The article draws on recent work on role theory and party politics to examine the partisan contestation of German foreign policy role conceptions during the 🚦traffic-light coaliton of SPD, Greens, and Liberals (2021-2024).
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Specifically, the article provides evidence of both horizontal and vertical role contestation. The former takes place between government and opposition but also among the governing parties.
The latter relates to contestation within political parties, from the public, but also—as a novel form of vertical role contestation—between the regional and federal level.
The first empirical section examines the foreign policy preferences of the three parties before they entered the coalition and how they negotiated compromise in their coalition agreement.
The second empirical section draws on the analysis of 19 plenary debates and 30 motions that were related to the Russian war against Ukraine, highlighting evidence of horizontal role contestation between the parties.
The third empirical section examines vertical role contestation such as open letter initiatives and public rallies for and against supporting Ukraine militarily.
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