How Did German Politics Become So Fragmented?

For Angela Merkel, the outcome of the German election was nothing short of a “nightmare victory.” Or at least that’s how German newspaper Bild and other local media outlets described the performance of the longtime chancellor, whose fourth-term reelection was overshadowed by the better-than-expected showing of the far-right party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD).

The outcome certainly isn’t ideal for Merkel. She now faces the challenge of forming a new government with less parliamentary representation—her center-right Christian Democratic Unioncombined—and without the support of the center-left Social Democratic Party, a former “grand coalition” partner that has vowed to go into the opposition after its own dismal showing. This leaves Merkel’s CDU/CSU with one viable option for retaining a majority government: a three-way coalition with the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) and the Greens, two smaller parties that both enjoyed electoral gains.