List of political parties in Germany

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Germany

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This is a list of political parties in Germany.

The Parliament of Germany has a plurality system of parties, with two major parties, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), with its sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU) in the same parliamentary group, also known as (CDU/CSU). Furthermore, it has three minor parties, the Free Democratic Party (FDP), The Left, and Alliance '90/The Greens. The federal government of Germany usually consists of a coalition of a major and a minor party (CDU/CSU and FDP, or SPD and FDP). From 1966 to 1969, and again from 2005 to 2009, the federal government consisted of a grand coalition (CDU/CSU and SPD).^[1]

Coalitions in the Bundestag and state diets are often described by party colors. Party colors are the Social Democratic Party being red, the green Alliance '90/The Greens, the yellow Free Democratic Party, the dark red The Left, and the black Christian Democratic Union.^[2] So a coalition of CDU, Alliance '90/The Greens and FDP is called a Jamaica coalition.^[3]

Parties in the Bundestag

The following parties currently participate in the German parliament, the Bundestag, sorted by the number of seats (refer to the following links for details):

Other parties. In addition to those parties that won representation in the Bundestag in 2009, a variety of minor parties won a cumulative total of approximately 6% of the vote, up from 3% in 2005.

Minor parties

More than 0.1% of the vote at the last federal elections in 2009

• German Pirate Party (Piratenpartei Deutschland - PIRATEN) 2.0% Civil rights
• National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands - NPD): 1.5% far right
• Human Environment Animal Welfare (Mensch Umwelt Tierschutz): 0.5% green-conservative
• The Republicans (Die Republikaner - REP): 0.4% right-wing
• Family Party of Germany (Deutsche Familienpartei): 0.3% center
• Ecological Democratic Party (Ökologisch-Demokratische Partei - ÖDP): 0.3% right-green

Others

• Anarchist Pogo Party of Germany (Anarchistische Pogo-Partei Deutschlands - APPD) Frivolous
• Bavaria Party (Bayernpartei) Separatist
• Communist Party of Germany (Red Dawn) Marxist-Leninist Hoxhaist
• Communist Party of Germany (1990) Marxist-Leninist Stalinist
• German Centre Party (Deutsche Zentrumspartei - ZENTRUM) centre-right/right-wing (catholic), the party was in many parliaments before 1933)
• German Communist Party (Deutsche Kommunistische Partei - DKP) Marxist-Leninist
• Christian Centre Party (Christliche Mitte - CM) Christian fundamentalist
• Citizens Make Politics (Bürger machen Politik)
• Civil Rights Movement Solidarity (Bürgerrechtsbewegung Solidarität - BüSo) LaRoucheist
• Feminist Party of Germany (Feministische Partei - DIE FRAUEN) Feminist
• Free Voters (Freie Wähler)
• German People's Union (DVU) - Nationalist
• Marxist Leninist Party of Germany (Marxistisch-Leninistische Partei Deutschlands - MLPD) Marxist-Leninist Maoist
• Die PARTEI (Partei für Arbeit, Rechtsstaat, Tierschutz, Elitenförderung und basisdemokratische Initiative - Die PARTEI) Frivolous political party created by editors of the satirical magazine titanic
• Party of Bible-abiding Christians (Partei Bibeltreuer Christen - PBC) religious
• Revolutionary Socialist League (Revolutionär Sozialistischer Bund/IV. Internationale - RSB) Trotskyist
• Social Equality Party (Partei für Soziale Gleichheit, Sektion der Vierten Internationale - PSG) Trotskyist
• South Schleswig Voter Federation (Südschleswigscher Wählerverband - SSW) - Danish and Frisian minorities in Germany
• The Violets (Party) (Die Violetten - für spirituelle Politik)

Defunct parties

• The Grays – Gray Panther (Die Grauen - Graue Panther - GRAUE)
• Law and Order Offensive Party (Partei Rechtsstaatlicher Offensive - Offensive D)

Historical parties

Parties existing before World War II

• Bavarian People's Party (BVP) - Bavarian Regionalist (1920-1933)
• The Anarchy Party (TAP) (between 1933 and 1932/45 a Social Democratic Party left of the TAP)
• Centre Party - Christian Democrat/Conservative (1871-1947/today)
• Communist Party of Germany (KPD) - Communist (1919-1956)
• Communist Party Opposition (KPO)- Communist
• Conservative People's Party (KVP)
• Free Conservative Party (FKP)
• General German Workers' Association (ADAV)
• Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD) - Socialist (1917-1922)
• German Conservative Party (DKP) - Conservative (before 1918)
• German Democratic Party (DDP) - Left-Liberal (1918-1930, became the German State Party, which lasted until 1933)
• German National People's Party (DNVP) - Nationalist-Conservative (1918-1933)
• German People's Party (DVP) - National-Liberal (1918-1933)
• German Progress Party (DFP) - Left-Liberal (before 1918)
• German Racialist Freedom Party (DVFP) - anti-semitic (early Weimar period)
• German Workers' Party (DAP) - precursor to the Nazi Party (1919)
• National Liberal Party - Right Liberal (before 1918)
• National Socialist German Workers' Party - aka the Nazi Party (NSDAP) (1919-1945)
• Progressive People's Party
• Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD, same as the current SPD)
• Social Democratic Workers' Party of Germany (SDAP) (since 1875 Social Democratic Party of Germany)
• Socialist Workers' Party of Germany (SAP) (since 1875 Social Democratic Party of Germany)
• Socialist Workers' Party of Germany (SAP) (between 1931 and 1941/45 a Social Democratic Party left of the SPD)

Defunct parties in (former) West Germany

• German Party (DP) - Conservative
• German Empire Party (DRP) - Far right (1949-64)
• German Right Party (DReP) - Far right (1946-51)
• Communist Party of Germany (KPD) - Communist (1919-1956)
• Socialist Reich Party (SRP) - National Socialist

Parties in (former) East Germany

As a socialist state

• Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
• Liberal Democratic Party of Germany (LDPD)
• Democratic Farmers' Party of Germany (DBD)
• National Democratic Party of Germany (NDPD)
• Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED)

During transition

• Alliance 90
• Alliance for Germany
• Association of Free Democrats
• Democracy Now
• Democratic Awakening
• East German Green Party
• Free Democratic Party
• German Forum Party
• German Social Union
• Initiative for Peace and Human Rights
• New Forum

See also

• Lists of parties by name of the party, country, ideology or by membership of internationals; categories by country and ideology.
• History of Germany since 1945
• Liberalism in Germany

References

External links

• Political Parties (Germany) - List of German political parties since 1949

v • d • e Political parties in Germany Christian Democratic Union (194) • Social Democratic Party of Germany (146) • Free Democratic Party (93) • The Left (76) • Alliance '90/The Greens (68) • Christian Social Union (45) Portal:Politics - List of political parties - Politics of Germany