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A Precarious  Victory

A Precarious Victory

David Conradt | Gerald R. Kleinfeld | Christian Søe

(2004)

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Book Details

Abstract

The 2002 campaign and election was one of the most dramatic in the history of the Federal Republic. An unprecedented last minute swing narrowly re-elected the Social Democratic-Green government of Chancellor Schroeder. The campaign featured the first-ever American style television debate between the two candidates for the chancellorship. Foreign policy, particularly the refusal of Schroeder to support the Iraq policies of US President George W. Bush, played an unusually important role. In the aftermath of the election the government was faced with a deteriorating economy and the charge of the opposition that it had deliberately mislead voters during the campaign. In this volume, distinguished experts from both sides of the Atlantic analyse these and other critical issues. Their work is based on extensive research in Germany and Washington, which included interviews with major political figures and the collection of new campaign and election data.

Contributors: William Patterson, E. Gene Frankland, Clay Clemens, Christian Søe, Gerald R. Kleinfeld, David Patton, Dieter Roth, Mary N. Hampton, Ferdinand Breitbach, Irwin Collier, Helga Welsh, Stephen Szabo.


David Conradt is Professor of Political Science at the University of East Carolina.


Christian Søe is Professor of Political Science at California State University, Long Beach.


Gerald R. Kleinfeld is Professor of History at Arizona State University.

Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
Precarious Victory iii
Copyright Page iv
Contents v
Illustrations vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction x
Chapter 1. The 2002 Campaign and Election 1
Chapter 2. Who Won and Why 25
Chapter 3. Gerhard Schröder and the Unlikely Victory of the German Social Democrats 37
Chapter 4. Hold the Champagne 58
Chapter 5. Saving Schröder 83
Chapter 6. A False Dawn for Germany's Liberals 108
Chapter 7. The PDS Implodes 135
Chapter 8. Ladies' Choice 153
Chapter 9. Dogs That Did Not Bark 170
Chapter 10. The Posioned Relationship 185
Chapter 11. German Policymaking and the Reform Gridlock 205
Chapter 12. Can Gerhard Schröder Do It? 220
Appendix 256