THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary- February 10, 2018 - Topic 2

Back together: on Germany coalition deal

The decision of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) to form a new coalition government is no surprise. Since the emergence of the CDU’s Angela Merkel as German Chancellor in 2005, both have cohabited in a coalition for eight years. After the two parties registered their worst showing in the September 2017 general elections, they lost whatever little appetite remained to rule together. 

The SPD had declared it would stay in the opposition, rebuild the weak organisation and re-establish its core left-wing identity. The latest arrangement is a result of political pragmatism and a willingness to accord primacy to the national interest, despite ideological differences. Germany had come close to calling another election after the conservatives failed to reach an understanding with the greens and the liberals late last year. That meant a minority government was the only alternative, one that did not appeal either to Ms. Merkel or her party. Inexorably, there was a rethink. The process was helped by a common concern within the CDU and the SPD, namely, the risk of ceding space to the deeply eurosceptic, anti-immigrant and extreme-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which surprised everyone by winning almost 13% of the vote.

The wider implications for the European Union of the political stasis in Germany had also begun to weigh on the continent’s leaders. Some voiced the wisdom of revisiting the grand coalition proposal. The alliance now being stitched up is cause for at least some cheer, if not celebration. But there is disillusionment in both party camps that far too much has been conceded to the other party in the recent talks. The SPD has bagged six ministries, including finance. This has annoyed fiscal hawks among the conservatives, who are against Berlin loosening its purse strings to prop up ‘profligate’ eurozone member-states. The coalition’s agreement on greater spending on schools, pensions and infrastructure draws heavily upon SPD programmes. This is likely to find public favour, given Germany’s huge budget surplus and the need to boost domestic consumption. But there is a flip side to the pragmatic compromise the parties have struck to safeguard the political middle-ground. This is the risk that voices of dissent could veer to the extremes. Surveys indicate that the AfD’s vote share in September had less to do with its political appeal than with dissatisfaction with the state of affairs. In any case, the coalition is not yet a done deal. The joint programme must first be approved by SPD delegates in a party referendum. The divisions within the party over SPD leader Martin Schulz’s possible induction as Foreign Minister may forebode a turbulent time ahead.

Vocabulary

Conservative: a person who is averse to change and holds to traditional values and attitudes, typically in relation to politics.

Example: They saw fascists as more patriotic and determined than traditional conservatives .

Synonyms: right-winger, reactionary, rightist, diehard, Republican, Tory

Antonyms: liberal, liberalist, progressive, center, left, socialised

Coalition: an alliance for combined action, especially a temporary alliance of political parties forming a government or of states.

Example: A coalition of conservatives and disaffected Democrats

Synonyms: alliance, union, partnership, bloc, caucus, federation, league

Antonyms: antagonism, discord, disunion, divorce, enmity

Cohabit: live together and have a sexual relationship without being married.

Example: The person was cohabiting with the mother of the child in a relationship of some permanence at the time of the birth of the child.

Synonyms: live together, live as a couple, shack up, live in sin

Appetite: a natural desire to satisfy a bodily need, especially for food.

Example: He has a healthy appetite

Synonyms: hunger, ravenousness, hungriness, taste, palate

Antonyms: antipathy, aversion, detestation, disgust, dislike

Pragmatism: a pragmatic attitude or policy.

Example: Ideology was tempered with pragmatism

Synonyms: realism, naive realism, naturalism

Antonyms: contemplation, idealism

Willingness: the quality or state of being prepared to do something; readiness.

Example: The ability and willingness of workers to migrate

Synonyms: readiness, inclination, will, wish, desire, alacrity

Antonyms: involuntariness, unwillingness

Implication: the conclusion that can be drawn from something, although it is not explicitly stated.

Example: The implication is that no one person at the bank is responsible

Synonyms: suggestion, insinuation, innuendo, hint, intimation, imputation

Disillusionment: a feeling of disappointment resulting from the discovery that something is not as good as one believed it to be.

Example: The high abstention rate at the election reflected the voters' growing disillusionment with politics

Synonyms: disillusion, disenchantment

Pragmatic: dealing with things sensibly and realistically in a way that is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations.

Example: A pragmatic approach to politics

Synonyms: practical, matter-of-fact, sensible,  commonsensical

Antonyms: unrealistic, impractical

Forebode: act as a warning of something bad.

Example: This lull foreboded some new assault upon him

Synonyms: presage, augur, portend, herald, warn of, forewarn of, foreshadow

Antonyms: assure, calculate, demonstrate, determine, establish

Turbulent: characterized by conflict, disorder, or confusion; not controlled or calm.

Example: The country's turbulent 20-year history

Synonyms: tempestuous, stormy, unstable, unsettled, tumultuous, chaotic

Antonyms: unagitated, quiet