Corporatism and ‘Political Context’ in the Federal Republic of Germany

The corporatist-pluralist debate is explored as it applies to the Federal Republic of Germany. It is argued that the Federal Republic has an ‘accommodationalist’ political structure in which elements that resemble both corporatism and pluralism may be found. Corporatism and pluralism really explain two fundamentally different phenomenon. It is implicitly and explicitly argued that the mutual exclusivity of corporatism and pluralism, widely taken for granted in the literature, is more apparent than real. The apparent tension between the two models results from the epistemological parameters that are engaged in the process of model building. The empirical basis for the discussion stems from an in-depth analysis of present industrial policies.