Making Sense of the Unprecedented 2021 German Elections

Well before voting day in Germany on September 26, this election was already breaking historical records: Angela Merkel, the country’s longest-serving chancellor, is the first incumbent not to run again; for the first time, there are not two but three candidates from three parties to succeed her — all of whom have been frontrunners in the polls. Also for the first time, the next coalition government is likely to involve not two but three parties, in an unprecedented number of variations.