ABSTRACT
The paper addresses three related questions about the most controversial political party represented in the Bundestag: the PDS. Who is this party? What is it? And where does it stand in the German party system? In highlighting the PDS' social profile, its internal debates about how to confront the legacy of the past and what its options are in the diverging political cultures of east and west Germany, it emerges that there is a future role for the PDS. However, the chances of consolidating its position depend as much on its own process of political clarification as on the tactics of the other parties. So far, the PDS has filled the gaps in the agenda left by the larger parties and successfully articulated the concerns of citizens in east Germany affected by the changes of unification. But without a broader base of appeal throughout the Bundesrepublik, the PDS faces an unpredictable future.
