Die Bürgerschaftswahl in Bremen vom 10. Mai 2015: SPD und Grüne Verlierer der Wahl, aber Mehrheit knapp behauptet

In: Zeitschrift für Parlamentsfragen: ZParl, Band 46, Heft 3, S. 539-560

Abstract

"Greens would score a comfortable victory despite predicted losses for the Greens and growing public discontent with the coalition's rigid policy of cutbacks. However, the election ended in a completely unexpected result. Not only the Greens but also the Social Democrats and their popular prime candidate lost a great deal of voter support. Due to the opposition's weakness, the red-green coalition could, nevertheless, maintain a narrow majority and build a government again. For the Christian Democrats the result of 22.4 percent of the votes and an increase of only two percentage points were disappointing. Next to the Left party, the Free Democrats, the Alternative for Germany, and a local voters' association ained strength and secured mandates. Against this background the fragmentation of the party system increased. What attracted national attention and was one of the most significant outcomes of the election was the low turnout of only 50.2 percent. Particularly in residential areas with a high number of unemployed people and welfare recipients the voter participation was extremely low. However, the reason was not only the distinctive social divide in Bremen but also a rather lethargic pre-election mood as well as an election campaign with nearly no polarization between the parties." (author's abstract)