Article |
---|
Article name |
“The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance – Reason and Justice” and the Split of the Left-Wing Party Opposition in Germany: Crisis or Renewal? |
Authors |
Spassky E.N. doctor of political sciences, associate professor, srs2@festu.khv.ru |
Bibliographic description |
Spassky E. N. “The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance – Reason and Justice” and the Split of the Left-Wing Party Opposition in Germany: Сrisis or Renewal? // Transbaikal State University Journal. 2024. Vol. 30, no. 3. P. 126–137. DOI: 10.21209/2227-9245-2024-30-3-126-137. |
Category |
Politology |
DOI |
329.05 (430) |
DOI |
10.21209/2227-9245-2024-30-3-126-137 |
Article type |
Original article |
Annotation |
The paper is devoted to the emergence of a new German political party “Sarah Wagenknecht Union – Reason and Justice” (party “SWU”). The relevance of the study lies in the fact that the stated scientific problematic is of particular interest in the context of the current geopolitical situation, which dictates the need to take into account the positions of new groups through the prism of Russian national and foreign policy interests. The object of this study is the political party “SWU”. The aim of the research is to view the new party and the political consequences of its emergence for the left-wing party opposition. To attain the goal comparative and structural-genetic methods were used, allowing us to trace the dynamics of formation and development of left-wing groups in united Germany. The research tasks include the analysis of the political and ideological prerequisites for the SWA emergence; a study of the organizational and structural features of its formation; the identification of the political consequences of a new grouping both for the left-wing party opposition and the party system as a whole. The research results embrace the reasons for the emergence of the party “SWU”; the origins of the internal conflict in the Left party which led to the formation of a new political grouping; the program settings of the SWA and its electoral prospects; the consequences of the formation of a new party both for left-wing political forces and the party system as a whole. The research conclusions underline the following ideas. The emergence of a new party on the German political scene such as the party “SWU” marks a new stage in the development of both the left movement and its party system as a whole. For the Left, this means that the phase of their consolidation has been replaced by a phase of disintegration, which has taken the form of a party split. For the German party system, the creation of the party “SWU” can have two consequences. On the one hand, the emergence of a new left-wing party indicates further fragmentation and pluralization of the political system. On the other hand, it is becoming obvious that the impact of existing parties, primarily the “Alternative for Germany” and the “Left” is decreasing. For the “Left”, the activity of the party “SWU” is an existential threat and may lead to its disappearance as a pan-German parliamentary grouping. The prospects for the influence of the party “SWU” is related to the relevance of the political agenda that the new party will offer to voters as well as to its organizational stability.
|
Key words |
Federal Republic of Germany, political parties, party system, Bundestag, the Sarah Wagenknecht Alliance – Reason and Justice, Left party, elections, voters, political competition, opposition |
Article information |
|
References |
1. Arzamanova T. V. Right-wing populism in Germany: a niche “pariahˮ trapped in West German political culture? Actual Problems of Europe, no. 4, pp. 196–218, 2023. DOI: 10.31249/ape/2023.04.10. (In Rus.)
2. Basov F. The transformation of the German party system. World economy and international relations, vol. 65, is. 2, pp. 29–36, 2021. DOI: 10.20542/0131-2227-2021-65-2-29-36. (In Rus.)
3. Belov V. B. Actual ups and downs of the popularity of the labeled parties of Germany. Analytical notes of the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, is. 3, no. 18, pp. 33–40, 2023. DOI: 10.15211/analytics31820233340. (In Rus.)
4. Belov V. B. Sarah Wagenknecht’s party project – a new protest alternative? Analytical notes of the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, is. 4, no. 28, pp. 43–48, 2023. DOI: 10.15211/analytics42820234348. (In Rus.)
5. Lisenkova A. D. The parties “Alternative for Germanyˮ and “Leftistˮ in the Eastern lands: the transformation of electoral preferences. Regionology, no. 3, vol. 31, pp. 426–441, 2023. DOI: 10.15507/2413-1407.124.031.202303.426-441. (In Rus.)
