ABSTRACT
The 1994 Bundestag election exhibited features both of continuity and of change. Like the 1949 election (a bridge between the Weimar and Bonn political systems), the 1994 election can also be considered as transitional: between the old Bonn Republic and the new, post-unification, Berlin Republic. It did, though, confirm what previous Bundestag elections had established: that Germany can be governed only from the centre and only by coalition, that electoral contests are bipolar and that governments tend to get reelected. The extent to which the post-unification party system differs from the ‘old’ Federal Republic is assessed. Despite the degree of continuity visible, it is likely that the party system will not be unaffected by post-unification pressures.
