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From the 1950s to 1970s the West German public sphere underwent a rapid politicisation which was part of the ongoing socio-cultural democratisation of the Federal Republic. This article examines the role of the mass media and journalistic elites in bringing about this change. It analyses how and when political coverage in the media evolved from an instrument of consensus to a forum of conflict. Arguing that generational shifts in journalism were crucial to this process, two generations, termed the '45ers' and the '68ers', are described in regard to their professional ethos and their attitudes toward democracy, mass culture, German traditions and Western models. Entre les annees 50 et les annees 70, la sphere publique en Allemagne de l'Ouest a connu une politisation rapide qui a constitue l'un des aspects du processus socio-culturel de democratisation de la Republique Federale. Cet article examine le role des medias et des elites journalistiques dans l'emergence de ces changements. Il analyse comment et quand, d'instrument de consensus la couverture mediatique est devenue un forum d'expression du conflit. L'hypothese selon laquelle le changement de generation dans les mifieuxj ournalistiques a ete central dans ce processus est testee a partir de l'analyse de deux generations definies comme celle des 'quarante-cinquards' et celle des 'soixante-huitards': elles sont etudiees a travers leur ethos professionnel et dans leur attitude face a la democratie, la culture de masse, les traditions allemandes et les modeles occidentaux. Zwischen den ffinfziger und siebziger Jahren erlebte die westdeutsche Offentlichkeit eine rasante Politisierung, die Teil der andauernden sozio-kulturellen Demokratisierung der Bundesrepublik war. Der Beitrag untersucht die Rolle von Massenmedien und journalistischen Eliten in diesem Wandlungsprozess. Er analysiert, wie und wann die politische Berichterstattung in den Medien sich von einem Instrument des Konsens zu einem Forum der Auseinandersetzung anderte. Ausgehend von dem Argument, dass ein Generationswandel im Journalismus ausschlaggebend ftir diesen Prozess war, werden zwei Generationen, bezeichnet als 'Ffinfundvierziger' und 'Achtundsechziger' in Bezug auf ihr professionelles Ethos und ihre Haltung zu Demokratie, Massenkultur, deutschen Traditions und westlichen Modellen beschrieben.

The classic Heimatfilm is well-known as a symbol of postwar reconstruction in West German society. From early on intellectual critics were accustomed to denouncing it as mainstream escapism driven by [...]

Perhaps the most remarkable development in the Federal Republic of Germany since World War II has been the creation of its stable democracy. Already by the second half of the [...]

The German constitutional court, established in 1951, adopted the qualities of public support and the separation of powers used so effectively by the US Supreme Court. However, neither facet is necessary for courts' authority.

The travails of German unification have now become almost woefully commonplace.(1) Even the most optimistic observers of several years ago now readily admit that, while the country's formal unification was [...]

Liberal democracy was established in West Germany as a means to prevent a return to fascism. In East Germany a Platonic and authoritarian framework was developed. Reunification poses the challenge of integrating the East Germans and redefining Germany's international role in Europe.

What most characterizes German public administration since the 18tb century is its early modernization relative to the political regime. The 'rule of law' became the central mechanism of modernization when the 'rule of man'--the nonconstitutional monarchy--was still intact. The 'science' of administration was, until recently, dominated by jurisprudence, as were the institutions of public administration. A social science-oriented concept of administrative science only emerged with the reformist drive for accelerated modernization of public infrastructure and public planning in the 1960s. The article outlines the phases of development of this new administrative science from the 1960s to the 1990s and argues that today, as in the past, reform remains the central focus of German public administration, especially with its current emphasis upon the problems of German reunification., What characterizes German public administration since the 18th century is its early modernization relative to the political regime. Germany is not a classic constitutional state. The identity as well as [...]

