Page 33 - The Making of the German Post-war Economy

6 THE MAKING OF THE GERMAN POST-WAR ECONOMY

pamphlets or political leaflets as underestimated but by all means
informative documentation illustrating abstracted political ideas. In doing
so, it is of particular importance to, initially, examine and consider both
the economic difficulties and the restricted political circumstances
inherent in times of occupation. Furthermore, the political aspect carries
another dimension, namely the rejection of authoritarianism and the
diminished credibility of political authorities and the media. These factors
shaped the prevailing mentality of the German people; this, in turn, had a
predetermining effect on both the character and the promotion of any
economic ideas.
The process of political communication examined in the first section
not only considers the demand for democratic political action, but also
shows that governance emphasising communication and thus discussion
was decisive in the formation of public opinion. Citizens’ preferences and
orientations towards issues of political substance, in turn, formed
guidelines for political conduct. Such a Habermasian deliberative,
discursive or participative democracy, however, required the informed
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citizen to commit himself to public deliberation and political affairs. It is
in this context of government for the people but also of government by the
people, and in accordance with the axiom of David Hume that
government is founded on public opinion, that Article 20 paragraph 2 of
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the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany – ‘Alle Staatsgewalt geht
vom Volke aus’ (all state authority shall be derived from the people) – must
be viewed. Due to this commitment and the importance of public
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acceptance as prerequisite for democracy, and thus also the
implementation of the Social Market Economy as a democratic economic
model for post-war Germany, one may therefore fundamentally expect an
increased government responsiveness to public will. With regard to public
opinion both about economic liberalisation and about the policy
responsiveness of the first parliament, i.e. the Economic Council, in post-
war West Germany between 1945 and 1949, ambiguity exists even in
scholarly writings and academic research; what little there is appears
contradictory and incomplete.
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Thus, the second section concerned with the subsequent
implementation of the prevailing Social Market Economy assesses public
opinion regarding the most salient aspects of economic liberalisation and
investigates whether the conduct of the Economic Council was in
accordance with the preferences of the German public. Where traceable,
the influence of interest groups and the general public on the political
decision-making process will be considered. In order quantitatively and
qualitatively to gauge both representative public opinion and policy
responsiveness over time, this research considers in the first instance the