Stability and Change in German Elections: How Electorates Merge, Converge, or Collide

by Christopher J. Anderson, Carsten Zelle

Anderson, Zelle, and their contributors provide in-depth analyses of electoral trends in Germany―the one country in which an electorate that had maintained stable democracy after World War II was enlarged by compatriots who had experienced decades of socialist rule.

Most of the essays in this book first focus on long-term developments known to affect electoral change in industrial societies such societal transformations, changes in ideological thinking, and value change. After establishing if and how these developments have been taking place in the old Länder, they investigate whether similar trends can be observed in the eastern electorate or if the patterns are different. Then, present state and future prospects of electoral politics in the united Germany are assessed. In addition, some chapters concentrate on phenomena visible only in the eastern section in order to investigate causes and effects of these peculiarities. The editors elaborate on common themes and assess the findings in light of the author's guiding questions offered in introductory and concluding chapters. This is a major resource for students and scholars concerned with German politics.

376 pages, Hardcover

First published September 30, 1998

About the author

Christopher J. Anderson is Professor of Government and Director of the Institute for European Studies at Cornell University. He is a team member of the Persistent Poverty and Upward Mobility theme project organized by Cornell's Institute for the Social Sciences and the international collaborative project on Making Electoral Democracy Work funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. His research focuses on contextual models of politics that view political actors as nested in a variety of social, economic, and political environments that shape and constrain behavior.