ABSTRACT
The process of political restructuring and differentiation led to the founding of a variety of political parties, interest groups, and political associations that sought answers to the various problems faced by German Democratic Republic (GDR) citizens. In order to make monetary, economic, and social union with the Federal Republic possible, they also determined that the GDR could transfer its sovereign rights to international institutions as well as institutions of the Federal Republic. The transition process was increasingly dominated by the desire to create the prerequisites for the unification of the two German states as quickly as possible. East and West German branches of the Christian Democratic Union, Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, and the FDP merged, while the Party of Democratic Socialism —successor to the Socialist Unity Party—expanded its political activities into the West. Control of the budget is the prerequisite for autonomous action by any political community.
