Abstract
The failure of the Weimar Republic — largely seen as a ‘republic without republicans’ — had demonstrated quite clearly that for a new political system to succeed the support of its citizens is crucial. When democracy was introduced in the new West German state, there was considerable concern that the Federal Republic would — notwithstanding extensive re-education programmes for its citizens — be a ‘democracy without democrats’. This was based on the awareness that the new democratic order was unlikely to succeed if Germans were still mired in anti-democratic attitudes and ways of thinking. It was recognised that support of and identification with the system and its values would determine its long-term viability.
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Notes
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© 2010 Ruth Wittlinger
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Wittlinger, R. (2010). From Prosperity to a Democracy of Want?. In: German National Identity in the Twenty-First Century. New Perspectives in German Political Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230290495_4
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