Give-and-Take Politics
Chapter five focuses on instances of activism in the two villages to challenge the dominant understanding of rural politics in East and West as mirror images. It demonstrates that the remodelling of localities in postwar Germany provided the framework for a new kind of give-and-take politics which relied on a mutually beneficial partnership between citizens and the state. In the liberal democracy of the West as well as the socialist dictatorship of the East, dynamic local politicians created spaces for participation which were readily seized upon by local residents. Locals became more willing to volunteer their time and energy towards the remodelling of their locality, often partnering with, or at least expecting support from, state authorities. In return, they increasingly defended their own interests and held the welfare state to its promises. The localities of the divided Germany thus became the site of a new kind of give-and-take between citizens and state. Within the confines of the very different social and political systems, a parallel transformation of local politics in East and West occurred in the 1960s and 1970s.