Statement by Prof Dr Maja Göpel on the Bundestag election
Vote..? 1/3 of Germans still don’t know who. “Wahl-O-Mat´s” can help with content. In addition, the ability to compromise and leadership skills are particularly important now. Because societies are innovative and dynamic when co-operation works well. In liberal societies, this requires a balance between ‘I’ and ‘we’ through continuous, effective adaptation of the social rules of the game. In this way, the division of labour leads to the achievement of social goals and prosperity. So much for the market economy.
What does not work well here are:
🚫 Zigzag course – the current blockade of the German location is the result of a lack of willingness to compromise and blame: the current crisis was created in 3 years – really? Under no circumstances adopt something that would be blamed on ‘the others’ – really? Burning down political plans for your own clientele that have been prepared in the EU for years – really? ‘GermanVote’ is now a new term in Brussels and not a good one.
🚫 Winner mentality – reporting on political leadership suffers from the fact that ‘getting your way’ and ‘popularity in the Sunday poll’ are turned into quality features per se. Punching through activities between political protagonists & scandal-minded media are on the rise, win-lose interpretations after cabinet meetings are aimed at who has now punched whom – and not at how agreement could be reached. Leadership mentality means being able to put finding solutions above the ego – and should be celebrated much more.
🚫 Veracity evaluation – the type of sources that political leaders use for their arguments is relevant. Especially in times of manipulation of social media platforms and playbooks by right-wing populist to authoritarian forces, it does matter which figures or narratives a person sends into the race. And there are studies that show where evidence-based reporting is repeatedly deviated from – especially when it comes to sustainability issues.
Yes, we are currently struggling to find a social centre and stable majorities so that we can transform outdated structures and solutions with certainty of direction – including state reform for an effective democracy. We should do this to build trust. And the good news is that the majority of the population is much closer together in their wishes than is being publicised. What needs to end now is the staging of incompatibility and the rhetoric of doom from democratic parties. The populists are already doing that.
So: vote! And remember: democratically elected parties are not necessarily democratic parties. A look at the USA shows how a coup d’état is carried out by elected individuals. We also know this from Germany’s history.
⇢ Further links and sources in the LinkedIn article (in German)
