The many colours of German coalitions

ASSEMBLING COALITIONS in Germany was once a simple affair. Power alternated between the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU, with its Bavarian ally, the CSU) and the Social Democrats (SPD), with the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) or Greens in support. Colourful names occasionally emerged for other governing arrangements: “Jamaica” for coalitions uniting the CDU, Greens and FDP—the parties’ colours match the island’s flag—or “traffic light” for the SPD, FDP and Greens. For years these exotic amalgams mainly fuelled the fever dreams of political scientists. More recently, political fragmentation and Germany’s federal system, in which 16 states churn through their own governments, have made them flesh.