Checks and Balances, German Style

Interesting article in the Economist this week about Angela Merkel and the "Grand Coalition." (And also a great example of how not to be photographed. The Economist is fond of using really awful pictures of political leaders.) I do hope they can make this thing work, but it is not really a "Centrist Coalition". The politicians are not joining forces because they find common cause, except the powerful desire to retain some hold on power, even if they have to share it. This is a coalition that the voters have forced, which is what I like about it. Given that the voters did not establish a clear preference in the election, the parties have decided to split the difference. This is, of course, not how things would be handled in the U.S., but still it may turn out to be a failure or even die aborning, there are still some "rank and file" folks on either side who need convincing. The point raised in the Economist that caught my attention is the idea that the coalition might end up being less than either party alone, and that this just might be appealing to the German voters.

The government agenda also risks looking all too familiar. Since Mr Schröder lost the election mainly because of his reform package called Agenda 2010, and Ms Merkel didn't win it because she had announced that she would push reforms even further, the mood is not in favour of experiments.

Of course, the German populace was not planning to produce a near tie in any conscious way, it just worked out that way, but if they parity resulted from both parties turning off voters with too aggressive proposals, than a Grand Coalition, which become a "Grand Standoff", might be just the ticket!

Technorati Tags: Germany, Angela Merkel