Word: merkel
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...mean the German people deeply oppose political reform? I don't think so. They are divided, however, about the pace and degree of change. Those who want to proceed slowly were comforted by Gerhard Schröder's campaign speeches and put off by Angela Merkel's. That's why Merkel did not appeal as much to voters who wanted to hear comfortable words. Philippe Dahbi Rockenhausen, Germany Gays Need Not Apply You reported that pope Benedict XVI may reaffirm a ban on homosexuals entering the seminary [Oct. 3]. The Pope may be intent on a "thorough cleaning...
...says a lot about the zeitgeist in Germany today--and helps explain why the government of Gerhard Schröder was voted out last month after seven years in power. Following weeks of wrangling, the country's major parties agreed last week to form a coalition government headed by Angela Merkel, 51, who stands to become the first female Chancellor in German history. The victory of Merkel and her Christian Democratic Party marks a generational shift in German politics. Young voters who once were worried about social issues say they are far more concerned about reviving Germany's stagnant economy...
...with unemployment running at a post--World War II high of 11.2%, young Germans are more interested in finding jobs than saving the world. Birgit Gugath, 25, a political science student in Berlin, voted for the Green Party and Schröder's Social Democrats in 2002 but switched to Merkel this year. "All those big ideas just aren't as important anymore," she says. "We have to take care of ourselves." When the parents of today's twentysomethings entered the work force, "the higher the degree you got, the better your job would be, but that's not the case...
...government reflects the turn toward sobriety. "The home and the family are very important to us," says Dieter Althaus, governor of the state of Thuringia and a Merkel confidante. Merkel will still need the support of the old left to pass her reforms, but it's a safe bet that the style of German governance will change. "I was one of the last live rock 'n' rollers," Fischer said after last month's vote. Germans are ready for a different song...
...Merkel, the resolution of what Germans had come to call "the Chancellor's War" comes as a relief. She had been widely expected to win the election outright until the final days before the vote, and the the final result, which gave her party just a four-seat margin over Schroeder's Social Democrats, came as a severe disappointment. Having to hammer out an agreement with the Social Democrats means that she will have to water down some of her more ambitious free-market-oriented policies. Still, the chancellorship is a major accomplishment for the daughter of a Lutheran pastor...