Democratizing Technology: Citizen & State in West German Energy Politics, 1974-1990

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Abstract
In West Germany, mass energy protests of the past two decades reopened the question of the citizen's proper role in technological decision making. This case study analyzes the politics of energy policy, where grassroots activists challenged not only policy decisions themselves but also the legitimacy of the bureaucratic institutions that produced them. The author finds that citizen activism raised the technical competence of the bureaucracy in the making of energy policy, but also eroded the legitimacy of the traditional policy-making institutions. She turns to the theories of Jürgen Habermas and Claus Offe to explore the legitimation aspects of the case.

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