Skip to main content
Log in

Democratic commitments are not always credible: Abortion and German reunification

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Comparative European Politics Aims and scope

Abstract

Can states make credible commitments to respect concessions they make as part of national reunification agreements? German leaders negotiating reunification in 1990 had to reconcile West Germany’s more restrictive abortion policy with East Germany’s more permissive one, and agreed in 1990 to a compromise that seemed to preserve first-trimester abortion on demand in the Eastern states. By 1993, however, that compromise had been undone and the formerly West German policy prevailed throughout the country. This history challenges the theory that commitments made by democratic regimes are credible, especially since there were a number of international and domestic factors present in this case that other scholars have identified as enhancing credibility. We investigate the trajectory of unification-era German abortion policy and make two arguments: the decision by West German leaders to undo their earlier concessions was conscious rather than accidental, and despite Western attempts to reach a compromise that Easterners would see as credible the prevailing view in the East during the negotiations was that the Western commitment was uncertain at best. We conclude with some broader speculation about reunification, and suggest that promises made by a larger partner during negotiations over national reunification have inherent credibility problems that democratic institutions cannot by themselves solve. This implies that future reunifications, for example between North and South Korea or China and Taiwan, may be even more difficult to negotiate than currently recognized.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Seventy-seven per cent of East Germans wanted to maintain the current abortion laws while 11 per cent favored the West German laws. East German leaders who said they believed that the agreement would preserve abortion rights in the Eastern states included de Maizière and Christa Schmidt, the Minister of Health and Family (‘Currency offer of one-for-one is lift for de Maiziere’, The Times, 24 April 1990; ‘A divisive issue of German unity: How to reconcile abortion laws’, New York Times, 19 July 1990).

  2. East Germans worry about future after vote, The Christian Science Monitor, 16 March 1990.

  3. Abortion law dilemma casts shadow on german unity: women fear their interests may be sacrificed to expediency, The Guardian, 19 June 1990.

  4. Abortion shifting German alliances, The New York Times, 26 August 1990.

  5. Two Germanys sign treaty that will make them one, The Toronto Star, 9 September 1990.

  6. Two Germanys sign treaty for unification, St. Petersburg Times, 1 September 1990.

  7. Kohl sweeps to victory: Jubilant Chancellor crowns year of triumphs with success in unified Germany’s historic poll, The Guardian, 3 December 1990.

  8. Kohl’s coalition threatened by abortion row, The Independent, 21 September 1990.

  9. Germany gives women the right to abortion; end of bitter dispute is a defeat for Kohl, The Washington Post, 26 June 1992.

  10. Members of the CSU and Catholic Church pledged to take the law to court before it was approved by the Bundesrat or signed by Chancellor Kohl (German row over abortion reform to go before court, The Washington Post, 26 June 1992).

  11. World in brief: Abortion law signed, The Globe and Mail, 24 July 1990.

  12. Granting an injunction before the law went into effect, the East and West maintained separate laws until the court could reach a final decision (German court blocks liberal abortion law, The Washington Post, 5 August 1992).

  13. The Constitutional Court threw out the new law and put an interim solution in place until a new one could be renegotiated in parliament. They required counseling aimed at saving the unborn child’s life and banned any state sanction except for medical complications, financial hardship and rape. The decision was broadcast on television and spurred protests immediately after (Court annuls Germany’s liberal law on abortion; angry reaction as country takes a step back into Middle Ages, The Independent, 29 May 1993 and German court rules most abortions illegal; punishment barred for early procedures with counseling, The Washington Post, 29 May 1993).

  14. Abortion laws changed again in 1995 after the CDU lost seats in the 1994 federal elections, but they remained more restrictive than those under the GDR, with abortion still technically illegal but, at the discretion of the parliament, not subject to criminal penalty for women who accept mandatory counseling sessions and a waiting period (Quint, 1997).

  15. Abortions, unrestricted in East Germany, become unification issue, The Washington Post, 14 May 1990.

  16. Germany faces abortion debate: Women in East prepare for fight to retain law West finds too liberal, The Globe and Mail, 8 October 1990.

  17. United they fall; Anna Tomforde finds out how Westernisation is affect Eastern German women, The Guardian, 6 May 1992.

  18. German court rules most abortions illegal; punishment barred for early procedures with counseling, The Washington Post, 29 May 1993.

  19. Furthermore, federalism as an institutional principle may not be enough to prevent political elites from undermining local autonomy when they are faced with partisan pressures to win factional battles (Kollman, 2013; Tillin, 2014).

  20. The case of German reunification also, as it happens, shows that stronger states are unrestrained on issues that are outside the range of what democracies typically accept. After reunification, German courts applied West German legal standards to East German border guards who had committed ‘unconscionable’ acts even though those acts were legal – indeed compulsory for them – at the time (Gabriel, 1999), using Western legal principles to supplement the ‘ambiguities’ of controlling precedent (Herdegen, 1994).

