ABSTRACT
In 1989, the peaceful revolution in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) forced the communist regime to end its monopolistic governance. This chapter focuses on one of the new parties, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) of the GDR. It deals with the SPD within the setting of a country in transition from a dictatorial to a democratic government—a test case of how a party can enter the political arena with a minimum of planning and organizers. As one of the SDP leaders observed, the progressive domestic agenda had planks that reflected the ideas of Swedish rather than West German social democracy. The delegates' conference, after preliminary discussions and votes in the local branches, changed the name of the party from "SDP in the GDR" to "SPD in the GDR." The conference discussed the draft of a new statute dealing primarily with the party's organization, which is similar to that of the West German SPD.
