Democracy Imposed

Instead of studying what German political leaders and intellectuals thought about the US occupation, this text explores the response of the ordinary German people, analyzing data from public opinion surveys conducted largely by the American Military Government beginning in 1945. It poses questions such as "How successful was the United States in attempting to impose a democratic system on Germany after World War II?", and "Did US occupation policy actually change German society and attitudes?". Much has been written about the feasibility of externally directed programs to foster economic change in industrial nations or change in general in Third World countries. This book also assesses the actual impact of efforts to impose social change on a highly advanced foreign country. Merritt finds that ordinary Germans were actually more receptive to American reforms than were the German elites, and that imposing social change on a foreign people is difficult but not impossible if the population generally acknowledges the need for change. The book thus offers insights into the possible success of foreign intervention to effect social change in highly developed countries, an issue of increasing relevance with the emergence of extreme right-wing groups in Germany and elsewhere in modern times.