Jeffrey Fleishman | Berlin | June 30

LAT - German politics are usually about as raucous as chamber music, but Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's stunning plan to call early elections has sent shudders through the nation's beer halls and salons.

Facing an angry public and a floundering economy, Schroeder's gamble on elections in September amounts to an admission that his Social Democratic Party is too divided to reform Europe's most generous welfare state. The chancellor's failure is illustrative of European liberal parties' inability to significantly reduce social programs amid the competitive pressures of globalization.