1983 West German federal election

Last updated

1983 West German federal election
Flag of Germany.svg
  1980 6 March 1983 (1983-03-06) 1987  

All 498 seats in the Bundestag [a]
250 seats needed for a majority
Registered44,088,935 Increase2.svg 2.0%
Turnout39,279,529 (89.1%) Increase2.svg 0.5 pp
 First partySecond party
 
KAS-Kohl, Helmut-Bild-14701-1.jpg
Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F079283-0006, Munster, SPD-Parteitag, Vogel (cropped).jpg
Candidate Helmut Kohl Hans-Jochen Vogel
Party CDU/CSU SPD
Last election44.5%, 226 seats42.9%, 218 seats
Seats won244 [b] 193 [c]
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 18Decrease2.svg 25
Popular vote18,998,54514,865,807
Percentage48.8%38.2%
SwingIncrease2.svg 4.3 pp Decrease2.svg 4.7 pp

 Third partyFourth party
 
Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F060666-0035, Koln, FDP-Parteitag, Genscher (cropped).jpg
Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F065187-0022, Bonn, Pressekonferenz der Grunen, Bundestagswahl (cropped).jpg
Candidate Hans-Dietrich Genscher Petra Kelly
Party FDP Greens
Last election10.6%, 53 seats1.5%, 0 seats
Seats won34 [d] 27 [e]
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 19Increase2.svg 27
Popular vote2,706,9422,167,431
Percentage6.9%5.6%
SwingDecrease2.svg 3.7 pp Increase2.svg 4.1 pp

1983 German federal election - Results by constituency.svg
The left side shows the winning party vote in the constituencies, the right side shows the seats won by parties in each of the states. The pie chart over West Berlin shows the partisan composition of its legislature.

Government before election

First Kohl cabinet
CDU/CSUFDP

Government after election

Second Kohl cabinet
CDU/CSUFDP

Federal elections were held in West Germany on 6 March 1983 to elect the members of the 10th Bundestag. The CDU/CSU alliance led by Helmut Kohl remained the largest faction in parliament, with Kohl remaining Chancellor.

Contents

Issues and campaign

The SPD/FDP coalition under Chancellor Helmut Schmidt was returned to power in the 1980 West German federal election. The coalition parties grew more and more apart over economic policies. Schmidt asked for and won a motion of no confidence on 5 February 1982. The FDP cabinet ministers resigned on 17 September 1982 and the SPD formed a minority government. On 1 October, Schmidt and the SPD government were dismissed from office by a constructive vote of no confidence by the votes of the CDU/CSU Union parties and a majority of the FDP deputies in the Bundestag. The Leader of the Christian Democratic Union and Leader of the CDU/CSU Group in the Bundestag Helmut Kohl succeeded Schmidt. The new coalition had a majority in the Bundestag but early elections were arranged to legitimize it. Neither the Bundestag itself nor the Chancellor has a right to dissolve the Bundestag, so Kohl did this by deliberately losing a vote of no confidence on 17 December 1982. Federal President Karl Carstens then dissolved the Bundestag and held new elections. The Federal Constitutional Court upheld the constitutionality of the dissolution.

The FDP was split by its change of coalition partners. The party leadership under Hans-Dietrich Genscher and Otto Graf Lambsdorff drove the new policy, but they were rejected by a minority under Gerhart Baum, Günter Verheugen and Ingrid Matthäus-Maier. The FDP was defeated in the 1982 Hessian state election on 26 September 1982, losing half its voters by gaining only 3.1 percent of the vote and failing to enter the state parliament thanks to an SPD campaign against the FDP's "betrayal in Bonn". The FDP was defeated again and lost all of its seats in the 1982 Bavarian state election on 10 October 1982.

Helmut Schmidt renounced his chancellor candidacy and was replaced by former Federal Minister of Justice Hans-Jochen Vogel. The SPD encountered difficulties because of the emergence of the Greens. A major issue in this election was the armament question after the NATO Double-Track Decision, something the SPD was deeply split on.

