The Structure of the German Elites across Regime Changes

Germany is an especially apt case to analyze the relationship between regime change & elite continuity. Its political history between 1860 & 1960 is marked by an unusual degree of turmoil. While the first level of leadership in politics, & to a lesser degree in business & administration, was affected by the various regime changes, the levels two & three much less so. The notable characteristic of Germany's social structure is the pervasiveness of corporatism, & this is especially pronounced in levels two & three of the leadership. We concentrated on the periods before 1914, the halfway revolution of 1918-1920, the Weimar Republic in its closing days, the ascent to power of the Nazi leadership, the post-1945 attempts of de-Nazification, & finally on the composition & the modus operandi of leadership groups in the 1990s. During all these changes the elites in Germany retained their segmentalized character, with the economic leaders, the bureaucrats, & politicians at the center, the politicians deriving their influence from their function as linking agents in a segmentalized structure. There are indications, however, that an establishment may be in the making. 3 Tables, 78 References. Adapted from the source document.