Voters in two eastern states went to the polls on September 1, with perhaps surprising results: they kept their long-governing parties in place despite threats from the far right and far left. In Brandenburg, the SPD held on to power with 26.2 percent of the vote while in Saxony, the CDU came out ahead with 32.1 percent. In this episode of The Zeitgeist, Jeff Rathke and Eric Langenbacher discuss the real winners and losers from Sunday’s election, what it all means for the German political system more broadly, and what impact political and demographic shifts could have in the eastern German states, including in October’s election in Thuringia.
Host
Jeff Rathke, President, AICGS
Guest
Eric Langenbacher, Senior Fellow and Director, AICGS Society, Culture & Politics Program

Twilight of the Merkel Era: Power and Politics in Germany after the 2017 Bundestag Election, edited by Dr. Eric Langenbacher