What is that, anyway? I’m still not so sure but I do know that it now belongs to the past.

Hey, the dinosaurs were still around a bit after becoming “extinct,” too.

This guy makes some good points here:

It could still be awhile before Angela Merkel cedes power, but it’s clear that we’ve entered the late phase of Merkelism. This form of governance has been dominant in Germany for the past 12 years. It places consensus, quiet and stability above all else…

Merkelism is in a state of crisis because two important prerequisites are no longer being filled. For one, it requires a societal climate in which broad consensus is possible. And, by its very nature, it also requires that Merkel be strong…

And the mechanics of how it worked were quite simple: Backbone is optional and political policies are fluid – and can even be borrowed from political opponents.re:

But the one piece of the puzzle that doesn’t fit in here is her self-inflicted refugee crisis wound. It makes absolutely no sense within this consensus context and remains the Merkel Mystery par excellence. At lest for me it does. And this is what has brought Merkelism down, of course. It’s the asteroid the caused her extinction.

For many years, a fundamental consensus held in Germany. Merkel’s concept of sedation worked by and large — and not even the greatest crisis of her time, the global financial crisis, could divide the country. But that peace finally came to an end due to the 2015 refugee crisis — a conflict that landed the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in parliament, divided Merkel’s Christian Democrats, distanced the Free Democrats from the Greens and drove a wedge between the center-left Social Democrats and parts of the conservatives. That divide now runs right through the political center and a broad periphery has emerged on the right with which no consensus is possible.

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