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East Germany Alliance Policy
East Germany follows the pattern of the Hungarian,
Czechoslovak, and Polish "multiparty" systems in permitting the
existence of small parties that accept the leadership of the
ruling communist party and are its allies in the construction of
socialism. In all cases, the parties merely exist to further the
goals of the ruling Marxist-Leninist party and have no
opportunity for genuine independent political action. In East
Germany, this system is known as the Alliance Policy
(Bündnispolitik), and the four parties subordinate to the
SED are known as "alliance parties." These are the Christian
Democratic Union (Christlich-Demokratische Union--CDU), the
Liberal Democratic Party of Germany (Liberal-Demokratische Partei
Deutschlands--LDPD), the Democratic Peasants' Party of Germany
(Demokratische Bauernpartei Deutschlands--DBD), and the National
Democratic Party of Germany (National-Demokratische Partei
Deutschlands--NDPD)
(see Council of Ministers
, this ch.;
fig. 10.). In 1982 the small parties registered the following
memberships: the CDU--125,000; the LDPD--82,000; the DBD--
103,000; and the NDPD--91,000. In contrast to the one-party
system in the Soviet Union, these smaller parties assist the SED
in reaching certain key sectors of the community, such as the
intelligentsia, businessmen, and manufacturers who are not
members of the SED. Their chief function is securing the support
of these groups for the aims of the party and the state and
integrating into the socialist system citizens who are critical
of the SED or who, because of their social and/or political
background, cannot secure or achieve membership in the SED.
Although represented in the People's Chamber, the alliance
parties do not compete with SED delegates for seats or power.
Data as of July 1987
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