Eric Langenbacher is a Teaching Professor and Director of the Honors Program in the Department of Government at Georgetown University. Since July 2019, he is also a Senior Fellow and the Director of the Society, Culture and Politics Program at the American-German Institute in Washington, DC. Recent publications include The German Polity, 12th ed. (Lanham, 2021), Twilight of the Merkel Era: Power and Politics in Germany after the 2017 Bundestag Election (Berghahn Books, 2019) and Dynamics of Memory and Identity in Contemporary Europe (Berghahn Books, 2015). He is also Managing Editor of German Politics and Society, which is housed in Georgetown’s BMW Center for German and European Studies.

• Introduction: A Zeitenwende IndeedEric LangenbacherChapter 1. From the Eternal Grand Coalition to the Traffic Light Alliance: The Development of the German Party System Before and After the 2021 Federal ElectionFrank Decker and Philipp AdorfChapter 2. Pathways to the Chancellorship: The Making of Chancellor Scholz in PerspectiveLudger HelmsChapter 3. Continuing Formalization of Coalition Formation with a New “Sound:” Negotiating the Coalition Contract after the 2021 Bundestag ElectionSven T. SiefkenChapter 4. The Quest for Gender Parity: Angela Merkel and the Diversification of Electoral Politics in GermanyJoyce Marie MushabenChapter 5. What do (Parties Think) Women and LGBTI Citizens Want? Party Platforms, Gender, and Sexuality in the 2021 German National ElectionLouise K. Davidson-SchmichChapter 6. KanzlerwahlvereinNo More? Failed Internal Coalition-making and the CDU/CSU’s 2021 CampaignMatthias DillingChapter 7. From Zero to Hero: The Rise of Olaf Scholz and the SPDEd Turner, Davide Vampa, and Matthias ScantamburloChapter 8. Not a Single Digit Party Anymore: The Central Role of Alliance 90/The Greens in a Changed Party SystemNiko SwitekChapter 9. Catalysts for Change: Small Parties in the 2021 Bundestag ElectionDavid PattonChapter 10. The Party Without Qualities? Explaining the Left Party’s Electoral Disaster in the 2021 German Federal ElectionJonathan Olsen and Michael A. HansenChapter 11. Setting a Trend? Support for the Greens and the FDP in the 2021 Bundestag ElectionAndreas WüstChapter 12. A Tale of Two Electorates? The 2021 Federal Election and the Alternative for Germany (AfD) Voter in East and WestMichael A. Hansen and Jonathan OlsenChapter 13. The Pandemic Factor: The Covid-19 Crisis in the Alternative for Germany’s 2021 Federal Election CampaignLars Rensmann and Thijs de ZeeChapter 14. The Shifting Role of Climate Change in the 2021 Bundestag ElectionCarol HagerChapter 15. Reordering German Liberalism: Reexamining the Social Market Economy in the 2021 Bundestag ElectionMark VailChapter 16. The Enduring Effect of Immigration Attitudes on Vote Choice: Evidence from the 2021 German Federal ElectionHannah M. AlarianChapter 17. The Ampel Coalition’s Foreign Policy ChallengesJack JanesChapter 18. China and Russia Policy in the Election and BeyondStephen F. SzaboChapter 19. Inertia and Reactiveness in Germany’s Russia Policy: From the 2021 Federal Elections to the Invasion of Ukraine in 2022Jonas J. Driedger