Book review on “Changing Power” – Science Spectrum

The book consists of two parts: the first is on generational change and what constitutes the new arrivals in Berlin, in the second part the author attempts to “daily sociology of the new political class” on the basis of the unwritten laws of the Berlin Republic. Despite the difference in moods and political ideas of the individual politicians who took the helm in Berlin after the 2021 federal elections, there were commonalities, particularly in understanding politics: This generation still struggles with its concept of democracy, but for them politics is more of a management problem. Because it is a place of ideological trench warfare. This simplifies cooperation and friendships across the party’s political boundaries.

For example, Generation X naturally uses “whiteboards, KPIs, and facilitator tools” to formulate policy goals and to define and monitor evaluation criteria to achieve them. Openness, transparency, and clear communication are just as important as compatibility between politics and the family. So it goes without saying that men take care of children when their wives have a career, or that sons are taken care of during a meeting in the next room. The nightly meetings that were common in politics are no longer desirable.

Sauerbrey sees the fact that the coalition talks in 2021 were very effective and largely devoid of ideology as a result of the failure of the so-called Jamaica coalition negotiations in 2017, when ideological differences were still very large. Soon after this failure, Generation X politicians networked in small circles across parties and spoke about the challenges of the future. Much was already discussed pragmatically and cordially when the 2021 elections ended.