2014年经济学人 德国政治 新选项党的崛起

German politics

The Alternative's astonishing ascent¹

As the large centrist parties become more alike, the radical² fringe gets stronger

SINCE reunification in 1990, Saxony has been the former East Germany's biggest success story. As one of Germany's 16 federal states since then, it has been governed continuously by the centre-right Christian³ Democrats⁴ (CDU). Its education system is considered Germany's best. Its economy is thriving, with world-class regional clusters in high-tech⁵ and carmaking. So there was never any question that Stanislaw Tillich, the state's understated and popular CDU premier⁶, would stay in power after Saxony's election on August 31st. His party won more votes than the three leftist parties combined. With 39.4% of votes, Mr Tillich claimed victory.

And yet that result was the CDU's worst ever in Saxony, causing worries as the party approaches elections on September 14th in Thuringia and Brandenburg, also in former East Germany. The left-leaning Social Democrats (SPD) and ecology-minded Greens have reason to fret⁷, too. They all did worse than they had hoped, largely because they lost votes to a populist party to the right of the CDU: the Alternative for Germany, led by Frauke Petry.

Founded last year, the Alternative began with only one policy: a call for the orderly unravelling⁸ of the euro as a currency zone. To this it has since added other conservative positions, such as opposition⁹ to public deficits¹⁰ and gay marriage. In some ways it resembles America's Tea Party. In Saxony, where it is strongest, it has increasingly emphasised tougher controls on immigration and border crime, often with xenophobic innuendo¹¹.

Though still chaotic¹² in its party organisation¹³ and evolving in its views—for example, the party is squabbling over whether to criticise¹⁴ Vladimir Putin or coddle him—the Alternative has been rising stunningly¹⁵ fast. It came close to entering the federal parliament last September and succeeded in entering the European one in May. With 9.7% of the vote in Saxony, it now enters its first state parliament. It hopes to do so in Thuringia and Brandenburg, too.

The new party's success is causing upheaval¹⁶ in the German political landscape, accelerating the implosion¹⁷ of its only liberal party, the Free Democrats (FDP). With just 3.8% of votes in Saxony, the FDP failed to clear the 5% threshold to enter parliament and was ejected, as it has been from seven other state parliaments since 2011 and the Bundestag last year. For the first time since 1946, the FDP does not participate in any state or federal government. This eliminates the liberals as the CDU's coalition¹⁸ partner, perhaps permanently¹⁹.

A more positive side-effect of the Alternative's ascent is its cannibalisation of the NPD, a neo-Nazi party.About 13,000 of its voters migrated to the Alternative, causing the NPD to fall 809 votes short of re-entering the Saxon parliament. After that loss, it has seats in only one other state and could fade away, with or without a ban.

The CDU so far refuses to contemplate²⁰ a coalition with the Alternative. Led nationally by the chancellor²¹, Angela Merkel, the CDU is pro-European and pro-euro, and so moderate as to be increasingly indistinguishable to many voters from the SPD, with which it governs in a “grand coalition” in the Bundestag. On September 1st Mrs Merkel, Mr Tillich and the CDU leaders in Thuringia and Brandenburg said again that discussions with the Alternative are taboo²². Mr Tillich will try to form a coalition with the SPD or the Greens.

Ignoring the Alternative will not remove it as a problem for the CDU. In effect, the Alternative has in one year become on the far right what The Left is on the left. Descended²³ from East Germany's Communist Party and unreconciled to Germany's capitalist system and its Western alliances, The Left remains²⁴ strong in the eastern states. In Saxony it came in second with 18.9% of the vote. The comparatively moderate SPD has so far ruled out The Left as a partner in the Bundestag. But their competition splits the left vote and often leads to unproductive ideological²⁵ bidding wars.

The Alternative will increasingly play the same role on the right vis-a-vis the CDU. On September 1st, Mrs Merkel suggested that, short of negotiating with the Alternative, the CDU must begin dealing²⁶ with the concerns, rational or not, of its supporters. These range from fears about crime in the regions along the borders with the Czech Republic and Poland, to hysteria about “welfare tourism” by foreigners. The Alternative will be at its shrillest and strongest every time the euro crisis returns to the headlines. This will restrict Mrs Merkel's leeway to agree to new rescue packages, or even to ease her austerity drive.

1 ascent   

n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高

参考例句：

• His rapid ascent in the social scale was surprising.他的社会地位提高之迅速令人吃惊。
• Burke pushed the button and the elevator began its slow ascent.伯克按动电钮，电梯开始缓慢上升。

2 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

3 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

4 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

6 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

7 fret   

v.(使)烦恼；(使)焦急；(使)腐蚀，(使)磨损

参考例句：

• Don't fret.We'll get there on time.别着急，我们能准时到那里。
• She'll fret herself to death one of these days.她总有一天会愁死的.

8 unravelling   

解开，拆散，散开( unravel的现在分词 )； 阐明； 澄清； 弄清楚

参考例句：

• Nail head clamp the unravelling of nail exteriorize broken nails and clean. 钉头卡钉，拆开钉头取出碎钉并清洁。
• The ends of ropes are in good condition and secured without unravelling. 缆绳端部状况良好及牢固，并无松散脱线。

9 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

10 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

11 innuendo   

n.暗指，讽刺

参考例句：

• The report was based on rumours,speculation,and innuendo.这份报告建立在谣言、臆断和含沙射影的基础之上。
• Mark told by innuendo that the opposing team would lose the game.马克暗讽地说敌队会在比赛中输掉。

12 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

13 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

14 criticise   

v.批评，评论；非难

参考例句：

• Right and left have much cause to criticise government.左翼和右翼有很多理由批评政府。
• It is not your place to criticise or suggest improvements!提出批评或给予改进建议并不是你的责任！

15 stunningly   

ad.令人目瞪口呆地；惊人地

参考例句：

• The cooks, seamstresses and other small investors are stunningly vulnerable to reversals. 那些厨师、裁缝及其他的小投资者非常容易受到股市逆转的影响。
• The production cost of this huge passenger liner is stunningly high. 这艘船城造价之高令人惊叹。

16 upheaval   

n.胀起，(地壳)的隆起；剧变，动乱

参考例句：

• It was faced with the greatest social upheaval since World War Ⅱ.它面临第二次世界大战以来最大的社会动乱。
• The country has been thrown into an upheaval.这个国家已经陷入动乱之中。

17 implosion   

n.向内破裂，内爆

参考例句：

• The population explosion is accompanied by a population implosion.人口爆炸还伴随着人口爆聚。

18 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

19 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

20 contemplate   

vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视

参考例句：

• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate.战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。
• The consequences would be too ghastly to contemplate.后果不堪设想。

21 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

22 taboo   

n.禁忌，禁止接近，禁止使用；adj.禁忌的；v.禁忌，禁制，禁止

参考例句：

• The rude words are taboo in ordinary conversation.这些粗野的字眼在日常谈话中是禁忌的。
• Is there a taboo against sex before marriage in your society?在你们的社会里，婚前的性行为犯禁吗？

23 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

24 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

25 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

26 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。