The Road to Democracy in Germany: The Role of State and National Elections, 1946-2011

The Road to Democracy in Germany is the first comprehensive study to be published on state (Land) and national elections in the Federal Republic of Germany. The book covers the over 200 regional and seventeen Bundestag elections held between 1946 and 2011. Culver not only records the election results in statistical form, but discusses the issues that influenced the election outcomes, the electoral systems under which the elections took place, the party system they have occasioned on both state and national levels, the party composition of the ministries formed and their influence on the party make-up of the federal government and Bundesrat, in which the states are directly represented. The book traces the initial creation of the states and federal government after World War II, the elections held over a sixty-five year period, the electoral arrangements instituted, and the party system and governments that have evolved.