References

  • Abdelal, R. and Kirshner, J. (1999) Strategy, economic relations, and the definition of national interests. Security Studies 9(1–2): 119–156.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Banaszak, L.A. (1998) East-West differences in German abortion opinion. Public Opinion Quarterly 62: 545–582.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bednar, J. (2007) Valuing exit options. Publius: The Journal of Federalism 37(2): 190–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Broschek, J. (2012) Historical institutionalism and the varieties of federalism in Germany and Canada. Publius: The Journal of Federalism 42(4): 662–687.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bush, R.C. (2013) Uncharted Strait: The Future of China-Taiwan Relations. Washington DC: Brookings Institution Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carnegie, A. (2014) States held hostage: Political hold-up problems and the effects of international institutions. American Political Science Review 108(1): 54–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cha, V. and Anderson, N. (2013) North Korea after Kim Jong Il. In: K.-A. Park and S. Snyder (eds.) North Korea in Transition: Politics, Economy, and Society. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Checkel, J.T. (1997) International norms and domestic politics: Bridging the rationalist–constructivist divide. European journal of International Relations 3(4): 473–495.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Choi, S. (2001) Divided states: Reunifying without conquest. In: I.W. Zartman (ed.) Preventive Negotiation. Avoiding Conflict Escalation. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, pp. 91–112.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chung, J.H. and Choi, M.-h. (2013) Uncertain allies or uncomfortable neighbors? Making sense of China–North Korea relations, 1949–2010. The Pacific Review 26(3): 243–264.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cortell, A.P. and Davis, Jr. J.W. (1996) How do international institutions matter? The domestic impact of international rules and norms. International Studies Quarterly 40(4): 451–478.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Czarnowski, G. (1994) Abortion as political conflict in the unified Germany. Parliamentary Affairs 47(2): 252–267.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dai, X. (2006) The conditional nature of democratic compliance. Journal of Conflict Resolution 50(5): 690–713.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Einhorn, B. (1991) Where have all the women gone? Women and the women’s movement in East Central Europe. Feminist Review 39: 16–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elster, J. (2004) Closing the Books: Transitional Justice in Historical Perspective. Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Eser, A. (1986) Reform of German abortion law: First experiences. The American Journal of Comparative Law 34(2): 369–383.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, P. (2005) Abortion in post-communist Germany: The end of Muttipolitik and a still birth for feminism. Women's Studies International Forum 28(1): 21–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gabriel, M.J. (1999) Coming to terms with the East German border guards cases. Columbia Journal of Transnational Law 38: 375.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garrett, G. (1993) The politics of Maastricht. Economics & Politics 5(2): 105–123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glendon, M.A. (1987) Abortion and Divorce in Western Law. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gruber, L. (2000) Ruling the World: Power Politics and the Rise of Supranational Institutions. Princeton University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hämäläinen, P.K. (1994) Uniting Germany: Actions and Reactions. Sudbury, MA: Dartmouth Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, S.S. (2003) Korean Endgame: A Strategy for Reunification and U.S. Disengagement. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herdegen, M.J. (1994) Unjust laws, human rights, and the German constitution: Germany’s recent confrontation with the past. Columbia Journal of Transnational Law 32: 591.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ji, Y.-S. (2001) Conflicting Visions for Korean Reunification. Unpublished Paper. Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University.

  • Jung, J.K. and Rector, C. (2012) South Korea’s reunification dilemmas. Asian Politics & Policy 4(4): 487–505.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jung, J.K. and Rector, C. (2014) Pathways of national reunification in Germany, Yemen, and Korea. Pacific Focus 29(2): 211–236.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kastner, S.L. and Rector, C. (2008) National unification and mistrust: Bargaining power and the prospects for a PRC/Taiwan agreement. Security Studies 17(1): 39–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kollman, K. (2013) Perils of Centralization: Lessons from Church, State, and Corporation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kommers, D.P. (1994) The federal constitutional court in the German political system. Comparative Political Studies 26(4): 470–491.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kreppel, A. (2011) Looking ‘up’,‘down’and ‘sideways’: Understanding EU institutions in context. West European Politics 34(1): 167–179.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Landfried, C. (1992) Judicial policy‐making in Germany: The federal constitutional court. West European Politics 15(3): 50–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leeds, B.A., Mattes, M. and Vogel, J.S. (2009) Interests, institutions, and the reliability of international commitments. American Journal of Political Science 53(2): 461–476.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Libman, A. (2012) Sub-national political regimes and asymmetric fiscal decentralization. Constitutional Political Economy 23(4): 302–336.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lipson, C. (2003) Reliable Partners: How deMocracies Have Made a Separate Peace. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, L.L. (2000) Democratic Commitments: Legislatures and International Cooperation. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Mattern, M.G. (1991) German abortion law: The unwanted child of reunification. Loyola of Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Review 13: 643.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mazzucelli, C. (1997) France and Germany at Maastricht: Politics and Negotiations to Create the European Union. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Merkl, P.H. (1993) German Unification in the European Context. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, M.B. (2012) Transitional justice and democratic consolidation in Eastern Europe. Doctoral Dissertation, Political Science, University of California, San Diego.

