ABSTRACT
Focusing analysis on parliamentary oppositions has the advantage that the argument does not get so easily lost in the plethora of the numerous forms of social opposition relevant to modern societies. The power orientation of modern oppositions has its equivalent in the focus of research: coalition-formation is much more frequently studied than oppositional strategies. The Christian Democrats (CDU) in Germany needed some years to accept that it was not the only natural governing party in Germany', and it had to get rid of its leader Barzel in the process. With regard to Kirchheimer's nostalgia for the denominational parties, it should not be forgotten that they rarely discussed common problems. There was a strong tendency for them to ride ideological hobby horses: the bourgeois parties stressed economic policies, the socialist parties' social and educational policies. Oppositions have gained in universal competence what they have lost in ideological zeal.
