Two German Electorates?

Abstract

The democratic revolution in East Germany illustrates the importance of the citizenry in shaping the course of politics. Even if the public’s influence is normally less dramatic and decisive, citizen beliefs have always been an important factor in the political development of the Federal Republic. Early analyses focused on the need to reshape the political beliefs inherited from the Third Reich and to integrate citizens into the pluralist and democratic forms of the new system. There is extensive evidence on the transformation of the Western political culture over the past generation, creating democratic and participatory political norms, support for the welfare state, an endorsement of Germany’s Western-oriented international policies, and a robust system of party competition (Baker et al., 1981; Conradt, 1980; Dalton, 1992).