ABSTRACT
The social-liberal era came to an end in the early 1980s, when the Freie Demokratische Partei (FDP) drew nearer towards Christian-Democratic party (CDU)/CSU due to ongoing internal disputes and with the Social Democratic Party regarding economy, welfare, and foreign policies. With regard to policy positions, differences between parties are more evident. Thereby it is helpful to locate parties in a two-dimensional space, since ‘a general left-right-scale does not scope with the position of the liberal FDP whose socioeconomic positions is sometimes to the right of the CDU and whose position concerning law and order issues is to the left of the CDU’. Since the 1980s, the FDP has emphasized economic issues and has been the economic-liberal party in the German party system. Emphasising promarket, liberal economic positions and the idea of a lean state is crucial for the parties’ self-conception and its public image, but it also strengthens the party ownership over economic-liberal issues.
