New Elites in Old Parties

In the changing socio-economic conditions and political climate of the early 1980s in West Germany, a significant change in the composition and outlook of major party supporters, especially in the Social Democratic party, but also in the Christian Democratic opposition (CDU/ CSU) is discernible. Evidence is presented that traces the rise in leadership status and militancy of a new class of relatively more affluent, younger, better educated, and, especially, dogmatic party mid-élite participants. The emergence of the Green Party has destabilized the party system, causing young intellectuals (especially in the SPD) to align with it in articulating environmental and conservationist concerns, and to search for public forums rather than intra-organizational contexts in which to voice their positions.