Page 142 - The Making of the German Post-war Economy

POLITICS AND PUBLIC OPINION 115

Furthermore, petitions and resolutions by German individuals and
organisations sent to the Economic Council will serve as an indicator of
public opinion. The public sentiment also found its expression in various
activities, such as strikes and protests. Above all, the public debate
accompanying the then economic policy is also reflected in numerous
resolutions and articles in the daily press. Ultimately, the latter not only
delivered information to the public and, thus was an important element in
the process of public opinion formation, but it was also the main means of
expression of the public, constituting a virtual public. In addition, the
press was a general medium for more restricted means of expression, such
as associations, meetings, or demonstrations, whereas the public was
always, and nearly exclusively, a newspaper-reading public. While a
systematic quantitative content analysis did not prove to be viable due to
the small sample size, the author aims to consult a representative selection
of articles from numerous newspapers in order to qualitatively gauge the
balance of public opinion.
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To study the effects of public opinion on government policies, this
chapter simply suggests comparing prior majority opinion with subsequent
political decisions. Where traceable, the impact of various extra-political
actors, as an embodiment of public opinion, on the conduct of the
Economic Council shall be considered. While the influence of public
opinion on the political decision-making processes is very nebulous and it
is cautioned against concluding too quickly that there is a causality
between public opinion and policy, this chapter may also help clear the
fog in respect to how the Administration for Economics within the
Economic Council referred to public opinion when making political and
economic decisions. By examining the role of the public during the
liberalisation process and consequent implementation of the Social Market
Economy as the principal economic system for the Federal Republic of
Germany, this chapter seeks to contribute to historical understanding of
the political and economic reconstruction of post-war Germany.