The Politics of Bavaria – An Exception to the Rule: The Special Position of the Free State of Bavaria in the New Germany

This text examines recent developments in Bavaria, including the death of the politician Franz Josef Strauss in 1988, and the changes since German unity in 1990. The 1994 European, Bavarian and German federal elections are included in the discussion. It concludes that Bavaria, having suffered a double blow in 1988 and 1990, is beginning to recover its former position in the German federal system, whereby the CSU (Christian Social Union) adopts a dominant dual policial role, both in Bonn and Munich.