Gerard Braunthal - The German Social Democrats Since 1969: A Party In Power And Opposition

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The German Social Democrats Since 1969

SECOND EDITION

The German Social Democrats Since 1969

A Party in Power and Opposition

Gerard Braunthal

First published 1994 by Westview Press

Published 2019 by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

Copyright 1983, 1994 by Taylor & Francis, (first edition titled The West German Social Democrats, 1969-1982: Profile of a Party in Power )

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Braunthal, Gerard, 1923
The German Social Democrats since 1969: a party in power and
opposition / Gerard Braunthal. 2nd ed.
p. cm.
Rev. ed. of: The West German Social Democrats, 1969-1982, 1983.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8133-1535-2
1. Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands. I. Braunthal,
Gerard, 1923- . West German Social Democrats, 1969-1982. II. Title.
JN3971.A98S57443 1994
324.243'072dc20 93-27330
CIP

ISBN 13: 978-0-367-29253-9 (hbk):

Contents

Guide

Tables

Figures

For financial support for the two stages of this study (finished in 1983 and 1993), I owe thanks for grants from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in 1975, 1977, and 1990; the University of Massachusetts in 1977-1978; the American Council of Learned Societies in 1979-1980; and the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation in 1992. I am obligated to the Inter Nationes for my participation on a team of scholars observing the 1976 and 1990 elections, the latter for the Bonn segment.

I am especially thankful to the staffs of the SPD archive and press documentation center, the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation archive, the Bundeshaus library and press documentation center, the Deutsche Gesellschaft fr Auswrtige Politik library, all in Bonn; the Zentralarchiv fr empirische Sozialforschung in Cologne; and the German Information Center in New York for making available their extensive holdings, some unpublished.

To gain a better understanding of the dynamics and profile of the party, I interviewed, usually at length, over 220 persons, mainly in 1971, 1975, 1977, and 1980 for the first study, and in 1990, 1991, and 1992 for the second study. Most of the respondents were officials and staff in the Bonn national SPD headquarters and in Munich, Frankfurt, Bonn, Dortmund, and Hamburg SPD offices. I also asked activist and inactive members, trade union officials and workers, journalists, CDU/CSU and FDP officials and staff, and academics about their opinions of the SPD. For the second study, I conducted interviews in western and eastern Germany, including in the latter area several SPD mayors (for a view from the top) and numerous members (for a view from the bottom). To gain a perspective over time, I saw some persons twice during the course of years. To all respondents, some of whom I promised anonymity, go my heartfelt thanks.

I am also grateful to Hans-Eberhard Dingels, head of the SPD international division, for invitations to a party foreign policy conference in Bonn in 1975 and the national convention in Berlin in 1979 and for facilitating my contacts with SPD officials and staff members. Among the many others who were especially helpful, some for the first study, others for both studies, were Peter Munkelt (SPD headquarters), Hermann Voile (Deutsche Gesellschaft fr Auswrtige Politik), Franklin Schultheiss (Bundeszentrale fr Politische Bildung), Sigrid Lanzrath and Elisabeth Pieper (Inter Nationes), Werner Blischke (Bundeshaus), and Hannelore Koehler and Inge Godenschweger (German Information Center, New York).

Finally, I am greatly indebted to Dieter Dettke, Hans-Eberhard Dingels, and Peter Munkelt, who read the entire manuscript, and to Stephen J. Silvia and Joel D. Wolfe, who read parts of it; to Janet Colombo for her invaluable editorial assistance; to George C. Lane, Jr., for the computer preparation of the tables and figures; and to Susan McEachern and the staff of Westview Press for their encouragement and responses to many inquiries. Special thanks go to my wife, Sabina, for her aid and patience in seeing the manuscript through to completion and to our sons, Peter and Stephen, for insisting that I become part of the twentieth century by using a computer to write this book.

Gerard Braunthal

• AfA Arbeitsgemeinschaft fr Arbeitnehmerfragen (Association of Workers)
• APO Ausserparlamentarische Opposition (Extraparliamentary Opposition)
• ASF Arbeitsgemeinschaft Sozialdemokratischer Frauen (Association of Social Democratic Women)
• CDU/CSU Christlich-Demokratische Union/Christlich-Soziale Union (Christian Democratic Union-Christian Social Union)
• DAG Deutsche Angestellten-Gewerkschaft (German Salaried Employees Union)
• DBB Deutscher Beamtenbund (German Federation of Civil Servants)
• DGB Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (German Trade Union Federation)
• EC European Community
• FDP Freie Demokratische Partei (Free Democratic Party)
• FRG Federal Republic of Germany
• GDR German Democratic Republic
• GEW Gewerkschaft Erziehung und Wissenschaft (Union of Teachers and Scientists)
• Jusos Jungsozialisten in der SPD (Young Socialists in the SPD)
• KPD Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (Communist Party of Germany)
• MBFR Mutual Balanced Force Reductions
• NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization
• OR '85 Orientation Framework for 1985
• TV Gewerkschaft ffentliche Dienste, Transport und Verkehr (Public Service and Transport Workers Union)
• PDS Party of Democratic Socialism
• PSF Parti Socialiste Franiais (French Socialist Party)
• SDP Social Democratic Party of the GDR
• SDS Sozialistische Deutsche Studentenbund (German Socialist Student Federation)
• SED Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (Socialist Unity Party of Germany)
• SHB Sozialdemokratischer Hochschulbund (Social Democratic University League)
• SPD Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (Social Democratic Party of Germany)
• USPD Unabhngige Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany)

The crumbling of communism or "real" socialism in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and other Soviet bloc states in 1989 led conservatives and neoliberals to claim that capitalism had triumphed over socialism everywhere. However, in my view, their prediction of the defeat of socialism, even if restricted to the "real" socialism practiced by communist states, is too sweeping (China and Cuba are two of the states maintaining the system). They do not distinguish between "real" socialism and revisionist socialism or social democracy of the West European kind because it would not suit their purpose. By discrediting the theories of socialism, they imply that the socialist and social democratic parties in West Europe and elsewhere do not offer viable programs alternative to those of conservative and liberal parties, which extol the virtues of capitalism. Authors sympathetic to social democracy have examined the organizations and electoral performances of social democratic parties in Western Europe and, I believe, have convincingly refuted the claim that these parties are in crisis and decline, with their interment imminent.

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