This week the German political landscape has been roiled by dramatic developments in the small eastern state of Thuringia.
Although Bodo Ramelow, Thuringia’s Minister President, had enough votes to continue as the head of a minority coalition made up of the Left Party, the Social Democrats, and the Greens, after three months of gridlock he was ousted from the position by FDP politician Thomas Kemmerich. In a vote on Wednesday, Kemmerich beat Ramelow by one vote, with support of the Christian Democrats – and the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). The CDU – and its Bavarian sister party the CSU – have ruled out all forms of cooperation with the AfD and party leaders have demanded new elections. Within the FDP, many are reeling from Kemmerich’s decision to accept support from the AfD. These events triggered a national outcry. In the meantime, Kemmerich has stepped down, paving the way for new state elections. But, German party politics are in chaos.
Join us for a Hot Topics Call on February 10 at 10:00 am (EST) with Dr. Christian Martin, Max Weber Visiting Chair in German and European Studies at NYU, who will reflect on what these developments mean for Thuringia – and for German politics writ large.
Dr. Martin is a professor of political science at the University of Kiel, Germany. He currently holds the Max Weber Chair in German and European Studies at New York University. He has studied political science at the University of Konstanz and holds a doctorate from there (2002). Martin was a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Konstanz and at the Max-Planck-Institute in Jena (2003-2004). He was an assistant professor at the University of Hamburg (2004-2008) and a Visiting Assistant Professor at Northwestern University (2008-2011).
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