Learning Democracy

Democractic and economic values in unified Germany

Bibliographic Data

ID20021085
AuthorsRobert Rohrschneider (0000-0003-2485-9648, corresponding author)
Year1999
Pages309
Publication date1999-05-13
Open AccessNo
TypeBOOK
VenueLearning democracy (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198295174.001.0001
OpenAlexW4231758306
Open LibraryOL17929385M
ISBN9780198295174
LanguageEN
Citations received63

The fall of the Berlin wall raised many questions about Germany and post-socialist countries. Given East Germany's authoritarian history, how democratic are its citizens now? What kind of democracy do they want a liberal or socialist democracy? What economic system do they prefer? How have they reacted to democratic and market systems since 1989? This book shows how individual institutional learning may be offset by the diffusion of democratic values. The book uses public opinion surveys to compare attitudes of MPs and the general public, and in-depth interviews with parliamentarians in east, and west Berlin to show the persistence of socialist views in the east as well as lower levels of political tolerance. Moreover, the book argues, these values have changed fairly little since unification. The book presents evidence and develops implications for other post-socialist nations, arguing that while post-socialist citizens do not yearn for the old socialist order, their socialist values frequently lower enthusiasm for new democratic and market institutions. The implications being that ideological values are primarily shaped by individual exposure to institutions and that democratic and market values are diffused only in specific conditions

Authoritarianism · Democracy · Enthusiasm · Ideology · Liberal democracy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Eastern European Communism and Reforms · Historical Geopolitical and Social Dynamics · Law · Philosophy · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · 1990 · Germany · politics and government · Post-communism

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