nine Countries. Harvard Business Press. pp. 85–. ISBN 978-0-87584-147-2.
  7. ↑ Russell A. Berman (19 April 2010). Freedom Or Terror: Europe Faces Jihad. Hoover Press. p. 110. ISBN 978-0-8179-1114-0.

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