The Twisted Road to Democracy as a Quest for Security: Germany in the Twentieth Century

Abstract

The article provides a distinct interpretation of the ‘twisted road to democracy’ based on the idea of the ever ambivalent nature of contingency. The account relates pre-1945 developments to the history of Germany, in particular of the Federal Republic after the Second World War. It argues that the winding path to democracy in twentieth-century Germany cannot be understood without due recognition of the underlying quest for security. Abhorrence of uncertainty went hand in hand with a desperate search for stability. In the Weimar Republic, experiences and fears of anomy led Germans to abandon parliamentary democracy and ultimately seek refuge in authoritarian rule, which the National Socialists transformed into a fully-fledged dictatorship in 1933/34. Although the Third Reich was lastingly discredited in 1945, the political elites of the two German states made sure not to return to the Weimar Republic, tainted by its erosion and the Nazi seizure of power. In the new West German state, in particular, Adenauer’s authoritarian chancellorship, the unprecedented economic boom, the rapid expansion of the welfare state and western consumer culture encouraged West Germans to adopt and welcome parliamentary government. Unlike in the Weimar Republic, democracy and security came to be perceived no longer as opposing forces, but as mutually reinforcing. As discussions about terrorism and the debates on the impact of globalization on united Germany have demonstrated, however, this newly-found combination of democracy and stability has remained vulnerable.