Results

Bundestag 1983.svg
PartyParty-listConstituencySeats
Votes%SeatsVotes%SeatsElected West Berlin Total+/–
Social Democratic Party 14,865,80738.1812515,686,03340.38681939202–26
Christian Democratic Union 14,857,68038.155515,943,46041.0413619111202+17
Christian Social Union 4,140,86510.6394,318,80011.124453053+1
Free Democratic Party 2,706,9426.95341,087,9182.80034135–19
The Greens 2,167,4315.57271,609,8554.14027128+28
National Democratic Party 91,0950.23057,1120.1500000
German Communist Party 64,9860.17096,1430.2500000
European Workers' Party 14,9660.0407,4910.0200000
Ecological Democratic Party 11,0280.0303,3410.010000New
Christian Bavarian People's Party 10,9940.0302,0680.0100000
Communist Party of Germany/Marxists–Leninists 3,4310.010000New
Independent Social Democrats3,3330.0104500.000000New
League of West German Communists 2,1290.0106860.000000New
Independents and voter groups31,9960.0800000
Total38,940,687100.0025038,845,353100.0024849822520+1
Valid votes38,940,68799.1438,845,35398.89
Invalid/blank votes338,8410.86434,1761.11
Total votes39,279,528100.0039,279,529100.00
Registered voters/turnout44,088,93589.0944,088,93589.09
Source: Bundeswahlleiter
Seat results - SPD in red, Greens in green, FDP in yellow, CDU/CSU in black 1983 federal german result.svg
Seat results – SPD in red, Greens in green, FDP in yellow, CDU/CSU in black

Results by state

Constituency seats

StateTotal
seats
Seats won
CDU SPD CSU
Baden-Württemberg 37361
Bavaria 45144
Bremen 33
Hamburg 77
Hesse 22175
Lower Saxony 312110
North Rhine-Westphalia 713932
Rhineland-Palatinate 16115
Saarland 532
Schleswig-Holstein 1192
Total2481366844

List seats

StateTotal
seats
Seats won
SPD CDU FDP Grüne CSU
Baden-Württemberg 3722375
Bavaria 4425649
Bremen 22
Hamburg 651
Hesse 2615443
Lower Saxony 3216844
North Rhine-Westphalia 753126108
Rhineland-Palatinate 157521
Saarland 321
Schleswig-Holstein 107111
Total2501255534279

Post-election

The coalition between the CDU/CSU and the FDP returned to government, gaining 55.7% of the vote and 55.8% of the seats, with Helmut Kohl as Chancellor. This was the first election in which the Greens secured representation in the Bundestag, and the first which saw a fourth (fifth) party in the parliament since 1960.

Notes

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Free Democratic Party (Germany)</span> Political party in Germany

The Free Democratic Party is a liberal political party in Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Germany</span>

Germany is a democratic and federal parliamentary republic, where federal legislative power is vested in the Bundestag and the Bundesrat.

The constructive vote of no confidence is a variation on the motion of no confidence that allows a parliament to withdraw confidence from a head of government only if there is a positive majority for a prospective successor. The principle is intended to ensure governments' stability by making sure that a replacement has enough parliamentary support to govern.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karl Carstens</span> German politician (1914–1992)

Karl Carstens was a German politician. He served as the president of West Germany from 1979 to 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1998 German federal election</span>

Federal elections were held in Germany on 27 September 1998 to elect the members of the 14th Bundestag. The Social Democratic Party (SPD) emerged as the largest faction in parliament for the first time since 1972, with its leader Gerhard Schröder becoming chancellor. The Christian Democrats had their worst election result since 1949.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1994 German federal election</span>

Federal elections were held in Germany on 16 October 1994 to elect the members of the 13th Bundestag. The CDU/CSU alliance led by Helmut Kohl remained the largest faction in parliament, with Kohl remaining Chancellor in a narrowly re-elected coalition with the Free Democratic Party (FDP). This elected Bundestag was the largest in history until 2017, numbering 672 members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1990 German federal election</span>

Federal elections were held in recently united Germany on 2 December 1990 to elect the members of the 12th Bundestag, within the regular time of nearly four years after the January 1987 West German federal election. Due to the accession of the former East German states on 3 October, after which the Bundestag was expanded with East German Volkskammer delegates, the elections were first democratic all-German elections since the early 1930s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1987 West German federal election</span>

Federal elections were held in West Germany on 25 January 1987 to elect the members of the 11th Bundestag. This was the last federal election held in West Germany before German reunification.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1980 West German federal election</span>

