The effects of the West German peace movement over the past 30 years have led to the development of a new concept of political participation in that country. Since 1950, a proliferation of protest movements has reflected a wide range of ideological, social, and geographic perspectives. Pacifist Protestants and the German Trade Union began sporadic activities in 1952 fearing that planned rearmament would result in permanent division of Germany. By 1957, scientists and scholars were protesting atomic weapons. Through the 1960s, the major avenue of dissent was the Easter March Movement which evolved from a vague peace movement to a vehicle for opposing the Viet Nam war. Protest at the end of the war in 1972 shifted toward nuclear energy and environmental hazards--issues that attracted new followers and sixties activists. The present peace movement is a coalition of groups. Its broad base of concerns, of which the 1983 deployment of U.S. missiles is most pressing, has contributed directly to the institutionalization of dissent through the "Green" and Alternative Parties. This institutionalization, in turn, should lead to changes in the political opportunity structure, as system parties incorporate protest concerns into their agendas in order to compete. (LP)