Kirchheimer's Catch-All Parties: A Case Study

For the purpose of this essay, Kirchheimer’s definition of catch-all parties will be used to assess whether the catch-all parties are in decline. Kirchheimer has identified, five key characteristics of catch-all parties; De-emphasise party ideology, de-emphasise class/ clientele relationship, strengthen top leadership, downgrade influence of party members and secure access to a variety of interest groups and financial support. These characteristics will be assessed individually to show whether catch-all parties are in decline. It should be noted it is not only Kirchheimer, who has attempted to identify the type of party system in Germany, as well as the definition of catch-all parties.
There are other theories, such as that by Gordon Smith, who in his work “Politics of centrality ”
After reunification and the rise of the greens in the 1980s, it could now be viewed as a 2 large and 3 small party system. With the Christian Democrat Union and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) party group and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) forming the large two parties and the Left, Greens and Free Democrats (FPD) vying for position as the smaller parties. This expansion of parties with a degree of power, particularly at the state level, could undermine the status of catch-all parties. This essay will assess whether the rise of these smaller parties poses a threat to them. It has could suggested that the FDP and Greens are on their way to becoming catch-all parties. If more parties can be classified as catch-all parties, it would suggest there isn’t a terminal decline of catch-all parties, potentially just a terminal decline of the CDU and SPD. However, as the FDP and Greens are yet to be classified as catch-all parties, this essay will assess whether the catch-all parties are in decline, by assessing whether parties still meet Kirchheimer’s