Federal elections were held in West Germany on 5 October 1980 to elect the members of the 9th Bundestag. Although the CDU/CSU remained the largest faction in parliament, Helmut Schmidt of the Social Democratic Party remained Chancellor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1976 West German federal election</span> Federal election in West Germany

Federal elections were held in West Germany on 3 October 1976 to elect the members of the 8th Bundestag. Although the CDU/CSU alliance became the largest faction in parliament, Helmut Schmidt of the Social Democratic Party remained Chancellor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1972 West German federal election</span>

Federal elections were held in West Germany on 19 November 1972 to elect the members of the 7th Bundestag. In the first snap elections since the resumption of democratic elections in 1949, the Social Democratic Party became the largest party in parliament for the first time since 1930, winning 230 of the 496 seats. The coalition with the Free Democratic Party was resumed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1969 West German federal election</span>

Federal elections were held in West Germany on 28 September 1969 to elect the members of the 6th Bundestag. The CDU/CSU remained the largest faction and the Social Democratic Party remained the largest single party in the Bundestag, winning 237 of the 518 seats. After the election, the SPD formed a coalition with the Free Democratic Party and SPD leader Willy Brandt became Chancellor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1965 West German federal election</span>

Federal elections were held in West Germany on 19 September 1965 to elect the members of the 5th Bundestag. The CDU/CSU remained the largest faction, while the Social Democratic Party remained the largest single party in the Bundestag, winning 217 of the 518 seats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1961 West German federal election</span>

Federal elections were held in West Germany on 17 September 1961 to elect the members of the fourth Bundestag. The CDU/CSU remained the largest faction, winning 242 of the 499 seats. However, the loss of its majority and the All-German Party losing all its seats led to the CDU having to negotiate a coalition with the long-term junior coalition partner, the Free Democratic Party, leading to a demand for long-term chancellor Konrad Adenauer to leave office in 1963, halfway through his term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1949 West German federal election</span>

Federal elections were held in West Germany on 14 August 1949 to elect the members of the first Bundestag, with a further eight seats elected in West Berlin between 1949 and January 1952 and another eleven between February 1952 and 1953. They were the first free federal elections in West Germany since 1933 and the first after the division of the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rainer Barzel</span> German politician (1924–2006)

Rainer Candidus Barzel was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He served as the eighth president of the Bundestag from 1983 to 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2005 German federal election</span>

Federal elections were held in Germany on 18 September 2005 to elect the members of the 16th Bundestag. The snap election was called after the government's defeat in the North Rhine-Westphalia state election, which caused them to intentionally lose a motion of confidence to trigger an early federal election. The outgoing government was a coalition of the centre-left Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and Alliance 90/The Greens, led by federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. The election was originally intended for the autumn of 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Kohl cabinet</span> Cabinet of Germany (1982–1983)

The First Kohl cabinet was the 13th Cabinet of the Federal Republic of Germany. It was formed in 1 October 1982 following a successful constructive vote of no confidence, by which Helmut Kohl replaced Helmut Schmidt as Chancellor. The other cabinet members were appointed and sworn in on 4 October 1982. It was the first German federal cabinet formed after a constructive vote of no confidence. After ascending to the chancellorship, Kohl and his coalition sought to bring about new elections as quickly as possible, which he achieved by deliberately losing a confidence motion and then having the Bundestag dissolved by the president at the chancellor's request. The following 1983 federal election on 6 March 1983 resulted in a re-election of Kohl and his newly formed CDU/CSU/FDP-coalition. On 30 March 1983, Kohl was again elected chancellor by the Bundestag and formed his second cabinet. With a duration of just under half a year, the cabinet Kohl I was the shortest-lived German government since the cabinet von Schleicher during the Weimar Republic and is, as yet, the shortest-lived cabinet in the history of the Federal Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 German federal election</span>

Federal elections were held in Germany on 27 September 2009 to elect the members of the 17th Bundestag.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elefantenrunde</span> Television debate format

Elefantenrunde, literally "Elephants' round-table", is a German language term for a television debate in which the leaders of parties with representation in parliament participate. The term originates in Germany and derives from the "weightiness" of the debates' participants and the significance of the event. The word was subsequently adopted in Austria and Switzerland and is currently in use there, but has no uniformly agreed meaning.

References

    Sources