Organizing Democracy in Eastern Germany: Interest Groups in Post-Communist Society
Cambridge University Press
Edition: First Edition, 12/9/1999
EAN 9780521657037, ISBN10: 0521657032
Paperback, 212 pages, 22.9 x 15.3 x 1.5 cm
Language: English
The emergence of interest group politics is one of the decisive factors in democratic transformation in post-communist society. Stephen Padgett argues that evidence from eastern Germany suggests that market transition produces rather open and fluid societies, in which group interests and identities are tenuous. Lacking a supportive social infrastructure, interest groups operate on 'entrepreneurial' lines, a form of associational activity which falls far short of pluralist ideals. With its accelerated transition to a market economy, eastern Germany provides a 'fast-forward' study of an 'advanced post-communist society' which enables us to anticipate the social structures and issues shaping interest-group politics in the newly-democratizing states of east-central Europe. Examining a number of different interest groups, and comparing a number of countries across east-central Europe, this book may also offer a vision of the future of interest-group politics in the West.
Introduction
1. The emergence of civil society
2. Socio-economic foundations
3. Organization
4. Participation and the logic of collective action
5. Group dynamics
6. Organized interests, the state and public policy
Conclusion.