Suchergebnisse

Max Weber has typically been regarded as a central thinker in the liberal tradition of social analysis. At the same time, critics have long noted how his democratic commitments were compromised by his nationalism. Drawing on existing criticism, I discuss the importance of charismatic leadership in Weber's thought and its implications for his understanding of the process of democratization. Reconstructing core concepts in Weber's political thought, I analyze how Weber's concept of plebiscitarian leadership unites charismatic domination with nationalism and skepticism concerning effective democratic politics. I show how Weber's concept of plebiscitarian rule grew from deeply held political values and his engagement with German politics. I then generate propositions regarding the problem of democratization in regime transitions and apply them to contemporary charismatic leaders and ethno‐nationalist mobilization in post‐Communist transitions. I argue that as much as it anticipates the central dilemma of charismatic solutions to political crisis, Weber's thought favors nationalist and plebiscitarian responses to democratization that have been largely discredited by historical experience.

Comparative research offers some insights into the genesis of movements under highly repressive conditions in which dissident groups are systematically denied the organizational and political resources necessary to mount a sustained challenge to the state. During the 1970s and 1980s there were circles of dissidents in the German Democratic Republic (GDR, or East Germany), but most grievances were not expressed in an organized form, and there were few opportunities to mobilize protest against the Communist regime. State repression and party control of society meant that opposition had to be organized within institutions that were shielded from state control. Religious subcultures offered a rival set of identities and values while generally accommodating the demands of the regime. Within the free social space offered by the church, a peace movement developed during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The effort to build an independent citizens' peace movement based in the church played an important role in linking together various groups committed to nonviolent protest, peace, ecology, and human rights into a coherent, if still organizationally weak, opposition during the East German revolution of 1989.

This article analyzes social and penal control strategies in the GDR with special emphasis on the role of the Ministry for State Security (Stasi) in East German society, which by reinforcing party control of state and society through surveillance and political policing was an essential element of the socialist system. Empirical evaluation of the case of the GDR suggests that the carceral society Foucault imagined cannot achieve its aims of creating a self-regulating, obedient citizenry where a disciplinary regime diverges from popular values and aspirations. Such a regime may secure compliance so long as its power seems unassailable, but once its authority is threatened it may suddenly experience a revolt that is a more accurate reflection of popular sentiments. The citizens of the GDR adapted to the panoptic, disciplinary regime enforced by the Stasi by maintaining the outward appearance of conformity and compliance. At the same time, however, the state failed to penetrate the private lives of individuals. Ritualized manifestations of political loyalty hid the private break that increasing numbers of individuals had made with the regime. The withdrawal of psychological investment in public affairs was manifested in the active life of the niche society, a social sphere that eluded government control and remained partially opaque to the techniques of surveillance employed by the Stasi.