The recent German elections have been tough for chancellor Angela Merkel, whose party came out on top but by the smallest margin since 1949. This is a crushing blow, as it shows a shift in support from Merkel to her competition both in her and similar parties as well as across the political spectrum; it also means she has to make concessions when legislating as Merkel is now ruling a split government with numerous representatives from more varying parties all needed to find common ground if any legislation is to passed in a democracy utilizing voting and majorities. Now, if this were any other country the obscuring of the path to full leadership and the shift in the ideology of the masses might not be as impactful to the rest of the world, but as this is Germany, arguably one of the two most important economic and democratic powers in Europe and the EU, this could dampen the productivity of governance and regulation of said EU and may lead to a similar change in voting trends in other European nations, which could theoretically have a big impact on the whole continent or even the whole world.
The struggles of ruling a country with a government that's against you can be easily seen in the presidency of Andrew Johnson. In post-Civil War America, Johnson came into power as a result of the assassination of Lincoln, meaning he was not brought into office with a shift towards his ideals by the general public; in fact, he was very much opposed to many of the actions and strategies employed by Lincoln, the man the American people actually elected. Johnson, a conservative faced with a socially liberal Republican congress, got a grand total of nothing done in office; congress used its power to override vetoes using a super-majority for the first time during his presidency, blocking multiple vetoes before putting his impeachment on the table, with the House voting to do so and the senate acquitting him by an impressive 1 vote. Now, the opposition faced by Johnson during his term was far greater than what Angela Merkel will be dealing with in the near future, and I'd argue the congress Johnson faced was much more just than the man himself while I tend to lead towards Merkel and not her competition, American history can serve as an example of when democratic opposition is taken to its extremes.
My question would be how she would try to take a wider brush across all of the people she influences and in turn how she would deal with the problem she faces. As you stated Johnson got very little done in office, so while it isn't as extreme I would still want to know how she plans to take it by a different approach
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you. A government and its leader have to be united if any work is going to get done. If Merkel isn't getting the support she should by those working alongside her, someone needs to make a change.
ReplyDeleteWe are now in a time where the alt right seem more comfortable and are growing (ex. French elections, Nazi protests in America). I'm afraid what the world will look like if we keeping heading down this path
ReplyDeleteAndrew Johnson was following an extremely significant portion of our history and his responses almost define the Reconstruction Era and the few things he did get done are looked upon now as easily over-the-top in terms of what I assume were his efforts to stitch the country back together and make people pay their dues was on that list, I suppose. I think this was a great parallel because while Germany is not hot out of the Civil War oven, it is still extremely powerful and can shape the world economy as easily as one can blink.
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