Transformation of the German political party system : institutional crisis or democratic renewal? / edited by Christopher S. Allen.

Papers of two workshops held at University of California, Berkeley and at the American Institute of Contemporary German Studies, Washington, DC.

Includes bibliographical references.

Ch. 1. Germany and the Comparative Political Party Experience: Sclerotic or Dynamic Institutions? / Christopher S. Allen -- Ch. 2. The Evolution and Transformation of the German Party System / Hans-Georg Betz -- Ch. 3. The German Party State: A Reassessment / Michaela W. Richter -- Ch. 4. Unification and the Changing Fortunes of Germany's Parties of the Far Right / John Leslie -- Ch. 5. Green Trumps Red? Political Identity and Left-wing Politics in United Germany / Andrei S. Markovits and Stephen J. Silvia -- Ch. 6. The Major Parties: Dealignment and Realignment in Post-Cold War Germany / Henry Kreikenbom -- Ch. 7. Agents of Democratization and Unification: Political Parties in the New German States / Ann L. Phillips -- Ch. 8. Institutional Elasticity in a Changing Political Order: The Eastern German Nonprofit Sector and Its Contribution to Political Integration / Wolfgang Seibel.

"Using German political parties as a prism with which to view institutional change, this collection evaluates the German experience by situating the German party system in its historical and international context. In particular, the contributors reflect upon the evolution of German political parties, assessing their responses to the major political events of the past century.

In the final analysis this volume shows that German political parties, in "dealing with the problems of integration and legitimation," reveal the "incompleteness of German unification amidst continuing Europeanization" (from the Introduction)."--BOOK JACKET.