Review Article: Democratization as Cultural History, or: When is (West) German Democracy Fulfilled?

Kauders, A. D.

Abstract

This review article seeks to advance the notion of democracy as action as a concept for the study of (West) German democracy. It suggests that it would be preferable to define democracy as practical rather than speculative so as to show how democratic culture, far from being merely an object of reverence, emerged in the form of serious disputes and equally serious displacements. Because democracy is the régime within which the struggle for democracy finds legitimacy, the study of democracy means examining how men and women invoked democracy in the struggle for what they believed were democratic goals and aspirations. Among the books under review, three in particular seem best to anticipate future research in the area, in that they examine post-1945 German democratization in an anti-teleological vein, mindful of conflict and the competition for power.

Citation

Kauders, A. D. (2007). Review Article: Democratization as Cultural History, or: When is (West) German Democracy Fulfilled?. German History, 25(2), 240-257. https://doi.org/10.1177/0266355406075722

• Journal Article Type: Review
• Publication Date: Apr 1, 2007
• Deposit Date: Aug 2, 2023
• Journal: German History
• Print ISSN: 0266-3554
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 25
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 240-257
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0266355406075722
• Keywords: History