Angie, Where Will You Lead Us from Here?

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When a female ascends to a position of power comparisons with Margaret Thatcher often follow. Sarah Palin, Jenny Shipley, Yuliya Tymoshenko, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Angela Merkel have all been likened to the Iron Lady in some shape or form.
 
Most comparisons, of course, are far-fetched. In Angela Merkel's case very few similarities exist, with two exceptions: (1) she studied chemistry and (2) she plucked her centre-right political party out of purgatory and returned them to power.
 
But on an ideological level, it's even harder to compare Thatcher to Merkel. Why? Because after four years we still don't really know who Chancellor Angela Merkel is. Thatcherism has been, arguably, the most used phrase in the last three decades to describe an ideology that espouses privatization and limited government. How often has 'Merkelism' been coined to describe a set of ideas?
 
When Merkel began her first term as Chancellor, her CDU-CSU parliamentary grouping had failed to gain a majority, and their preferred partners--the Free Democratic Party--had also fallen short of the requisite number of representatives to form a coalition. So the new Chancellor had the difficult task of forming a 'grand coalition' with a Social Democratic Party that had just been ejected from power after seven years in office and was striving not to alienate the left-wing of their party, many of whom had already defected to Die Link (The Left).
 
Governing with a party that's more preoccupied with appeasing their radical wing than maintaining a successful coalition would be a testing ordeal for any leader. Yet the coalition successfully completed a full term, although not without some drama.
 
This time, however, following federal elections late last week, it was confirmed that the Free Democratic Party and Merkel's CDU-CSU would have enough elected representatives to form a new centre-right coalition, a much more ideologically amenable arrangement.
 
During her first term, Merkel certainly grew in her role as Chancellor. She became much more aggressive in asserting German interests on the global stage, for example, even refusing to play second fiddle to the French on European integration. (Charles de Gaulle must be spinning in his grave.)
 
Domestically, it's a little trickier to flag a notable achievement. Perhaps this is the result of a coalition government that encouraged, rather than avoided, stalemate.
 
There is one notable exception. Unlike some other Western leaders Merkel successfully navigated Germany through the global economic storm, to which her re-election clearly attests. Until last week, Germany was the largest exporter in the world, and still runs a mammoth trade surplus that's the envy of the Western hemisphere. In addition, the Germans have thus far avoided a banking collapse akin to the current British predicament. They even appear to be well on their way towards an economic recovery.
 
Coalitions can stymie legislative initiatives and halt much needed reform. But seeing any coalition through an entire term is an exceptional achievement, especially in Europe. Now with a more amenable coalition partner in the FDP, passing her own agenda should be much more straightforward.
 
That is not to say there won't be some ideological conflicts, notably Merkel's aversion to the current FDP plans to slash taxes. The Chancellor would prefer to focus on fiscal austerity and balancing the budget. Still, we are unlikely to witness the same sort of ideological gridlock that has plagued German politics for the last four years.
 
As Germany's first female Chancellor, Merkel has rightly become one of the most recognized--and admired--faces on the international stage. Not too surprisingly, Forbes magazine called her the most powerful female in the world since 2006. We seem to know of her, but do we really know her?
 
It took a second term and a comfortable majority for Margaret Thatcher to shape and implement an agenda that ultimately became known as Thatcherism. Having won her own comfortable second term we might well see what sort of vision Merkelism has in store for Germany.
 
Photo by א (Aleph),http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/
 
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