On 27 August 1987 the SPD’s commission on basic values and the Academy of Social Sciences of the SED, the ruling party of East Germany, published a joint paper. Its subject was the dispute of ideologies and common security. The paper called for eine Kultur des politischen Streits und des Dialogs, a culture of political dispute and dialogue. It said that mutual criticism must not count as interference in internal affairs, and that each system needed free information and open discussion. The East German party newspaper Neues Deutschland printed it. Intellectuals, parts of the opposition and the Protestant church in East Germany took it up. Its influence on the daily policy of the SED leadership remained marginal.
politics
A Healthy Culture of Dispute
Streitkultur is the culture of disputing, the way people argue. Duden gives eine gesunde Streitkultur, a healthy culture of dispute, as an example of its use. In October 2019 Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke in Berlin at an event titled “Demokratie unter Druck – für eine neue politische Streitkultur.” It was time, he said, for new round tables in the country, “nicht zur Vermeidung von Streit, sondern zum Gelingen des Streits”, not to avoid dispute but to make dispute succeed. He asked for a way of arguing that lets us “dem Gegenüber auch am Tag nach dem Streit noch aufrecht in die Augen schauen”, still look the other person straight in the eye the day after the dispute.
Tired of the Coalition’s Quarrels
In August 2023 the polling institute Forsa asked Germans about the disputes inside the governing coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP. Thirty-five percent said they understood that the three parties argued because their opinions differed. Sixty-one percent said they were so tired of the constant disputes that they no longer listened closely to what the disputes were about. The coalition broke apart in November 2024.
The Vaccination Committee Answers a Minister-President
Germany’s Standing Committee on Vaccination, the STIKO, was set up in 1972. It is a volunteer group of experts. In July 2021 Bavaria’s Minister-President Markus Söder pushed for a faster general COVID-19 vaccination recommendation for children from 12. He contrasted the volunteer committee with the “professionals” of the European Medicines Agency. The STIKO answered publicly that the statements of Söder and other politicians were “ungewöhnlich und müssen korrigiert werden”, unusual and in need of correction. It works, it said, independently of the opinions and wishes of politicians and the pharmaceutical industry. On 16 August 2021 the committee recommended vaccination for everyone from 12. It named a careful evaluation of new scientific data as the reason.
One Ministry for Digital Affairs
In May 2025 the new federal government created the Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs and State Modernization. It received departments or responsibilities from six existing ministries and offices: the Chancellery and the ministries of the interior, transport and digital affairs, economy, finance and justice. It also received a right of approval over all essential IT spending in the direct federal administration. Security and tax administration are exempt. The aim, according to ZDF, is to speed up digitalization in Germany massively.
A Commission on the Pandemic
On 10 July 2025 the Bundestag decided to set up a commission of inquiry into the COVID-19 pandemic. It was constituted on 8 September 2025, with 14 members of parliament and 14 experts. Its task is to build an overall picture of the causes, course and consequences of the pandemic and of the state’s measures, and to draw lessons for future pandemics. Its final report is due by 30 June 2027. Its 28th session was scheduled for 21 September 2026.
The Constructive Vote of No Confidence
In the Weimar Republic, extreme forces on the left and the right could bring down a government together without agreeing on a successor. The authors of the Basic Law wanted to avoid exactly this error. Under Article 67, the Bundestag can express its lack of confidence in the chancellor only by electing a successor with the majority of its members. Forty-eight hours must pass between the motion and the vote. The procedure has been used twice. In April 1972 it failed against Willy Brandt. In October 1982 it succeeded, and Helmut Kohl replaced Helmut Schmidt.
The Tax Return on a Beer Mat
In 2003 Friedrich Merz promised a tax system so simple that a tax return would fit on a beer mat. His concept had only three tax rates, 12, 24 and 36 percent. It was never put into law. Merz later said he had meant that a beer mat should be enough to calculate the amount of tax owed. The beer mat itself is now in the House of History in Bonn. In February 2025, during a television program, the presenter Günther Jauch dropped it. The museum’s president reported that it was undamaged.
The Smoking Ban the Voters Made
On 1 January 2008 Bavaria’s law to protect non-smokers came into force. Beer tents and smokers’ clubs were exempt. After the 2008 state election, the new government loosened the law. From 1 August 2009, smoking was again allowed in small pubs with one room and in side rooms of restaurants. A citizens’ initiative then collected more than 1.3 million signatures within two weeks. On 4 July 2010, 61 percent of voters in a referendum chose smoke-free restaurants and pubs. From 1 August 2010 all exceptions were abolished, including those for beer tents. Ten years later, in 2020, smoking in restaurants, pubs and beer tents in Bavaria was still completely banned.
A Matter for Professionals
On 10 March 2019 the FDP leader Christian Lindner commented on the school strikes for the climate. Children and young people, he said, could not be expected to see all the global connections, what is technically sensible and what is economically feasible. Das ist eine Sache für Profis. (That is a matter for professionals.) The organizers of Fridays for Future replied: Profis beim Thema Klimaschutz sind Wissenschaftler*innen. (The professionals on climate protection are scientists.) In March 2019, according to the initiative, more than 23,000 scientists from Germany, Austria and Switzerland signed a statement that supported the students. Volker Quaschning, a Berlin professor of renewable energy systems, said: Wir sind die Profis und sagen: Die junge Generation hat Recht. (We are the professionals, and we say: the young generation is right.)
Neither side questioned that the experts should decide. They argued only about who the experts were.