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East Germany Selection and Training Procedures
At the Tenth Party Congress in 1981, SED party chief Honecker
stressed that "the continuous increase in the leading role of the
party in all spheres of society is an objective necessity." The
SED leadership holds that the "cadre question" is decisive and
that the best way to secure the party's "leading role" is to
train loyal cadres who demonstrate devotion to the party,
unconditional submission to the leadership, have the proper
qualifications, and undergo ideological instruction.
In practice, every member of the SED who is active within the
party or state apparatus must undergo continuous education during
the course of his or her political career. The organizational
backbone of the party is the cadre, the leadership at all levels
of the party organization. The selection and training of cadres,
carried out by the higher levels of the party apparatus, is
designed to strengthen internal party structures and to ensure
the unity of the SED.
Cadre selection is an involved procedure that begins with the
Nomenklatur (see Glossary),
a listing of the most critical
positions in the party and state apparatuses over which the party
exercises its appointment power. Because the Nomenklatur
system does not provide a means for determining which individuals
will ultimately qualify to take key positions in the party and
state apparatuses, the SED has employed three interrelated
programs for "long-term and purposeful cadre development." Known
as the cadre reservoir, cadre recruitment, and cadre reserve,
these programs attempt to meet the constant demand for recruits
in the dual party-government system. The cadre reservoir consists
of all graduates of institutions of higher education. By the time
they reach adolescence, students are required to demonstrate
whether or not they are interested in pursuing a career in the
cadre system. Through the FDJ and the FDGB, the party provides
those students interested in joining the cadre system with
special opportunities for developing such career interests and
skills. The FDJ is particularly important in this regard, having
provided a ladder of advancement for many leading members of the
East German Nomenklatur. Individuals who demonstrate the
motivation and ability for cadre training programs are moved into
cadre recruitment, the second phase of the system. Cadre
recruitment involves an extensive training program, which the
individual must complete in a period of two to five years,
depending on the nature of the position for which the candidate
undergoes training. At the time an individual is accepted into
the cadre recruitment program, usually upon graduation from a
secondary institution, the person's name is also entered on the
Nomenklatur, even though he or she cannot move into such a
position until formal completion of the recruitment program.
The final part of the program requires the trainee to undergo
a more intensive program in the cadre reserve, which prepares the
individual for entrance into the party or state apparatus. An
appropriate training program ensures that the individual will be
fully prepared to undertake full-time cadre responsibilities.
Although the duration of such a program varies, each trainee is
required to work within the guidelines of a "cadre plan" and a
long-term "cadre and educational program," both of which
terminate at the end of a five-year planning period.
Once they have entered the appropriate apparatus, party and
state functionaries are required to undergo extended periods of
additional training. Official training manuals recommend an
ongoing process of formal and informal training. The industrial
and technological nature of East German society requires that
political leaders have more than an awareness of technology,
science, and the principles of large-scale organization. Party
schools, the primary educational institutions for the cadres,
offer courses of instruction in Marxism-Leninism and the
technical and social sciences. An early 1980s listing of the
available institutions for advanced cadre training included
factory and regional schools of Marxism-Leninism, district party
schools, various correspondence study courses, five-year study
programs offering diplomas in the social sciences, and, finally,
participation in special lecture series and evening courses at
local educational institutions. For years, nearly all middle and
higher functionaries have been indoctrinated at party schools,
and to a great extent the same has been achieved for lower
functionaries. In the early 1980s, over 80 percent of the
approximately 80,230 party secretaries who headed the basic SED
organizations had spent more than a year at a party school, and
64.5 percent were graduates of universities or professional
schools.
Although it is difficult to evaluate in concrete terms the
results of the selection and training programs, the educational
level of the SED as a whole has risen substantially, as has the
educational level of members of the party and state apparatuses.
It is unclear to what extent subjective factors such as
personality and political and family connections may bias both
the administration and the outcomes of such programs. The
foremost need of the SED for individuals who can perform the
administrative and political work required by a complex society
is undisputed, however.
Data as of July 1987
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