Content area
Abstract
This dissertation demonstrates how relatively weak interests succeed in German politics. German social movements and the Greens overcome decision-making practices that exclude them, and opponents that possess much larger resources and organizational coherence. Social movements and the Greens succeed through setting the policy agenda.
Movement groups set the agenda by introducing new values into politics. Changes in values bring social change. A habermasian process of societal dialog and communicative action defines and validates new social values. This approach, called values advocacy, adds an explicit political dimension and so contrasts with the post-materialist society model of Inglehart (1977, 1990, 1997).
The dissertation finds that movement activity is necessary for the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation to adopt an environmental impact assessment policy and other environmental criteria in its foreign aid programs. This study adds to the manifesto data set developed by Budge, Robertson and Hearl (1987) and uses it to show that the Green Party strongly influences the election manifestos of Germany's major parties. The dissertation compares the state-level foreign aid programs of all West German states to show which political conditions best serve solidarity movement interests. This study uses the Euro-Barometer data set (Inglehart, Reif & Melich, 1994) to show the spread of postmaterialist values over time in Germany and in each state. The extent of post-materialist values poorly explains the observed changes in foreign aid policies and campaign platforms.
