Political parties in Germany
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There are several political parties in Germany.
[edit] Historical
The oldest party in Germany is the Social Democratic Party (SPD).
There were a lot of parties in Germany at the time of the Weimar Republic. The only party which still exists today from that time is the SPD. The others were Zentrum (the Centre Party), a conservative catholic, a liberal party, the Nazi party, the Communist Party (KPD), and others.
In the Nazi years, there was only the Nazi party. Other parties were banned by law.
Under Communism, East Germany had one leading party (the Socialist Unity Party, SED) and some smaller parties. The smaller parties had to accept the leading role of the SED.
[edit] Current situation
Today there are many political parties in Germany, but only a few hold influence, because only a party which has at least 5 % of the vote (or which wins 3 direct seats) is represented in the Bundestag, Germany's federal parliament.
These parties are:
- The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the German Labour Party
- The Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the conservative party outside Bavaria
- The Free Democratic Party (FDP), the liberal party
- The Alliance '90/The Greens (GrĂ¼ne), the Green (or ecologist) party
- The Left Party (formerly Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS))
- The Christian Social Union (CSU), the conservatives in Bavaria