Political dynasties

Do they exist in Germany?

With the US general elections safely behind us, the German media have moved on, which means that only half the daily news has something to do the the US.

One aspect of stateside politics people here find fascinating is that the Americans have a number of flamboyant political dynasties, with the Kennedys, of course, being the first one that comes to mind. The Bush clan would be next, with the Romney clan not far behind.

The next thing people here will tell you is that Germany does not have political dynasties.

True, if your yardstick are the Kennedys and the Bushes, true also given the historic upheavals and the more recent fall of the Wall and all this.

Not true if you look closer. There are high ranking officials from prominent political families, for example, the current defense secretary de Maizière, or the Liberal Party politician Lambsdorff, and others.

The big question is whether children going into the same field as their parents should be viewed differently in politics than in other sectors, for instance,  the third generation teacher, policeman, or architect.

One more facetious argument out of the K-Landnews newsroom about the relative absence of political dynasties in Germany was "well, there are no term limits, so daddy or mommy can hold on to a particular job for a generation or more. There are plenty of jobs for the kids in public entities, like television or other politically controlled institutions."

[Update 5/2015] The German media have been covering the announcements of candidates for the U.S. presidential race of 2016 and brought up the term "dynasty" once again in their portrayal of the Clinton versus Bush angle.