Vol. 20 · No. 1 · Issue 62 · Spring 2002 · pp. 131-139 (9)
The German Election of 1998 and the Transformation of the German LeftAlexandra Cole
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Abstract
David P. Conradt, Gerald R. Kleinfeld, and Christian Søe, Power Shift in Germany: The 1998 Election and the End of the Kohl Era
(New York: Berghahn Books, 2000)
Charles Lees, The Red-Green Coalition in Germany:
Politics, Personalities, and Power
(New York: Manchester University Press, 2001)
Read together, these two works, The Red-Green Coalition in Germany and Power Shift in Germany can be used as companion pieces in understanding the transformation of the left4 in Germany. There are many different levels of understanding of this transformation. In the most obvious change, the left has gone from being a party in opposition to a party governing at the federal level. What was necessary to achieve this? Has a transformation of the governing status of the left also included a transformation of some of the more fundamental aspects of the left—namely, ideology and party organization? If so, were these ideological and organizational changes necessary for a change in governing status? What are the long-term prospects for this transformation and for German politics? From these two works, initial answers to these questions can be gleaned.