  • Mushaben, J.M. (1997) Concession or compromise? The politics of abortion in United Germany. German Politics 6(3): 70–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Niederhafner, S. (2012) Germany’s unification strategy and Korea’s unification perspectives (January 26), http://ssrn.com/abstract=2193877.

  • Paik, H. (2013) Changes and continuities in inter-Korean relations. In: K.-A. Park and S. Snyder (eds.) North Korea in Transition: Politics, Economy, and Society. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Plock, E.D. (1993) East German-West German Relations and the Fall of the GDR. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prützel-Thomas, M. (1993) The abortion issue and the federal constitutional court. German Politics 2(3): 467–484.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prützel-Thomas, M. (1995) The abortion issue since unification: Are women the losers? Debatte 3(2): 105–120.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quint, P.E. (1997) The Imperfect Union: Constitutional Structures of German Unification. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rattinger, H. (1994) Attitudes towards the abortion law in Germany, 1990–1992: Determinants and political implications. German politics 3(2): 249–264.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rector, C. (2009) Federations: The Political Dynamics of Cooperation. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Riemer, J. (1993) Reproduction and reunification: The politics of abortion in united Germany. In: M. Huelshoff and A. Markovits (eds.) The New Germany in the New Europe. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenfeld, R.A., Trappe, H. and Gornick, J.C. (2004) Gender and work in Germany: Before and after reunification. Annual Review of Sociology 30: 103–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sandholtz, W. (1993) Choosing union: Monetary politics and Maastricht. International Organization 47(1): 1–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sartori, A. (2005) Deterrence by Diplomacy. Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saunders, P.C. and Kastner, S.L. (2009) Bridge over troubled water? Envisioning a China-Taiwan peace agreement. International Security 33(4): 87–114.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwartzberg, M. (2007) Democracy and Legal Change. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Shin, J.-W. (2014) Lessons from German reunification for inter-Korean relations: An analysis of South Korean public spheres, 1990–2010. Asian Perspective 38(1): 61–88.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simmons, B.A., Dobbin, F. and Garrett, G. (2006) Introduction: The international diffusion of liberalism. International Organization 60(4): 781–810.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Slantchev, B.L. (2006) Politicians, the media, and domestic audience costs. International Studies Quarterly 50(2): 445–477.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, H.W. (1991) Socialism and nationalism in the East German revolution, 1989–1990. East European Politics and Societies 5(2): 234–246.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sutter, D. (1995) Settling old scores potholes along the transition from authoritarian rule. Journal of Conflict Resolution 39(1): 110–128.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Svolik, M. (2006) Lies, defection, and the pattern of international cooperation. American Journal of Political Science 50(4): 909–925.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Szabo, S. (1992) The Diplomacy of German Unification. New York: St. Martin’s Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tafel, H.L. (2011) Regime change and the federal gamble: Negotiating federal institutions in Brazil, Russia, South Africa, and Spain. Publius: The Journal of Federalism 41(2): 257–285.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tillin, L. (2014) Explaining territorial change in federal democracies: A comparative historical institutionalist approach. Political Studies, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-9248.12118/full.

  • Urpelainen, J. (2012) How does democratic accountability shape international cooperation? Conflict Management and Peace Science 29(1): 28–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • The Unification Treaty (1991) The Unification of Germany in 1990. Bonn, Germany: Press and Information Office of the Federal Government, 184S.

  • Uzonyi, G., Souva, M. and Golder, S.N. (2012) Domestic institutions and credible signals1. International Studies Quarterly 56(4): 765–776.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vanberg, G. (1998) Abstract judicial review, legislative bargaining, and policy compromise. Journal of Theoretical Politics 10(3): 299–326.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vanberg, G. (2005) The Politics of Constitutional Review in Germany. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiliarty, S.E. (2010) The CDU and the Politics of Gender in Germany: Bringing Women to the Party. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Woo, S. (2003) South Korea’s search for a unification strategy. Orbis 47(3): 511–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ziblatt, D. (2008) Structuring the State: The Formation of Italy and Germany and the Puzzle of Federalism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chad Rector.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Jahr, E., Rector, C. Democratic commitments are not always credible: Abortion and German reunification. Comp Eur Polit 14, 645–662 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1057/cep.2014.46

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/cep.2014.46

Keywords

Navigation