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Essay On German Election

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The German election this upcoming weekend is an event that needs to be thoroughly looked into. While the campaign has been quiet thus far, the results are expected to be one of the biggest turning points in German history. Never has a far-right party managed to send delegates into the German Parliament since the defeat of the Nazis in 1945 and the outcome of this election could have a serious impact on the United States. Germany is the European Unions most populous nation and is economically strong, so wherever this election leads to, changes are ahead. Both of the current leading parties agree Germany shouldn’t stand in accordance to some of the policies President Trump has been pursuing—such as his immigration and trade plans—and …show more content…

Currently, Germany has six main political parties—the CDU, SPD, CSU, FDP, Green Party, and Left Party. The CDU stands for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany. This group retains mainly conservative beliefs such as having a free market with social equity, progressing European integration, and being a member of NATO. Angela Merkel is the current leader of this center-right political group. While this group typically receives support from catholic areas in the western regions of Germany, support has nowadays been coming from other areas with different or no religious backgrounds. Angela Merkel is a prime example of this as she is the leader of this group and yet is a protestant from East Germany. This group is the one presently in control. The next political group is the oldest political party in Germany, known as the SPD, or the Social Democratic Party of Germany. This is a center-left party, led by Martin Shulz, that was originally part of the Marxist party. The main focus of this group is on the working class citizens and much of their support comes from large, mainly protestant cities. The SPD believes in a social democracy—hence the name—that strives towards a strengthened social market economy, a welfare state, civil rights, and European integration. It used to be the largest party in the Federal Republic but it lost voters when extreme welfare cuts were made on behalf of this party. The Christian Social Union of Bavaria, or the

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