Why Did Angela Merkel Win a Third Term?

By Alex Berezow
September 23, 2013

The results are in: Angela Merkel will remain queen chancellor of Germany for another four years. Not only did she win, but she won big. Her party received 41.5% of the vote, a bigger share than it received in 2005 (35.2%) or 2009 (33.8%). And this happened at a time when Europe has been tossing most of its bums incumbents to the curb. (See Nicolas Sarkozy, Silvio Berlusconi and Gordon Brown.) So why did Germans decide to stick by their Mutti ("Mommy")?

Before the election, The Economist had a briefing on Angela Merkel, and it nicely answers that question.

1. Ms. Merkel is seen as a safe bet. By imposing austerity and reform on the profligate peripheral countries, such as Greece, she is perceived as having handled the euro crisis well. However, she hasn't been perfect. Far from it. The Eurozone is still in serious trouble, and Ms. Merkel has blocked major necessary reforms, such as joint eurobonds. The Eurozone's survival is no guarantee, but Germans trust her instinct for caution.

2. Other parties don't offer a compelling reason to vote for them. Ms. Merkel has a habit of poaching ideas from other parties. The Green Party is (unscientifically) opposed to nuclear power. After the disaster at Fukushima, Ms. Merkel -- who has a PhD in quantum chemistry and really ought to know better -- decided to shut down the country's nuclear power plants. It was a cunning political move; in one fell swoop, she largely eliminated the major reason to vote Green.

3. Germans know she is the most powerful person in Europe. Actually, according to Forbes, she's the 2nd most powerful person in the world. A new leader, while still being powerful, will not have the same clout as Ms. Merkel.

4. Germans are (more or less) pleased with the status quo. The German economy is doing quite well. However, that is not guaranteed to continue indefinitely: It is facing a major demographic crisis in the not-too-distant future, and the country needs to implement some domestic reforms. So far, Ms. Merkel hasn't done so. Despite being seen overseas as the second coming of the Iron Lady, the Germans perceive her as something of a wet noodle.

One of America's great adages is, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." It appears that sentiment dominated the German election.

(Source: The Economist)

(AP Photo)

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