Winning by Priming? Campaign Strategies, Changing Determinants of Voting Intention, and the Outcome of the 2002 German Federal Election
in German Politics and Society
Although governing coalitions in Germany often win reelection,
many observers were surprised by the victory of the red-green coalition
in 2002. Earlier that year, the polls had shown strong support
for a potential coalition of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
and the Christian Social Union (CSU), together with the Free Democratic
Party (FDP). In the summer of 2002, however, the SPD and
the Greens began to gain ground; and finally, the red-green coalition
won the majority of seats in the election to the German parliament,
the Bundestag, on 22 September 2002.