Out of the East
From PDS to Left Party in Unified Germany
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Chronicles how the SED, a once villified political party, transformed itself into a viable national political party.
Description
What happened to the ruling communist party of East Germany after the collapse of the Berlin Wall? The Left in Germany describes how the communist party's dissolution led to many of its core members founding a new party for a reuinified Germany. Over the last twenty years it has transformed many times, from the Socialist Unity Party to Party of Democratic Socialism to, finally, the successful Left party. Out of the East makes sense of these transitions, and reveals how a pariah party managed to survive and thrive in democracy.
David F. Patton is Professor of Government at Connecticut College. He is the author of Cold War Politics in Postwar Germany.