ABSTRACT
Germany has changed more in the last four years than it has in the last four decades. The East German revolution has been part of a cycle of interrelated revolutions that dramatically changed Eastern and Central Europe. East Germany's geopolitical situation and advanced industrialization helped the ruling Communist Party elite to integrate large parts of the population and to avoid reforms. German unification was enacted on the basis of Article 23. The constitutional order of West Germany was extended to the East. West German institutions have spread to the East but they have barely taken root in the population. Public opinion surveys have discovered typical differences between East German and West German attitudes. Easterners seem to expect more from "the state" in terms of securing economic growth, stabilizing prices, and guaranteeing employment. East Germans are less likely to identify with political parties and party democracy, and are more sympathetic towards plebiscitary or grass-roots democracy.