Previous research on West German social history has virtually ignored the millions of public service employees, although they were not only an important social factor, but also played a central role in the country's political system and economy. This article focuses on four major policy decisions, each with far-reaching social and political consequences. 1) The rejection of allied initiatives for a reform of civil service law reaffirmed the traditional hierarchy of career tracks based on formal education rather than merit, reducing opportunities for upward mobility and reinforcing older patterns of social stratification. 2) In Bonn, priority hiring of former civil servants from the Prussian and Reich ministries reestablished clear lines of continuity with the period before 1945. 3) The same was true of legislation requiring all government units to recruit at least 20% of their personnel from among those who had lost their public service positions as a consequence of the war or during denazification. 4) A gender rollback was the result of persistent efforts to reduce the proportion of female employees, whose number had burgeoned during the war. Particular energy was devoted to dismissing married women. This goal was actively supported by unmarried female professionals, who played a prominent role in conservative women's organizations., Although a half century has elapsed since the end of World War II, comparatively little research has been done on German social history in the period after 1945. Instead, social […]

William L. Shirer's book 'The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich' received commercial and critical acclaim in the US from 1960-62 and received some commercial but no critical acclaim in West Germany for the same time period. The historiographic interpretation of the nazi period in Germany's history, the politics of West Germany in the early 1960s and the difference in collective memories of both countries of the nazi period are the reasons for such different receptions for the book.

Institutions determine the results of social decision processes, yet institutions are themselves endogenous products of earlier social choices. This paper explores the hypothesis that participants in the choice of institutions seek alternatives that favor their desired policies. The choice of institutions can be analyzed in terms of bargaining between individuals or parties, where preferences derive from preferences over policy and bargaining is structured by existing institutions. This approach is used to study the choice of an electoral system in Germany after World War II. The hypothesis that parties choose electoral institutions to maximize their future policy influence explains both the adoption of proportional representation in 1949 and the switch to a two-vote ballot in 1953.

The rebuilding of public administration in the new German Lander can be described as a process of increasing differentiation. The new states share the common legacy of 'democratic centralism' and face similar reform challenges; but the analysis of the establishment of state administrations, local government reform and personnel policy reveals important differences amongst the states. West-East institutional transfer plays a decisive role in creating effective institutions of governance in the East. However, it does not imply the imposition of a uniform West German 'model'; rather, institutional transfer encourages administrative differentiation., The transformation of their institutional frameworks of governance is a challenge common to all post-Communist countries in Europe.(1) In its defining elements -- legal foundations, tasks, structures, procedures, personnel -- [...]

The dynamics of social movements after their initial emergence is still largely terra incognita. I develop a theory of the dynamics of protest waves by comparing data on protests in West Germany between 1965 and 1989 with similar data from the Netherlands, Italy, and the United States. Striking similarities are noted among these different protest waves in the development of action repertoires, levels of repression and facilitation, and the involvement of different types of organizations. An explanation for these dynamic patterns combines external and internal factors: The interplay between facilitation, repression, and the chance of success defines a set of external constraints that combine with activists' choices among three strategic options - innovation, increased participation, or increased militancy.

This article is part of an ongoing project of the authors to systematically compare the policy-making influence of courts in nations with disparate political systems, levels of economic development, and legal traditions. Presented herein is a two-nation comparative case study of the policy influence of the highest courts in the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of India. The general research strategy begins with the premise that judicial decisions are not self-executing and therefore implementation requires the cooperation of others. Courts are forced to rely on other political actors to translate policy decisions into action. From this premise the authors reason that the degree of judicial influence in the policy process of any nation can be roughly gauged by examining the reaction of other actors who, as part of the political environment, are themselves subject to a wide range of political pressures. Using the judicial impact model of Charles A. Johnson, the authors analyze the impact of the courts on university admission policy in the Federal Republic of Germany, and the industrial disputes machinery in the Republic of India.

The recognition of a theoretical link between the foreign policies of different states provides the basis for this study. A framework suitable for analyzing comparative foreign policy formation is used to examine the years immediately following NATO's dual-track missile decision of 1979. It is hypothesized that the Soviet Union is capable of penetrating and influencing the foreign policy-making process in West Germany and Great Britain by affecting public attitudes in both countries. Soviet actions directed toward West Germany and Great Britain between 1979 and 1983 are added to models that explain public support for incumbent leaders. By demonstrating a causal link between public support and external variables, this study presents evidence that the policy process in the West can be affected by Soviet actions directed toward it.

