No CrossRef data available.
Article contents
Political Tendencies and Parties in Germany
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 November 2014
Extract
To the observer who has experienced the transformation of Germany from imperial to republican regimes and the struggles for and against the establishment of democracy after the First World War, the most striking feature of the political scene in present-day West Germany–the Bundesrepublik–is the nearly complete absence of social or political mass movements. Whereas German society from 1918 to 1933 was virtually seething with political and social schemes, creeds, sects, and parties, post-Nazi Germany seems quiet and sober. The labour unions have become even less concerned with fundamental changes in the social order than they were in the days of the Weimar Republic. The youth movement seems dead. There is no mass movement of former Nazis or of neo-Fascists. Even the Communists are no longer a strong force.
Voting in all kinds of elections is very heavy, but organized membership in political parties is low. There seems to be a widespread reluctance among the older people to join any kind of organized political group or to commit themselves to any kind of “cause.” Most Germans, having burnt their fingers once or twice, seem to refrain from active participation in public life as much as possible. This does not mean that the channels through which a common will, a political consensus, is formed have ceased to function. Political parties, though fewer in number than in the Weimar era, do exist; trade unions and organizations of farmers, artisans, business men, and industrialists exert their influence along with numerous and varied “lobby” organizations (refugees and expellees, victims of nazism, veterans' organizations, war invalids' associations, and so on); and last though not least the Roman Catholic Church and the Evangelical (Protestant) churches raise their voices and take a stand on all important issues of public life. But none of these influential groups seems to aim at radical changes in the political or economic order. Nor is any large and powerful group opposed to the democratic system of government which was formed under the authority of the American, British, and French occupation regimes.
- Type
- Articles
- Information
- Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science/Revue canadienne de economiques et science politique , Volume 25 , Issue 4 , November 1959 , pp. 484 - 496
- Copyright
- Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association 1959
References
1 According to Eschenburg, Theodor, Staat und Gesellschaft in Deutschland (Stuttgart, 1956), 521 Google Scholar, in 1953 the Social Democratic party had about 650,000 members (about 8 per cent of those who voted for it) and the Christian Democratic Union about 350,000 (2.5 per cent). Wildenmann, R., Partei und Fraktion (Meisenheim am Glan, 1954)Google Scholar gives 10.4 per cent for the Social Democrats, with a maximum of 15 per cent in Schleswig-Holstein and a minimum of 7 per cent in Wuerttemberg-Baden. It should also be noted that from 1947 to 1952 the membership of the Social Democrats declined from 875,000 to 650,000 (Alfred Grosser, , The Colossus Again (New York, 1955), 190).Google Scholar They claim, however, that in 1957, membership in their party rose by 41,850 while the Christian Democrats gained only 8,000 ( News from Germanu, XI, no. 3, 03, 1957).Google Scholar
2 It should be noted that Germany is divided not into two but seven parts: the Bundesrepublik, the Deutsche Demokratische Republik, the zone under Polish administration, the area ceded to Poland, the part of East Prussia ceded to the U.S.S.R., and the Saaf (since reunited with the Bundesrepublik). In addition, the Western “Sector” of the city of Berlin constitutes a Land (state) which holds an exceptional position in relation to the Federal Republic.
3 There are more party names listed in handbooks on Germany because some parties have different names in various states. Actually only the Christian Democrats, the Social Democrats, the Free Democrats, the Refugees, and the Christian Social Union obtained seats in the Bundestag of 1953; since then the Communist party has been declared illegal (in 1956) and the Free Democrats have split (a minority seceded and formed the Free People's party).
4 See, e.g., Tennstaedt, Friedrich, Der Waehler (Allensbach am Bodensee, 1957).Google Scholar The Christian Democratic Union, the Christian Social Union, and the Social Democratic party together received 60 per cent of the total vote in 1949, 74 per cent in 1953, and 82 per cent in 1957.
5 Becker, Howard, “Changes in the Social Stratification of Contemporary Germany,” American Sociological Review, XV, no. 3, 06, 1950.Google Scholar
6 Noelle, Elisabeth, Auskunft über die Parteien (Allensbach am Bodensee, 1955), 26.Google Scholar
7 The percentages of Free Democrat and German People's party supporters from these occupational categories were higher in 1956 than those of any other major party. Tennstaedt, , Der Waehler, 55.Google Scholar
8 Ibid., 55.
9 As this article goes to press, the preliminary draft of a new party programme has been released. The party will decide about its acceptance at a special congress. For English text see Social Democratic party, A Design for a New Socialist Platform (Bonn, 1959).Google Scholar
10 Tennstaedt, , Der Waehler, 47.Google Scholar
11 Allemann, Fritz R., Bonn ist nicht Weimar (Koeln and Berlin, 1956), 236 ff.Google Scholar
12 The Stahlhelm survives but without political significance.