Democracy Imposed

How successful was the United States in attempting to impose a democratic system on Germany after the Second World War? Did U.S. occupation policy actually change German society and attitudes? In this book Richard L. Merritt addresses these questions from a novel perspective. Instead of studying what German political leaders and intellectuals thought about the U.S. occupation, Merritt explores for the first time the response of the ordinary German people, analyzing data from public opinion surveys conducted largely by the American Military Government beginning in 1945.

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. But this book is unique in assessing the actual impact of efforts to impose social change on a highly advanced foreign country. What Merritt finds is 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 today.