ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the Social Democratic Party’s (SPD) effect on the governments' domestic policies from 1969 to 1982, with attention to intraparty decisionmaking on some major problems. It examines the reform policy package in general and presents two important national controversies—fiscal policy and nuclear energy. The chapter explores the issue of political asylum to see what effect the requirement of a parliamentary two-thirds majority on amendments to the constitution had on the SPD's position. The SPD, like other social democratic and socialist parties, has been committed to incremental reform within the existing neocapitalist economic system. The persuasive left critique against SPD and government policies surfaced especially during the protracted fiscal policy debates. In the SPD Lander organizations, discussion about nuclear energy intensified. SPD organizations adopted various positions, ranging from complete rejection to cautious acceptance of nuclear energy.
