On Tuesday, Sept. 28, Markus Brunnermeier, the Edwards S. Sanford Professor of Economics and director of the Bendheim Center for Finance, and Harold James, the Claude and Lore Kelly Professor in European Studies and professor of history and international affairs, discussed the outcome of the German federal election in an in-person forum, “The German Elections, 2021.”

All of these results were not totally unexpected, remarked the panelists; the polls were remarkably accurate. However, one of the surprises was the increase in support for the Free Democratic Party (FDP), they said. Increased support for the FDP came from a bump in support from young people, suggesting an emergent generation that values a libertarian version of freedom — restricted through regulations during the COVID pandemic but resisted by the FDP — over the kind of values represented by the other parties.

“The German Elections” was organized by the Program in Contemporary European Politics and Society and co-sponsored by the departments of German and Politics; the European Union Program; and the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination.