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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 January 2013
When the Basic Law, the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany, was drawn up in 1948-49, the occupying powers still held the “supreme authority” that they had assumed upon Germany's unconditional surrender in 1945. At that time, the four victors had committed themselves to the eventual establishment of a decentralized democratic Germany. In the interim, during a period of political tutelage, Germans were to develop democratic attitudes through self-government at the local, regional, and state levels. However, the victors failed to specify what democratic norms had to be met before they would relinquish supreme authority. Their tutelage appeared to be without term. Could the Germans learn democratic habits under military government? In 1946 an American official summed up the problem: “How can we foster adoption of [a] constitution] which is based on [the] principle that 'alle Gewalt geht vom Volke aus' [all power issues from the people] when it is actually ours?”
At that time, military government in the U.S. Zone of Occupation was taking steps to return political responsibility to the people. In 1945 the U.S. Office of Military Government for Germany (OMGUS) had appointed all German officials from the local to the state level. The American deputy military governor, General Lucius D. Clay, quickly introduced democratic elections at all levels.
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