The fall of the Berlin Wall and the unification of East and West Germany have been at the heart of the wave of democratization that swept East Central Europe in the 1990s. They also marked the beginning of a new and difficult era of postwar German politics. Policy makers were suddenly charged with building a new political system and a viable economy in the eastern part of the newly united country, while East Germans instantly became citizens of a stable, well-functioning democracy and market economy. This chapter examines citizens' responses to these events. Specifically, we focus on economic conditions in East Germany after unification and how these affected popular support for the government. Based on monthly data for the period from 1991 to 1995, we trace the dynamics of public support for governing parties and their handling of the economy in East Germany. We seek to account for these dynamics with the help of theories developed in the research on economic voting and democratic transitions.

We first take a look back at the events leading up to and surrounding unification, as well as the economic and political situation in East and West Germany that resulted from it. These events provide the context in which we examine the relationship between economic conditions and government support and in which East Germans expressed opinions about the transition and the federal government.