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Societal Transformation and Programmatic Change in the CDU

2013; Routledge; Volume: 22; Issue: 1-2 Linguagem: Alemão

10.1080/09644008.2013.795551

1743-8993

Pierre Baudry,

Political Influence and Corporate Strategies

Abstract This article places the changing policy profile of the CDU into the context of the gradual transformation of German society since the 1970s and especially since unification in 1990. It argues that in order to understand key areas where the CDU has reformed its programme, we must first understand the broader, meta-level trends in society. In its main section, the article sketches out the long-term changes that have occurred in three principal areas (demographics, labour market outcomes and the economic status and the role of women), and relates these to debates that have taken place in the CDU's programmatic profile. The article therefore concludes that consideration of the societal context complements agency-based explanations for programmatic change. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This article draws on a research project on the CDU funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)'s Promoting German Studies in the UK programme and I gratefully acknowledge the DAAD's generous support. I would also like to thank Roland Czada, Ed Turner and Anneliese Dodds, as well as two anonymous referees, for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this piece. Notes CDU Deutschlands, 'Beschluss des 17. Parteitages der CDU Deutschlands 2003: "Deutschland fair ändern"', available from http://www.cdu.de/doc/pdfc/deutschlandfairaendern.pdf (accessed 1 March 2012). C. Clemens, 'Modernisation or Disorientation? Policy Change in Merkel's CDU', German Politics 18/2 (2009), pp. 121–39; also W. Schroeder and A. Neumann, 'Die CDU in der Großen Koalition: auf dem Weg zu einer neuen strategischen Zeitgenossenschaft', in S. Bukow and W. Seemann (eds), Die Große Koalition: Regierung – Politk – Parteien, 2005–2009 (Wiesbaden: VS Verlag, 2010), pp.262–84; U. Jun, 'Volksparteien under Pressure: Challenges and Adaptation', German Politics 20/1 (2011), pp. 200–22; F. 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