1L - Government and opposition: governments
Learn why coalition government and a developing political consensus gave the Federal Republic stability, how chancellors after Adenauer changed policy, and why consensus still allowed sharp disagreement and changes of government.
Parties and the three-party system
The Federal Republic’s party system became concentrated around three major parliamentary forces: the CDU/CSU, SPD and FDP. The CDU and Bavarian CSU were separate parties but acted together as the Union in federal politics. The phrase “three-party system” counts this partnership as one force; it does not mean Germany had only three legally permitted parties.
The Union combined Christian social ideas, anticommunism, a social market economy and western integration. The SPD began with a stronger socialist and working-class identity. Its Bad Godesberg Programme of 1959 rejected an exclusive Marxist basis, accepted a role for competitive markets and sought a wider electorate while retaining social justice as a goal. The programme itself shows movement towards a party of the people. The Free Democratic Party, or FDP, represented liberal traditions and often supplied the partner needed for a parliamentary majority. Its smaller electoral size did not prevent considerable influence over which major party governed.
Coalitions required compromise. Parties negotiated policies and ministerial posts, and a partner could threaten withdrawal. Electoral thresholds limited fragmentation but did not guarantee a single-party majority. The Union’s absolute majority in 1957 was exceptional. The Greens’ entry into the Bundestag in 1983 widened the system and demonstrated that new concerns could gain parliamentary representation. By the later period, “three-party system” therefore describes an influential earlier pattern rather than an unchanging fact through 1991.
From Erhard to the Grand Coalition
Ludwig Erhard succeeded Adenauer in 1963, bringing the reputation of the economic miracle to the Chancellorship. Yet success as Economics Minister did not automatically give him Adenauer’s authority over party and coalition. Disagreement over finances and the recession of 1966 weakened his government. The FDP withdrew from the coalition, showing that a Chancellor could lose power through parliamentary relationships without a constitutional collapse.
Kurt Georg Kiesinger led the Grand Coalition of CDU/CSU and SPD from 1966 to 1969. Willy Brandt became Foreign Minister and Vice-Chancellor; Karl Schiller, the SPD Economics Minister, worked with Union Finance Minister Franz Josef Strauss on economic management. The coalition used more active demand management to address recession, including the 1967 Stability and Growth Law. This widened government responsibility for economic stability while operating within the market system.
Bringing the SPD into government demonstrated its acceptance as a governing party and narrowed the ideological gulf of the 1950s. It also left the FDP as a small parliamentary opposition. Critics feared that the main parties’ dominance reduced meaningful scrutiny, helping strengthen the extra-parliamentary opposition. The emergency legislation of 1968 became a particular focus: supporters saw it as providing a legal framework for emergencies, while opponents feared renewed authoritarian powers. Consensus inside parliament could therefore generate stronger dissent outside it.
| Chancellor | Period in office within this course | Governing alignment |
|---|---|---|
| Adenauer | 1949–1963 | Union-led governments, usually with partners |
| Erhard | 1963–1966 | CDU/CSU–FDP |
| Kiesinger | 1966–1969 | CDU/CSU–SPD Grand Coalition |
| Brandt | 1969–1974 | SPD–FDP |
| Schmidt | 1974–1982 | SPD–FDP |
| Kohl | 1982–1991 within the course period | CDU/CSU–FDP |
Kohl remained Chancellor beyond 1991; the table’s endpoint marks this course’s scope, not the end of his office.
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