Ophelia de Vere

  Germany is not the obvious place to look for a “strong man” comeback. Other countries may come more readily to mind as modern German democracy was consciously designed to make personal rule hard to sustain: power is fragmented across federalism, coalition government, parliamentary constraints, and constitutional safeguards. The Basic Law (Grundgesetz) is built around institutions, not charismatic leaders, and famously includes mechanisms like the constructive vote of no confidence (a chancellor can be removed only if a majority simultaneously elects a successor), which is meant to prevent destabilizing power gambits. And yet: the desire for strong-man politics—less as a literal dictatorship fantasy, more as a longing for decisiveness, simplicity, and “someone who finally fixes it all”—has become an increasingly visible trope in German public life, particularly amid compounding crises (war, inflation, migration pressures, energy transformation, distrust in institutions).  ...