State Level
Grand coalitions are more common at the state level in Germany, because other parties might be stronger there than they are on the federal level. For example in several East German states, the party Die Linke often makes it difficult to form a coalition of SPD and Greens or CDU and FDP. As of November 2011, Berlin, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia are governed by coalitions between the CDU and the SPD.
Read more about this topic: Grand Coalition (Germany)
Famous quotes containing the words state and/or level:
“To educate the wise man, the State exists; and with the appearance of the wise man, the State expires. The appearance of character makes the state unnecessary. The wise man is the State.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“It may be well to remember that the highest level of moral aspiration recorded in history was reached by a few ancient Jews—Micah, Isaiah, and the rest—who took no count whatever of what might not happen to them after death. It is not obvious to me why the same point should not by and by be reached by the Gentiles.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)