ence of the NSDAP and its continued survival through the many lean years, depended to a large extent upon the peculiar democratic constitution of the Weimar republic. The system of direct proportional representation allowed fringe parties to thrive with only a handful of representatives in the Reichstag. A simple change to the constitution stating 5% of the poll is required to be eligible for Reichstag representation, would have quickly resulted in the disillusionment of NSDAP supporters as they languished in the electoral wilderness. A second flaw in the Weimar constitution which is easy to identify with hindsight, is that there was no requirement for parties standing in elections to commit themselves to democratic methods. This situation is not unique to Weimar Germany, but Hitler could denounce the democratic system with impunity, and then field candidates, as could a number of other extremist parties such as the communists. This constant verbal assault upon democratic methods damaged democracy in Weimar.
             The dysfunctional nature of Weimar democracy also aided the rise of Nazism. The Weimar republic started in chaos, spent much of its short life in chaos, and dissolved without putting up much resistance. In a mere 14 years it had 19 governments. It was unloved, tarnished by association with defeat, weakness, vacillation. Incidents such as the 1928 Muller government when the social democrats campaigned against a new pocket battleship, and then to save the government supported it, left a bad taste for many, not just social democrat supporters. It appeared to sum up the backstabbing un-German nature of democracy. When a strong hand was needed all the politicians had to offer was words and petty bickering. In order to make governmental apparatus function article 48 had to be frequently referred to in the early days of the republic, to drive through necessary currency reforms and other measures. This failure to make democracy work set ...