The coalition treaty has to bridge political divides, the Senior Professor of Sociology says.
The new German government coalition of Social Democrats, Greens and Free Democrats has “produced a distinctly hopeful document” with its coalition treaty, in the midst of a fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, a darkening economic outlook and a looming migration crisis, says Senior Professor of Sociology Helmut Anheier in an op-ed in Project Syndicate. Anheier provides an overview of major goals that the coalition wants to tackle in the next years: the modernisation of the social security system, increasing the minimum wage, the end of the coal industry, fostering digital infrastructure, and a renewal on immigration policy.
In comparison with the foreign policy of the Merkel era, the coalition wants to follow a “more assertive approach to authoritarian regimes,” Anheier writes. However, as the three coalition parties have divergent political positions, the success of the new government will depend on their political skills. “If the coalition fails, Germany will risk reverting to its old habit of doing too little too late,” Anheier writes. “An outcome that would jeopardize its position in Europe and the world.”
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Helmut K. Anheier, Senior Professor of Sociology, past President