I vividly recall the moment when I realised how deeply rooted this problem is in our society. It was after a debate about the “Zeitenwende” (turning point), when a colleague told me he envied his parents – not for their past but for the confidence they had in the future during his current stage of life. “We,” he said, “only have crises now.” He said this not cynically, but matter-of-factly.
The absence of confidence is now widespread – and it is toxic for any democratic system. Liberal democracy depends not only on rules, procedures, and the stability of the rule of law but also on the promise that things can get better.
The Crisis of Confidence: A Failed Narrative
This promise has been broken – in two fundamental ways. First, because it is often not fulfilled materially. And second, because there is no new political narrative to provide direction.
Few have described this double loss as precisely as Andreas Reckwitz, one of the most prominent sociologists of our time. Reckwitz speaks of the end of faith in progress as a “meta-loss” – a loss that unsettles the middle class because it calls into question what was once taken for granted: that children will have better lives than their parents. But while Reckwitz’s diagnosis is apt and collective mourning for collective losses is important, coping also requires action, agency, and design.
Today, Germany’s democratic centre defends the status quo, while the radical right articulates an emotionally charged project – one that presents itself as populist, simple, and forward-looking. Yes: right-wing populist politics promises a new dawn.
For progressive forces – the parties and movements left of centre – this is a shock, as they see themselves as embodying renewal and progress. Yet a response to the right-wing populist challenge cannot lie solely in “preservation” and certainly not in “stubbornness.” It must be enabled. It must address where trust has been lost: the concrete realities of people’s lives.
Progress is not a narrative or an abstract idea. Progress means building homes and renovating schools, expanding power grids and producing AI chips. But it also means buses running on time and doctors being available for appointments. Progress is about functioning infrastructure, affordable housing, and good public services.
The Modernisation Blockade: Why Too Little Gets Done
We live in a country where infrastructure projects are endlessly discussed but rarely materialise. A country capable of mobilising funds but struggling to issue building permits. A country that sets up special funds but takes months to launch funding programmes. A country with plans but lacking the capacity to implement them.
Why?
In the United States, the book Abundance by journalists Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson is making waves by analysing this modernisation malaise. At its core, it is a sweeping critique of the state of American democracy – but also a guide to successful democratic and particularly progressive politics worldwide.
They argue that the progressive centre in the US, despite good intentions, repeatedly fails in implementation. The root cause, they claim, lies in an overly rigid, bureaucratic system of rules and procedures that blocks necessary changes. Many of these rules were introduced by the political left as the result of compromises or the expansion of social rights. The centre-left, they argue, must rethink and ultimately become more flexible and efficient. Klein and Thompson call this: “A liberalism that builds.”
What Klein and Thompson describe for the US also captures the essence of Germany’s malaise, as similar thought patterns shape the political centre here.
More Flexibility and Efficiency for the Progressive Centre
The German left must confront the fact that many existing regulations, while historically justified, have created complexity and dense rulebooks that now slow down necessary change.
To regain the ability to shape policy, it is essential to question existing procedures and reform structures. Greater flexibility and efficiency will, however, come at a price – whether through resistance within one’s own political ranks or the social costs associated with swift implementation.
The progressive centre must be willing to pay this price if it wishes to regain credibility and act as a driving force for modernisation. It should initiate a societal dialogue to engage in a genuine debate on how to achieve societal goals efficiently and fairly.
This dialogue must be based on clear, forward-looking ideas that aim to bring about practical change. Resistance, conflict, and painful adjustments will be inevitable in this process – indeed, they are necessary. Only by productively managing these conflicts can we set the course for a new political reality where reforms are not just theoretical but practical.
Pragmatism Instead of Nostalgia
I am convinced: we must not lament the largely lost faith in progress but instead redefine it. Not nostalgically, but pragmatically. Not through pathos, but through action. By literally and politically building again: from infrastructure to trust. Progress means that politics does not merely distribute scarcity but creates access: to mobility, education, healthcare, and energy.
This may not sound spectacular at first glance – but it represents a significant shift in mindset. It would restore to the liberal state what it has lost: state capacity, i.e., the ability to act effectively. If the centre-left is to win again – trust, a majority, and the future – it will not be through morality or management but through a project: A state that builds. A state that thinks big, avoids distractions, and focuses on what matters – and delivers.
This is not about less or more state. It is about a state that works again. About abundance. Access. Direction. A state that builds. Yes, it is painstaking. Yes, it is administrative craftsmanship. But it is also politics.
Ultimately, only by summoning the courage to initiate necessary changes can the political centre maintain its role as a driving force of modernisation – and instil the confidence needed to lead our country into the future.