The Effects of Reunification on German Democracy: A Preliminary Evaluation of a Great Social Experiment

Abstract

A Great Deal of Macro-Sociological theory in Germany since Max Weber has been devoted to the inquiry into the 'special German road to development' and to the incompatability of developments in the economic and political sectors. Germany, after its first unification in 1871, developed quickly into an important economic power. In the late-nineteenth century Germany overtook Britain in economic strength and seemed to be second only to the United States. Britain, however, remained the unmatched model of development: it was, together with the United States, the only country which synchronized effectively the development towards democracy and towards modern capitalism. Even France — the second successful model in Europe — went through various breakdowns of its political development in 1830, 1848, 1870–71. Even later, threats of a breakdown of the constitutional parliamentary systems were latent.