Celebrating the German model

In interwar Germany, the Depression destroyed German democracy and led to the rise to power of Hitler and the National Socialists; in today's Germany, the most severe economic crisis since the Second World War produced the reelection of Frau Merkel.

Conventional wisdom claims that incumbent parties and politicians are punished by voters in times of economic distress.  Throughout the campaign there was never any doubt about the position or the popularity of Chancellor Angela Merkel.