One of the most profound experiences of my life was the fall of the Berlin Wall. I was nine years old but could feel the change. I won't talk about the fall of the Berlin Wall (certainly not Hasselhoff), but to say the DDR was crumbling from within, and it was not Reagan.
Germany has a mixed proportional system, which I wish we had. In your district, in your state, you vote for your preferential candidate first. And then, you vote for your preferred party list preference. As long as a party gets a 5% threshold, they will get seats. Beyond this, my head hurts trying to explain it, but it's still better than the electoral college.