Circulation and Transformation of Elites in Autocracies: A Prosopographical Analysis of the Political-Administrative Elites in the GDR (PAE-DDR)
Project Overview
The project analyses elite circulation and change in autocracies via a prosopographical study of the political-administrative elites of the GDR. It bridges political science and sociological research on political elites with public-administration studies, coding the life courses of more than 2,000 executive politicians, party politicians and top civil servants in ministries, ministry-like bodies and SED organs between 1949 and 1990.
About the project
The analysis focuses on the intertwined political-administrative elite of state authorities and the SED party apparatus. It examines social and career biographies, political activities and system ties of both top bureaucrats and executive politicians in the GDR. The dataset covers the top three hierarchical tiers of ministerial leadership and SED party elites (Politburo and Central Committee of the SED members and candidates), using a detailed codebook to translate qualitative information from archival, directory and handbook sources into numeric variables. Functional equivalents harmonise position titles and educational credentials over time, building on existing prosopographical data for Germany after unification in 1990, West Germany, the Nazi regime, the Weimar Republic and the German Empire. This rich empirical resource forms the basis for descriptive and inferential analyses of, e.g., elite representativeness, turnover dynamics, and the politicization of bureaucracy.
The project is led by Prof. Dr. Sylvia Veit. The project team includes Dr. Anna Simstich, Bernhard Weidenbach and student researchers.
Letzte Änderung: 15. May 2025