introduction

On the face of it, it may seem obvious that the Free Democratic Party (FDP) has acted as the standard bearer of liberalism in the Federal Republic of Germany since 1949. Certainly, the party is invariably classified by observers both inside and outside the country as being ‘liberal’. There is also considerable evidence, in the FDP's manifestos and other documents as well as in the fact that the party's candidates usually bear ‘liberal’ labels, to suggest that such a designation is widely accepted without question. In addition, the party has long been a leading member of the Liberal International.

Yet when we begin to look beyond the label at the actual principles which the FDP professes to champion and which it wants to see implemented and protected, any apparent clarity of purpose and distinctiveness immediately becomes blurred and ambiguous.

Whilst this can be partly explained by reference to the difficulties involved in defining ‘liberalism’ as a whole, the FDP's problems in establishing an identity for itself based on ‘liberal’ ideas have been accentuated by the party's enforced role within the post Second World War German party system as a ‘corrective’ or ‘pivot’ between the two major parties, the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democrats (SPD).

This means that the FDP is often able to exploit its structural position as a usually indispensable coalition partner in order to base its electoral appeal on its ability to prevent either main party achieving an absolute majority in the Bundestag. The party also claims that ‘moderation’ in the conduct of the federal government results from its fulfilling of such a role.