Political culture and Social Democratic administration *

The political stability of democracy in developed, industrial-capitalist societies presupposes a certain form of political culture. Richard Lowenthal, one of the most influential social-democratic intellectuals of the older generation, has emphasized the importance of this connection. The statist administration of social problems, forms of action and values of the social base, becomes entangled in the problem that it can never be certain whether its solutions to problems will be experienced and accepted as such by those who are affected. In comparison with other Southern and West European countries, West Germany has a very limited fund of &s;pre-political&s; – national, socio-economic or cultural – collective identities which the policies of parties and governments could deploy as a repertoire of justifications and commonly-shared definitions of the public interest. The positive &s;Social Democratic Party (SDP) culture&s; that Peter Glotz wishes to regenerate cannot be reconciled with the organizational and administrative practices of the SDP.