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Second life in the Bundestag? Former GDR delegates in German parliaments
Ein zweites Leben im Bundestag? Ehemalige DDR-Delegierte als bundesdeutsche Parlamentsabgeordnete
[journal article]
Abstract "East Germany's 20th anniversary of a fully democratic representation in 2010 gives reason to reflect the democratization process again. Democratization was without doubt never contested by politicians with their political roots in the Opposition groups. Nevertheless, in the early 1990s and even lat... view more
"East Germany's 20th anniversary of a fully democratic representation in 2010 gives reason to reflect the democratization process again. Democratization was without doubt never contested by politicians with their political roots in the Opposition groups. Nevertheless, in the early 1990s and even later on, there was still a considerable minority among East German MNPs and MSPs with a comparatively strong affiliation to the former communist system (though not necessarily member of one of SED's successor parties). The German Parliamentary Survey (first wave, 2003) contains data of 140 of those 'survivors' out of 635 MNPs, MSPs and MEPs with an East German background. This contribution, first, reconsiders political representation in the GDR. Second, the social profile of delegates in the Bundestag and the State parliaments with their political roots in the SED and the bloc parties will be compared with that of those electees who appeared in the political arena in 1989/90 and later. Third, the adherence of former GDR delegates to democratic values will be discussed, likewise mirrored in the German Parliamentary Survey, by asking delegates how they rate statements like: 'Democracy persists only in the case of a strong leadership that is able to curtail partial interests.' and other." (author's abstract)... view less
Keywords
Federal Republic of Germany; representative; Bundestag; political elite; parliament; German Democratic Republic (GDR); transformation; post-communist society; representative democracy; politician; Volkskammer; election; reunification; contract; academic; integration; party discipline; labor market policy; comparative political science
Classification
Social History, Historical Social Research
Political Process, Elections, Political Sociology, Political Culture
Method
empirical; quantitative empirical; historical
Document language
English
Publication Year
2012
Page/Pages
p. 153-162
Journal
Historical Social Research, 37 (2012) 2
Issue topic
Politische und funktionale Eliten in postsozialistischer Transformation: Mittel- und Osteuropa seit 1989/90 / Political and functional elites in Post-Socialist transformation: Central and East Europe since 1989/90
DOI
https://doi.org/10.12759/hsr.37.2012.2.153-162
ISSN
0172-6404
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed