On The German Social Democratic Party From The Political Party Of The Working Class To The " People's Party " In Transition

The West German SPD is the first proletarian party and also one of the centuries-old parties in power. While most of political parties, which were established in the times the SPD shares, have either broken down or failed in a general election, the SPD still continues to be influential in Germany and even in the World. In more than one hundred years, it indeed is a problem worthy of research for the SPD how to survive and develop. However, as to this aspect, there is a little in researches on Social Democracy and the Third Way. In 1959, the adoption of a new "fundamental program", Godesberg Program, characterizes the transformation from the proletarian party to the people's party and thence the SPD gradually becomes one of the most influential parties in the west world. This thesis will explore something in this political phenomenon.By means of historical and systematic research, built on the in-depth analysis of the SPD's transformation, this thesis has discussed a variety of factors resulting in the successful transformation and drawn a conclusion: in order to keep pace with the times, any party in power or longing for power must continually adapt itself to changing conditions in the way that the party actively opens itself up to broad segments of the society.