Editing Party system (section)

==== Germany ====
{{update section|date=June 2024}}
The 2009 Bundestag election in Germany was characterized by widespread public apathy and record low voter turnout.  Weldon and Nüsser (2010) argue that it solidified a new stable, but fluid five-party system that they see as a defining feature of the emerging German political system. The three minor parties each achieved historical bests at the polls with steep losses for the two traditional Volksparteien.  They report that the increased volatility and fluidity of the party system is structured along the left-right ideological spectrum with the parties divided into two major camps and vote-switching much more likely within the respective camps rather than between them.<ref>Steven Weldon and Andrea Nüsser, "Bundestag Election 2009: Solidifying the Five Party System", ''German Politics and Society'', 9/30/2010, Vol. 28 Issue 3, pp. 47–64</ref>

The 2009 election also marked a devastating defeat for the SPD, leading some commentators to speculate about the end of the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany]] (SPD) as a "catch-all party" and, against the backdrop of recent poor performance of center-left parties all across Europe—perhaps even "the end of social democracy".<ref>William E. Paterson, and James Sloam, "The SPD and the Debacle of the 2009 German Federal Election: An Opportunity for Renewal", ''German Politics and Society'', 9/30/2010, Vol. 28 Issue 3, pp. 65–81</ref>

The 2013 election saw the first time that the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) that had been represented in parliament since 1949 and formed part of government as a coalition partner to either SPD or CDU (Christian Democratic Union, the major conservative / center-right party) for almost all of the period from 1949 to 1998 and again from 2009 to 2013 fell below the 5% threshold for parliamentary representation. The same election also saw the rise of the "Alternative for Germany" (AfD) party that ran on an anti-Euro platform and failed to enter parliament on their first federal election just barely with 4.8% of the vote.

After this election the second [[grand coalition]] between CDU and SPD since 2005 was formed. Prior to that Germany had only had one grand coalition that governed from 1966 to 1969, typically coalitions of one big and one small party at the federal level were used instead in a two-and-a-half party arrangement. Whether this shift proves temporary or permanent remains yet to be seen