ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the reasons for the remarkable staying power of the foreign minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher (FDP) and its participation in most post-war coalition governments in Bonn and in many Lander. Liberal parties in many countries are committed to decentralizing their structure and diffusing power. In the FDP, power resided in the eleven semiautonomous Land associations, which have roots in local politics and supply candidates for state and federal offices. The FDP has always had few members in comparison with the Christian Democratic Union/ Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) and Social Democratic Party of Germany. Imbued with a spirit of individualism, many sympathizers do not enroll as members. In 1949, the CDU/CSU did not gain a majority and sought coalition partners. As a reward for joining the government, alongside other minor parties, the FDP received the vice chancellorship and three cabinet posts and remained a loyal partner in the CDU/CSU-led governments from 1949 until 1956.
