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The Changing Party Scene in West Germany and the Consequences for Stable Democracy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2009

Donald Schoonmaker
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Extract

In the 1980's the West Germany party system finds itself in a new stage of development which bodes well for the continued long-term development of the second republic. Drawing on research from the comparative historical development of party systems and democratic regimes as well as from analysis of the recent elections, it is suggested that the concentration process in the party system of 1949–1983 has evolved into a more dispersed pattern with predominantly positive consequences for the Bonn democracy. The rise of the Greens, the gradual decline of the SPD, and the center-right coalition of CDU/CSU/FDP are analyzed from the standpoint of their contribution to stable and effective democracy. The nature of the coalition dynamics on both sides of the right-left spectrum are discussed with the conclusion that while West Germany is predominantly a Parteiendemokratie, the new forms of participation, the further development of pluralism, and the increased competition of ideas make it a democracy governed essentially by parliamentary parties yet more responsive to extraparliamentary forces.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Review of Politics , Volume 50 , Issue 1 , Winter 1988 , pp. 49 - 70
Copyright
Copyright © University of Notre Dame 1988

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References

Notes

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35. Schultze, , “Die Bundestagswahl 1987 — eine Bestätigung des Wandels,” p. 16.Google Scholar Most of Schultze's statistics are derived from Forschungsgruppe Wahlen, Mannheim.

36. Ibid., p. 12.

37. Infas

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46. Ibid., p. 16.

47. Dahl, , Dilemmas of Pluralist Democracy, p. 1.Google Scholar

48. Ibid., p. 38.

49. Ibid., chap. 4.

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53. The phase is Eckstein, Harry's which he develops in his Pressure Group Politics (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1960).Google Scholar By disjunctive function, Eckstein means: “For in democratic systems parties must perform simultaneously two functions which are, on the evidence, irreconcilable: to furnish efficient decision-makers and to represent accurately opinions. The best way to reconcile these functions in practice is to supplement the parties with an alternative set of representative organizations.”

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58. My understanding of “radical democratic” does not include the use of violence as a means. Radical here means going to the root of a problem by suggesting substantial change. It says nothing about means.

59. Brandt, et al. , Aufbruch in eine andere Gesellschaft.Google Scholar