Manfred G. Schmidt is Professor for Political Science at the University of Heidelberg. He has widely published on European and international politics. He was awarded the Stein Rokkan Prize for International Comparative Research and the Leibniz Prize. Gerhard A. Ritter is Professor emeritus for Social History at the University of Munich. He studied history and political science in Berlin and Oxford. He has been awarded honorary doctorates and prizes for his studies in German and comparative history. Lutz Leisering, the Editor, is Professor for Social Policy and Director at the Institute for World Society studies, University of Bielefeld. He took his Ph.D. at the London School of Economics. He has published widely on European and global social policy.

• L. Leisering: Introduction.- M. G. Schmidt: Social Policy in the German Democratic Republic: Introduction.- "Socialist Social Policy".- The Institutions of Social Policy in the GDR.- The Politics of Social Policy Under the Socialist Regime.- The Welfare State as Political Process: From Ulbricht to Honecker to German Unification.- Outcomes of Social Policies.- The GDR in Comparative Perspective: A Socialist Work and Welfare State.- Continuity and Discontinuity in GDR Social Policy.- G. A. Ritter: The Politics of German Unification - Social, Economic, Financial Constitutional and International Issues: Introduction.- The International Context of German Unification.- Social Policy in the Process of Unification.- The Economic, Financial and Constitutional Problems of Unification.

Manfred G. Schmidt is Professor for Political Science at the University of Heidelberg. He has widely published on European and international politics. He was awarded the Stein Rokkan Prize for International Comparative Research and the Leibniz Prize. Gerhard A. Ritter is Professor emeritus for Social History at the University of Munich. He studied history and political science in Berlin and Oxford. He has been awarded honorary doctorates and prizes for his studies in German and comparative history. Lutz Leisering, the Editor, is Professor for Social Policy and Director at the Institute for World Society studies, University of Bielefeld. He took his Ph.D. at the London School of Economics. He has published widely on European and global social policy.

• L. Leisering: Introduction.- M. G. Schmidt: Social Policy in the German Democratic Republic: Introduction.- "Socialist Social Policy".- The Institutions of Social Policy in the GDR.- The Politics of Social Policy Under the Socialist Regime.- The Welfare State as Political Process: From Ulbricht to Honecker to German Unification.- Outcomes of Social Policies.- The GDR in Comparative Perspective: A Socialist Work and Welfare State.- Continuity and Discontinuity in GDR Social Policy.- G. A. Ritter: The Politics of German Unification - Social, Economic, Financial Constitutional and International Issues: Introduction.- The International Context of German Unification.- Social Policy in the Process of Unification.- The Economic, Financial and Constitutional Problems of Unification.