Conservativism 21.0

The traditional large parties are losing ground in Germany. During the years of the coalition government, political debate has shifted to the margins of the political spectrum. Those margins are gaining strength as the centre is increasingly at a loss what to do. The traditionally centre left SPD are hemorrhaging votes, but the centre right CDU are also losing voter’s interest – a highly volatile development that threatens the party system and the form of parliamentary democracy we know. 

What might be the shape of a new conservatism for our time, one capable of reversing this trend?  Andreas Rödder begins with an assessment of German democracy today, then moves on to define the kernel of conservative thought and finally expands this into twelve theses of a conservatism of the future, applied to concrete areas of politics. From European politics and the big topics migration, environment and education to the favourite topics of right wing populists: homeland and patriotism. Conservativism 21. 0is a brilliant analysis of what lacks in conservative politics today as well as a brilliant appeal to repel populist fear mongering.