Remaking German democracy in the 1950s

Was the civil service an asset or a liability

Bibliographic Data

ID6263102
AuthorsCurt Garner (Technische Universität Berlin, corresponding author)
Year1997
Volume6
Issue3
Pages16-53
Publication date1997-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueGerman Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0964-4008 • E-ISSN: 1743-8993
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/09644009708404487
OpenAlexW2016882204
LanguageEN
References cited27

This article offers a new look at the conflicting forces behind decisions on the shape and character of the civil service in the 1950s. It is argued that the controversial measures taken to reaffirm the traditional hierarchical system and reinstate former civil servants were not only the product of policies devised by the Adenauer government and the conservative majority in the Bundestag. The inability of the Western Allies to agree on a clear course of action was also a factor, as was the support for some legislation by the Social Democrats, who were hoping to broaden their electoral appeal and improve relations with the administrative and military elites. Decision makers did succeed in moulding the civil service into an effective tool of government, and in this respect it was an asset in stabilising the new democratic system. Yet the extent to which politically compromised staff members were reinstated was counter‐productive, creating political burdens that outweighed short‐term advantages. Moreover, civil service policy bolstered traditional lines of social and gender stratification, undermining the credibility of a political system ostensibly based on the principle of equal rights and opportunities

Appeal · Civil society · Democracy · Economics · German · Government (linguistics · Law and economics · Legislation · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Communism, Protests, Social Movements · European history and politics · Law · Public Administration

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