My work on the FDP Party Research
The
research on the FDP that our group conducted was efficient and produced a
greater understanding of the German political system for my group and myself.
We began our process by using www.wikipedia.com as a starting point to gather
general information about the party. From the overview of information we
gathered, we were able to fact-check the information and elaborate on subtopics
of information using other primary sites to produce a clear understanding of
the FDP. After we had gathered all of our information, we began structuring it
into a clear presentation that flowed well.
Working
with the group was streamlined in that we coordinated, according to the
majority of our schedules, the times that we collaborated. During the group
work time, we clearly voiced our thoughts and opinions about the topic at hand
and our individual strengths and weaknesses. By understanding each other's
strong suits, we were able to effectively conduct the research required and
discuss topical information as necessary.
I am
still a bit confused by the FDP's stance on politics. I understand that they
are a minor party, but they have attained status as a kingmaker of the German
government (www.spiegel.de). This to me suggests that the FDP has the support
of a privileged few with access to resources of money and power. They
also seem like an advocate for human rights organizations based on our research
for the presentation, which seems out of place compared to the politics of the
United States. I am very curious to see the presentations tonight and gain
further insight into the political systems of Germany.
Personally,
the most interesting part of the research of the FDP was trying to compare such
a political party and its encompassing political system to those of ours here
in the United States. There are similarities in the dynamics of German and
American Politics as well as differences. An interesting similarity between the
two is the political popularity outreach that is apparent in the candidates
past of the FDP and other parties such as FDP member Guido Westerwelle's appearance
on the German version of the hit show, "Big Brother"
(www.wikipedia.org). A major difference between American and German
politics, though, would be the cooperation of smaller parties and larger
parties in the German political system; at least proportionately.
Overall, I felt that I contributed effectively to the group's research and presentation and I look forward to more projects like this.
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