6. Pogorelskaya S. V. A new alternative for Germany. Actual problems of Europe, no. 4, pp. 78–92, 2019. Web. 31.01.2024. DOI: 10.31249/ape/2019.04.05. (In Rus.)
7. Pogorelskaya S. V. Modern German populism: general and special. The prospects. Electronic Journal, no. 4, pp. 92–102, 2019. DOI: 10.32726/2411-3417-2019-4-92-102. (In Rus.)
8. Spassky E. N. The political parties of Germany at the present stage. Transbaikal State University Journal, vol. 29, no 2, pp. 196–204, 2023. DOI: 10.2109/2227-9245-2023-29-2-196-204. (In Rus.)
9. Spassky E. N. Special military operation of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine in the assessments of German political parties. Via in Tempore. A series of Stories. Political Science, no. 51, pp. 215–229, 2024. DOI: 10.52575/2687-0967-2024-51-1-215-229. (In Rus.)
10. Grothe L. Ehemaliger Thüringer Grünen-Chef wechselt zum Wagenknecht-Bündnis // mdr. online. Web. 30.04.2024. https://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/thueringen/bsw-kandidat-frank-augsten-gruene-100.html. (In Germ.)
11. Grothe L. Wagenknecht-Partei verschiebt Parteitage in Sachsen und Thüringen // mdr. online. Web. 30.04.2024. https://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/sachsen/wagenknecht-bsw-parteitag-verschoben-100.html. (In Germ.)
12. Herrmann B. Das ist ein Affront gegen einen relevanten Teil der Partei. // Süddeutsche Zeitung. Web. 06.04.2024 https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/die-linke-parteitag-sahra-wagenknecht-janine-wissler-martin-schirdewan-1.5609646. (In Germ.)
13. Kahrs H. 2017. Die Wahl zum 19. Deutschen Bundestag am 24. September 2017. Wahlnachtbericht und erste Analyse. Web. 02.02.2024. https://www.rosalux.de/fileadmin/rls_uploads/pdfs/Themen/wahlanalysen/ WNB_BTW 2017.pdf (rosalux.de). (In Germ.)
14. Kaiser B. Sammelstelle (66): Drei Antworten zum “Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht”. Web. 04.04.2024. https://sezession.de/68287/drei-antworten-zum-buendnis-sahra-wagenknecht. (In Germ.)
15. Palzer K. Der Anfang vom Ende der Linksfraktion? // Tagesschau. 07.08.2023. Web. 02.04.2024. https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/innenpolitik/linke-wagenknecht-108.html). (In Germ.)
16. Sänger L. Analyse zu Katja Wolf und BSW in Thüringen: Die Kaderplanung läuft // mdr. online. Web. 29.04.2024. https://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/thueringen/wagenknecht-partei-bsw-katja-wolf-102.html. (In Germ.)
17. Starzmann P., Mesner M. Klausur der Bundestagsfraktion: Linke bläst Aufstand gegen Wagenknecht ab // Tagesspiegel. Web. 02.04.2024. https://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/linke-blast-aufstand-gegen-wagenknecht-ab-6403033.html. (In Germ.)
18. Stoltenberg H. Der Streit um die Sitze // Das Parlament. 2023. No. 12–13. Web. 02.02.2024. https://www.das-parlament.de/2023/12–13. (In Germ.)
19. Teistler S. Countdown für Wagenknecht-Partei läuft in Brandenburg // rbb24 online. Web. 30.04.2024. https://www.rbb24.de/politik/beitrag/2024/02/brandenburg-politi-parteien-bsw-landesverband-wagenknecht.html. (In Germ.)
20. Wagner, S., Wurthmann, L. C., Thomeczek J. P. 2023. Bridging Left and Right? How Sahra Wagenknecht Could Change the German Party Landscape // Politische Vierteljahresschrift, no. 64, pp. 621–636. Web. 04.05.2024. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11615-023-00481-3. (In Eng.)
|
Full article | “The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance – Reason and Justice” and the Split of the Left-Wing Party Opposition in Germany: Crisis or Renewal? |