By CHRISTINA GOSSMANN ’11
Contributing Writer
Let me tell you something about politics. The only time a politician ever really needs to demonstrate authentic care for the people is during campaign time. Even though election time is over in the U.S., it is only starting in Germany. There are five months to go until the federal elections and the two biggest political parties in Germany are looking into ways to win the election. At the moment, Angela Merkel of the more conservative party, the Christian Democrats, holds the position of Germany’s first female chancellor. While both parties are looking into the traditional issues of interest during campaign times—such as unemployment rates and social benefits—it is the current pension plan that has attracted an enormous amount of attention.
The major dependency burden (number of persons under 15 and over 65 of age for every 100 persons in age group 15-64 years) shift of the past decades has provided Germany with a huge bloc of older voters: 20.2 million pensioners, a quarter of the entire population, to be precise. Unfortunately, Germany is not just old but also less politically engaged nowadays. An increasing lack of overall membership in political parties and lower overall birth rates, one of the lowest in Europe, results in the older bloc having the power: More than 46 percent of the more conservative Christian Democrats’ voters and almost 44 percent of the more liberal Social Democrats’ voters are over 60 years old.
ela Merkel was elected, the two biggest parties, the CDU (the Christian Democrats) and SPD (Social Democrats) received 35 percent of the votes of the older bloc, respectively. This year, the slightest percentage shift in these votes will yield a massive outcome change. Both parties know that and are battling over these votes furiously. And both realize that the way to do this is by helping the pensioners out in order to gain their sympathy. Last Wednesday, the German cabinet voted to prevent general reductions in pensions, which usually would take place at this time of economic downturn, since pensions in Germany have been tied to the country’s average income for decades. That average income is definitely going downhill and so is the magical financial social network that Germany is so well-known for: no more extra Christmas and vacation pays.
It becomes clear that it is great to be a German pensioner right now, since they have pension secured from any decline in average income. Interestingly enough, it’s not only great to be a pensioner in Germany right now, it’s even greater to be one in the eastern states of Germany, where unemployment is higher and pensions this year have been increased by 3.38 percent (compared to 2.4 percent in Western states).
So you want to know where the young people of Germany are? It takes five percent of the voter community in order for a political party to be accepted into parliament. Thus, young German voters, whether they are in Germany or at Wellesley College, are desperately searching for alternative, innovative, different parties to get into parliament. Apart from the big ones, the Christian Social Democratic Union, the Christian Social Union of Bavaria (that form the Christian Democrats) and the Social Democratic Party of Germany, there is the Free Democratic Party which promotes a more liberal pro-market economy and mostly wears suits, and there is the Alliance ’90/The Greens, a relatively new political party born in 1993, formed out of environmentalists and peace activists that represent themselves by a sunflower or organic tomato on their campaign posters. There are many other parties, but they won’t pass the five percent threshold and are, therefore, rarely considered. It’s kind of like Russian roulette if you vote for any of the smaller parties, never knowing whether they will make it. You also give up your vote on the big question: liberal or conservative?
The gamble of campaigning lies in implementing temporary policies that address long-term problems. As long as Germany’s government and its opposition don’t introduce reforms to support Germany’s younger population in the form of more subsidized student loans and loosened policy on first time hiring, the older bloc will continue having the power.