Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book analyses the history of parties and party systems in various regions of world and describes the ways in which party systems have been categorized and analyzed. It examines the historical development of German parties, which operated in authoritarian Empire, democratic Weimar, and totalitarian Nazi eras. The book deals with the array of old and new parties in western Germany from 1945 to 1949 and in the semisovereign Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from 1949 to 1990. It considers each of the major and minor parties in the FRG that have had an effect on the political system. The book also deals with party developments in Soviet-occupied eastern Germany from 1945 to 1949 and in the German Democratic Republic from 1949 to 1989. It considers the 1994 national election to see whether it showed the discontent of voters with the status quo.