ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the nature of the relationship between the party and the government from 1969 to 1982. It focuses on the party’s strategy for ensuring that its inputs into the nerve centers of executive power—the chancellorship, the cabinet, and the civil service—will have a maximum effect on the policy outputs. The chapter also deals with other aspects of Social Democratic Party (SPD) involvement in the executive realm: its role in one chief executive succession period, coalition bargaining for ministerial posts and the contents of the government program when new cabinets were formed, the nature of ministerial appointments reflecting the diverse party interests, and the finale of the coalition government. The chapter presents a case study on Willy Brandt's resignation in 1974 and Helmut Schmidt’s assumption of power provide clues to how the SPD gets involved in a successorship situation.