This article analyses the impact of cultural processes of agenda setting on the rise and fall of social movements. Based on a comparison of the anti-nuclear energy movements in West Germany and the USA, I argue that shifts in public issue-attention can trigger the decline of movements and fuel the rise of other movements. When disarmament concerns became paramount in the early 1980s, the anti-nuclear energy movement collapsed in the USA and went through a mobilization crisis in West Germany. At the same time, broad peace or disarmament movements took the lead in the social movement sectors in both countries, surpassing the anti-nuclear energy movements on a similar cultural and political terrain. As movements that addressed collective risks inherent in industrial modernization, the anti-nuclear energy movements lacked a stable communal basis, rendering them especially vulnerable to external processes of agenda setting.

The transmission-reproduction perspective emphasizes the learning of political orientation through hierarchical (usually institutional and conventional) processes. A voluntaristic perspective calls attention to the individual's ability to choose reference groups and modes of participation (often unconventional and noninstitutional) and has the empirical advantage in focusing on pluralistic influences in politicization. This analysis employs a large combined data base on West German youth (n = 2,500-3,000) that allows logit analysis of the internal differentiation by age, sex, and education in their orientations toward such pluralistic reference groups and political tactics. There are differences among young males and females that appear to be both developmental (related to age and sex) and situational (related to education). Younger, less educated males (15-17 years of age) are the most conservative of all age or sex groups. Older male youth show a stronger orientation toward conventional electoral participation than do females (who remain more unconventional), though by their 20s the males lag behind the females, whose progressive (left-liberal) advantage is less than for their younger counterparts. Overall young males show signs of a trend from conservatism to actionism to conventionalism, while females show a consistent progressive and unconventional advantage in all age groups. A concluding section reflects on the possible meaning of these findings for contemporary political styles among German youth.

The West German Green party has been the first significant predominantly postmaterialist party in Western Europe. Its voters are young, urban, and highly educated. This has led many observers to conclude that the Greens represent the values of an economically secure and affluent 'new middle class.' This article challenges the major assumption underlying this view, namely, that high levels of education automatically correspond with material security. It shows that there is in fact an inverse relationship between material security and support for the Greens. It is argued that despite their material insecurity, Green supporters vote for the party for postmaterialist reasons. Finally it shows that there is a close relationship between the interests of the Green clientele and the party's political program.

The article explains the genesis, premiere and reception of cantata Judische Chronik. It further explains the theoretical framework of the third space developed by postcolonial theorist Homi Bhabha in collaboration with East and West Germany.

The resolution of regional disparities within the Federal Republic of Germany entails a complex redistributive process. Regional assistance policies initiated as wartime relief measures have, over time, incorporated classical incentive programs and revenue-sharing. Revenue transfers among the three levels of government are dynamic, arising from changes in the socioeconomic and political environment. Much of the spatial effect of regional policies is overshadowed by more extensive sectoral benefits. La determination des inegalites regionales au sein de la Republique federale allemande fait appel a un procede complexe de redistribution. Des politiques d'aide regionale, introduites comme des mesures de secours en temps de guerre, sont devenues avec le temps des programmes classiques d'incitation et de partage des revenus. Les transferts de revenu entre les trois niveaux de gouvernement constitutent un mecanisme dynamique repondant aux changements dans le milieu socioeconomique et politique. L'influence spatiale resultant des politiques regionales est en grande partie eclipsee par l'expansion des avantages sectoriels.

The paper presents an overview of political and professional committees in the Federal Republic of Germany dealing with issues of biomedical ethics. The prevailing tendencies of paternalistic attitudes, the worst-case-scenario argumentation method, and the unfortunate practice of applying general principles rather than mid-level principles in the assessment of concrete challenges in treatment and regulation are analyzed