Germany Today - Moving Beyond Memory People today who remember, are still influenced by their World War II experience. Veterans and war movies may not be as ubiquitous on television as they once were, but cable channels bring us nearly everything. As the last members of America's "greatest generation" die, they still influence the impressions held by baby boomers and their children. The fascination with the evil image of Adolph Hitler can still be found in junior high school history classes and some fringe political groups. The Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. provides a chilling experience for those too young to recall the death camps. If that were not enough, most of us have memories of the Berlin Wall. Some of us have friends who, as children went on family "picnics" in Berlin before 1961, packing only what would fit in the picnic basket to take into an exile of freedom in the West. These are powerful images. They may be helpful in partially explaining how Germany got to where it is today. On the other hand, they are not too helpful in explaining how Germany functions today. Somehow, if we are going to deal with the reality of a working, liberal democracy in Europe's largest, richest state, we will have to get beyond the images that fill our collective cultural memories. Change in Political Culture Political culture is probably one of the most appropriate ways to approach a study of Germany. The anthropologist's vision of culture is of a rather stable, slowly evolving nearly organic entity. However, the last century of German political history offers an example of political culture that has changed dramatically three or four times (depending on how you wish to classify changes). It's also worth noting that at the present time, the change has led to remarkably positive results. Leadership for a New Germany Leadership is another element of politics that can be enlightened by the German example. If we can point to De Gaulle in France as a pivotal figure of modern French politics, we must count several post-war leaders in Germany as similarly critically important. Konrad Adenauer and Helmut Kohl are in the first rank, but Willy Brandt and a number of other important figures stand just behind them. Economic Miracle The economic miracle of rebuilding West Germany, thanks in large part to the Cold War-inspired Marshall Fund investments, must be part of the story as well. It certainly plays a part in understanding the different paths followed by West and East Germany toward 1989. Here's a place to attempt to measure the consequences of economic success on political stability. As messy as that may be (because of the differences in the functioning of the states in East and West Germany) it's worth a look. The East Germany state may have been repressive and authoritarian, but the strivings of individual souls within that political culture had a lot in common with that of the West. How else does one explain the flood of refugees before the ...

1. Germany Today - Moving Beyond Memory
People today who remember, are still influenced by their World
War II experience. Veterans and war movies may not be as
ubiquitous on television as they once were, but cable channels
bring us nearly everything. As the last members of America's
"greatest generation" die, they still influence the impressions
held by baby boomers and their children. The fascination with
the evil image of Adolph Hitler can still be found in junior high
school history classes and some fringe political groups.
The Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. provides a chilling
experience for those too young to recall the death camps. If that
were not enough, most of us have memories of the Berlin Wall.
Some of us have friends who, as children went on family
"picnics" in Berlin before 1961, packing only what would fit in
the picnic basket to take into an exile of freedom in the West.
These are powerful images. They may be helpful in partially
explaining how Germany got to where it is today. On the other
hand, they are not too helpful in explaining how Germany
functions today. Somehow, if we are going to deal with the
reality of a working, liberal democracy in Europe's largest,
richest state, we will have to get beyond the images that fill our
collective cultural memories.
Change in Political Culture
Political culture is probably one of the most appropriate ways to
approach a study of Germany. The anthropologist's vision of
culture is of a rather stable, slowly evolving nearly organic
entity. However, the last century of German political history
offers an example of political culture that has changed
dramatically three or four times (depending on how you wish to
classify changes). It's also worth noting that at the present time,

2. the change has led to remarkably positive results.
Leadership for a New Germany
Leadership is another element of politics that can be
enlightened by the German example. If we can point to De
Gaulle in France as a pivotal figure of modern French politics,
we must count several post-war leaders in Germany as similarly
critically important. Konrad Adenauer and Helmut Kohl are in
the first rank, but Willy Brandt and a number of other important
figures stand just behind them.
Economic Miracle
The economic miracle of rebuilding West Germany, thanks in
large part to the Cold War-inspired Marshall Fund investments,
must be part of the story as well. It certainly plays a part in
understanding the different paths followed by West and East
Germany toward 1989. Here's a place to attempt to measure the
consequences of economic success on political stability. As
messy as that may be (because of the differences in the
functioning of the states in East and West Germany) it's worth a
look. The East Germany state may have been repressive and
authoritarian, but the strivings of individual souls within that
political culture had a lot in common with that of the West.
How else does one explain the flood of refugees before the
Berlin Wall was built, or the hundreds of escape attempts in the
first years of that wall's existence, or of the huge rallies and
marches, led by religious leaders, in the late 1980s demanding
democracy from some of the world's most undemocratic
Communist leaders?
The economic and leadership issues were jointly relevant to
politics in Germany in 2005. The slowing of economic growth
and the perceived lack of leadership by Chancellor Schröder led
to his party's losses in local elections in the spring of that year.

