Social Stratification and Mobility in West Germany

By means of a nation-wide sample survey, the social stratification and patterns of social mobility of West Germany were investigated as well as the consequense of social mobility on selected aspects of social and political behavior. These data underline the continuity of the present social structure with that of the prewar period but also record the extensive upward and downward personal social mobility of individual Germans. West Germany has a social structure similar to that of other Western industrialized countries, but, as compared with the United States, its unique circumstances has produced distinctive features. The consequences of social mobility in West Germany seem to be at least temporarily contributing to greater social consensus.