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The German Party System and the 1961 Federal Election1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2013

Samuel H. Barnes ,
Frank Grace ,
James K. Pollock  and
Peter W. Sperlich
Samuel H. Barnes
Affiliation:
The University of Michigan
Frank Grace
Affiliation:
The University of Michigan
James K. Pollock
Affiliation:
The University of Michigan
Peter W. Sperlich
Affiliation:
The University of Michigan
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Extract

Each German federal election since 1949 has resulted in a reduction in the number of parties securing representation in the Bundestag. While this trend continued in 1961, there is evidence that the party system is becoming stabilized, making it unlikely that any of the present parties will disappear in the near future. This article examines the 1961 election and its significance for the German party system.

The major outlines of the present German party system became apparent as early as 1946, when party activities were resumed on a zonal basis. The principal parties then in the field were the Communist Party, the Social Democratic Party, the Christian Democratic Union, and the Free Democratic Party. The last two of these were known differently in different sections of West Germany, but today, with very few exceptions, the designation for each group is the same throughout the Federal Republic.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 56 , Issue 4 , December 1962 , pp. 899 - 914
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1962

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Footnotes

1

The authors wish to express their gratitude to the Whiting Foundation for enabling them to observe the German election during August and September of 1961.

References

2 The abbreviated designations contained in the following glossary will be used through the rest of the paper:

CDU/CSU: Christian Democratic Union (Christian Social Union in Bavaria).

SPD: Social Democratic Party.

FDP (DVP) (BDV): Free Democratic Party (Democratic People's Party in Wuerttemberg, Bremen Democratic People's Party in Bremen).

KPD: Communist Party of Germany.

BP: Bavarian Party.

DP: German Party.

DKP/DRP: German Conservative Party German Rightist Party.

EVD: European People's Movement of Germany.

RSF: Radical Social Freedom Party.

RWVP: Rhenish-Westphalian People's Party.

SSW: South-Schleswig Voters' Association.

WAV: Economic Reconstruction Association.

ZP: Center Party.

BHE: Refugee Party.

DFU: German Peace Union.

GDB: All-German Bloc.

DRP: German Reich Party.

DG: German Community.

3 Three seats were won by independent candidates.

4 See Table XII, infra, for the distribution.

5 The six minor opposition parties held a total of only sixty (14.8%) of the Bundestag seats.

6 See Table XII, infra.

7 The Center Party, in its last effort in a federal election, won three seats. One of these can be attributed to the planned absence of CDU opposition, while a second was won by a CDU member running on the ZP list.

8 Of the six direct seats the DP won, five were unopposed by CDU candidates. The BHE was completely unsuccessful, but it is reasonable to assume that a part of its 1953 following had shifted allegiance to the CDU/CSU. It is equally reasonable, however, to assume that it had lost its raison d'etre, that the refugees of 1953 had by 1957 for the most part become integrated into West German society, and, as a consequence, identified themselves with one or another of the older and less particularistic political groupings.

9 Erhard, in a press conference reported in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, September 8, 1961.

10 Ibid., August 25, 1961; September 4, 1961.

11 Ibid., August 30, 1961.

12 We heard criticism of Johnson's trip from CDU sources in Germany who felt that his visit was a campaign aid to Brandt.

13 On this latter point see Heidenheimer, Arnold J., Adenauer and the CDU (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1960)CrossRefGoogle Scholar, passim.

14 See Pollock, James K., “The West German Electoral Law of 1953,” this Review, Vol. 49 (March, 1955), pp. 107–130 Google Scholar.

15 See Table XI for the division of districtstate seats in each state. This slightly aids the CDU/CSU because it encourages Ueberhangsmandate, explained below.

16 As can be seen from Table XI below, the representation of Schleswig-Holstein, for instance, would have been 20 in 1961, due to the loss of population relative to the rest of the country, with 14 of these elected directly and 6 from the list. But the CDU took 13 direct seats by plurality although it had but 41.8 per cent of the Zweitstimmen votes. The SPD with 36.4 per cent and the FDP with 13.8 per cent received 7 and 3 list seats, bringing the SPD total to 8. The CDU under proportional representation would have gotten 9, but it kept the additional four it had won directly.

17 A statistical analysis of voter re-alignments is under way currently which is expected to throw considerable light on this and related questions.

18 Unless indicated otherwise, all percentages and figures given in the text refer to Zweitstimmen.

19 For a contrary view see Merkl, Peter, “Equilibrium, Structure of Interests, and Leader-ship: Adenauer's Survival as Chancellor,” this Review, Vol. 56 (September 1962), pp. 634–650 Google Scholar.

20 For a more extensive analysis of the process of forming the coalition see ibid.

21 Reprinted in Die Welt, October 21, 1961.