3. He called for elections to be held in September. Elections were
held, and Angela Merkel, the Christian Democratic Union
(CDU) leader and also a woman who grew up in East Germany,
became the new leader of Germany.
Finally, in Germany, we see not only the interventionist state
that has offered a progressive social welfare program since the
late nineteenth century, but we see corporatist arrangements
between the government, businesses, and unions that appear to
have led to social stability, high economic productivity, some of
the world's highest wages, and social benefits nearly unrivaled
anywhere in the world. How do political scientists explain those
factors in a world of global pressures, economic liberalization,
and European Union?
Leadership in Russia
Perhaps more than any country in our study of comparative
politics, individual political figures matter in contemporary
Russia. Historically, you can use the names of Lenin, Stalin,
Khrushchev, Gorbachev, Yeltsin, and Putin to tell the story of
modern Russia. There may be more names to take into account
than there are for China (Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, and
Jiang Zemin, Hu Joint), but the Soviet Union had a 30-year head
start on communism. As you look at the current Russian
leadership there are a few questions to consider:
Will Putin and his administration be able to continue to
strengthen and stabilize the Russian state?
Can Putin build stronger and more broadly accepted
institutions if the economy continues to flounder?
The Ethnic Factor
Knowing the importance of personal leadership provides some

4. clues about how the Russian government and politics work
today, but there are other forces at work too. Ethnic politics
may often be overshadowed by economic crisis, but it seems
ready to burst into open conflict in many places. Chechnya is
only the most violent example. In addition, Russian nationalism
is still a strong force, as is the desire for the custodial aspects
of Communism. In the spring of 2005, Putin expressed the
power of these sentiments when he lamented the dissolution of
the Soviet Union.
Economic and Political Fate
The transition away from a command economy is a difficult
one, and Russia is suffering during the transition. Exacerbating
the problem is the role played by the so-called "Russian mafia."
Whether organized criminals are as organized in Russia as in
other places, the level of illegal activity appears high, and the
links to legitimate business and political activity seem
powerful.
From the perspective of the Western industrialized democracies,
a viable political party system seems to be a key to the success
of democratic regimes. The personalized "floating parties" of
Russia don't look like the successful systems of the West.
Neither does Putin's personalized vehicle for attracting votes.
Mother Nature
Internal forces are not the only ones at work. If
environmentalists are correct, Mother Nature is going to come
calling on the Russians soon and demand an accounting. The
disaster around the Aral Sea may be the next site of nature's
"demand for payment." Russia's neighbors may well be stand-
ins for Mother Nature. Norway is already demanding changes in
the nickel smelter on its northern border with Russia.

5. Globalization and Russia - the Demands
There is less foreign investment in Russia as a whole than in
most countries. Hence, if global forces aren't making
environmental demands, there are economic ones. And those
demands will probably require more than cash. They will
require more restructuring. Controversy seems to follow most of
them, so you will be able to find examples reported in the media
regularly. Western cultural influences, from missionaries to
New York advertising firms, appear everywhere, especially in
European Russia. Foreign political and economic advisors as
well as academics from the U.S. work for government bureaus
and politicians. The International Monetary Fund demands
market reforms and offers loans to prop up the economy and the
government. But what demands can be met? What demands will
be met? Putin's response has been to try to strengthen the state.
Critics have argued that he's weakening democracy in the
process. At the same time, rising oil prices during the Iraq war
have reduced economic pressures on the Putin government.
Some international loans have been paid back ahead of
schedule.
It is widely known that popular sentiment was never given much
thought in the Soviet Union. The USSR has been described as a
state without a demand structure in any part of its culture. If
that's true, how will all the nations of Russia respond to the
attempts to create a market economy and democratic political
system? The Summer Institute of Linguistics lists 99 languages
spoken in Russia. See Ethnologue, 15th edition
(http://www.ethnologue.com) Can we expect any unity to come
from so much diversity?