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The Political Attitudes of German Business*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2011

Gabriel A. Almond
Gabriel A. Almond
Affiliation:
Princeton University
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Extract

The surface indices of political life in Germany suggest that that nation has embarked upon a moderate pro-European and pro-Western course, and that political extremism and nationalism have no significant appeal at the present time. Thus the elections of 1953 produced an overwhelming majority for the “moderate” parties. Neither the Communist Party nor specifically neo-Nazi formations attained significant votes or representation in the Bundestag in the election of that year. On the whole, the statements made by governmental, political, and interest group leaders have been cautious and responsible. Occasional manifestations of neo-Nazism have been local and limited in character. There is no evidence to suggest that such tendencies have widespread organized support either aboveground or underground.

Type
Research Article
Information
World Politics , Volume 8 , Issue 2 , January 1956 , pp. 157 - 186
Copyright
Copyright © Trustees of Princeton University 1956

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References

1 See, for example, Kirchheimer, Otto, “Notes on the Political Scene in West Germany” World Politics, VI, No. 3 (April 1954), pp. 306–21CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Holborn, Hajo, “Achievements and Prospects of German Democracy,” Political Science Quarterly, LXX, No. 3 (September 1955), pp. 421–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

2 Some seventy-seven businessmen and other informants wereinterviewed either in groups or as individuals. The interviews were conducted in the Rhineland-Ruhr, Frankfurt a. M., and Hamburg. This special interviewing of businessmen is one part of a broader study of German attitudes toward foreign policy sponsored by the RAND Corporation of Santa Monica, Calif. Similar studies have been made of the German military elite and bureaucracy and have been published in this journal. See Speier, Hans, “German Rearmament and the Old Military Elite,” World Politics, VI, No. 2 (January 1954), pp. 147–68CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and John H. Herz, “German Officialdom Revisited,” ibid., VII, No. 1 (October 1954), pp. 63–83.

3 For appraisals of the role of the German middle classes and heavy industry, see Weber, Max, “Parlament und Regierung im neugeordneten Deutschland,” in Gesammelte politische Schriften, Munich, 1921, pp. 164ff.Google Scholar and passim; Neumann, Sigmund, “Germany,” in Cole, Taylor, ed., European Political Systems, New York, 1953, pp. 292ff.Google Scholar; Herz, John H., “The Government of Germany,” in Carter, Gwendolyn M., Ranney, John C., and Herz, John H., Major Foreign Powers, New York, 1952, p. 607Google Scholar; Olden, Rudolf, The History of Liberty in Germany, London, 1946, pp. 121ff.Google Scholar; Ruggiero, Guido de, The History of European Liberalism, London, 1927, pp. 271ff.Google Scholar; Anderson, Eugene, “Freedom and Aumoritarianism in German History,” in Almond, Gabriel A., ed., The Struggle for Democracy in Germany, Chapel Hill, N.C., 1949, pp. 3ff.Google Scholar; Pinson, Koppel S., Modern Germany, New York, 1954, pp. 219ff.Google Scholar; and Mommsen, Wilhelm, Grösse und Versagen des deutschen Bürgertums, Stuttgart, 1949.Google Scholar

4 A Survey Analysis of the Factors Underlying the Outcome of the igtf German Federal Elections, December n, 1953. See also Neumann, Erich Peter and Noclle, Elisabeth, Antworten: Politi/ im Kraftfeld der offentlichen Meinung, Allensbach am Bodensee, 1954, pp. 47ftGoogle Scholar

5 HICOG, Survey of 1953 Elections, opxit., p. 56.Google Scholar

6 Deutsches Industrieinstitut, Unternehmerbrief, October 29, 1953.Google Scholar

7 See HICOG, Reactions Analysis Staff, A Year End Survey of Rightist and Nationalist Sentiments in West Germany, January 1953.Google Scholar See also Neumann, and Noelle, , op. cit., p. 29.Google Scholar

8 Adapted from Neumann, and Noelle, , op. cit., p. 29.Google Scholar

9 HICOG, Office of Public Affairs, Do the West German People Believe the U.S. Is for German Unity?, May 27, 1952.Google Scholar

10 See HICOG, Office of Public Affairs, West German Public Opinion on Defense Participation Following the Formal Bundestag Debate, March 31, 1952, p. I.Google Scholar

11 Ibid., p. 8.

12 Ibid., p. 12.

13 HICOG, Reactions Analysis Staff, Public Opinion in Western Europe, January 1953, p. 10.Google Scholar

14 Ibid., pp. 10, 12.

15 Ibid., pp. 195, 221.

16 HICOG, Reactions Analysis Staff, West German Thinking on a Federation of Europe, November 28, 1951.Google Scholar

17 HICOG, A Year End Survey, op.cit., p. 72.Google Scholar

18 Schelsky, Helmut, Wandlungen der deutschen Familie in der Gegenwart, Stuttgart, 1954, pp. 132ffGoogle Scholar

19 See Gather, Gernot, “West-Ost Handel,” Deutsche Initiative, Wirtschaftspolitische Gesellschaft von 1947, 1950, pp. 45ff.Google Scholar; Übersicht über die Entwicklung des West-Ost Handsls der wichtigsten Weststaaten, report of the Ost-Ausschuss der Deutschen Industrie, 1954.