Study On The Left Party (Die Linkespartei) Of Germany

The Left Party (Die Linkspartei, abbreviated as Die Linke)of Germany wasformally established in June16,2007as the merger of two left-wing parties whichare the the German Party of Democratic Socialism (1990) and the party of Labourand Social Justice Electoral Alternative (2004). At present, the Left Party is one ofthe five main parties in German Bundestag. In October2011, the party programmewas just adopted on the party congress in Erfurt. The Left Party names itself as theparty of democratic socialism standing on the left side of the German SocialDemocratic Party.Since the founding of the German Party of Democratic Socialism, the LeftParty has developed from a regional party limited to the eastern part of Germany tothe national party which has a party group in the Bundstag of Germany, from theextra-parliamentary opposition party to a ruling party which joined a coalitiongovernment with the German SPD in some of the federal states..Therefore, the LeftParty is really an interesting story since the unification of the Germany.More importantly, the Left Party as a left-wing socialist party, its theory andpolicy is helpful for us to understand the the status quo of contemporary capitalism,enriching our understanding of the21century socialism. At the same time, as arepresentative of the far-left political parties in Europe, the theory and practice ofthe Left Party can also helps us understand the status quo of the European left-wingforces. Finally, as the ruling party on the state level,. the domestic and foreign policyof the Left Party can also give some inspirations to the other parties worldwidely.Consequently, the study of the German Left Party is of both the theoretical value andpractical significance.This study mainly deal with its latest developmen from the federal election in2005, since most of the current researh literatures focusing on the peoride of theparty history before2005, with lack of a systematic review of the newestdevelopment of theory and practice of the Left Party. This study is consisted of four chapters in addition to the introduction andconclusion.The second chapter describes the social and historical background under whichthe Left Party was established and the development since its founding.The third chapter mainly deals with the basic theory the Left Party, includingthe assessment of the history of the Democratic Republic of Germany and the formerSoviet Union and countries in the Eastern Europe, the criticism of the crisis of thecapitalism and the perspctive on the21socialsim.The forth chapter mainly introduces the basic policy of the Left Party, includingthe policy on both domestic and foreign affairs of Germany.The fifth chapter gives a comprehensive analysis of the theory and practice,status quo and the future of the Left Party of Germany, including the reasons why theLeft Party has developed so rapidlly, differences of the Left Party from the othermain left-wing parties in Germany, the influence on the German and Europa’spolitics, challenges facing the Left Party and its future.This study concludes that the Left Party is in essence a democratic socialistparty, without significant differences from the Socialdemocatic Pary of Germany interms of theory.. As a matter of fact, the Left Party is not so much more left than theSocialdemocratic Party, but rather the Socialdemocratic Party is too much right.