传统的德意志特殊道路理论认为,自19世纪起,德意志便走了一条“偏离西方但最终回归西方”的特殊道路。然而,把德意志特殊道路起源放在19世纪的说法遭到许多质疑。不少学者认为,以普鲁士为代表的专制主义传统至少可以追溯到16世纪。16~19世纪德意志历史发展所体现出的政治发展的多元性和近代早期议会制的民主性表明:除专制主义 The traditional German theory of special roads argues that since the 19th century, Germany has taken a special path of “deviating from the West but eventually returning to the West.” However, the argument that the German special road originated in the 19th century was questioned. Many scholars believe that the tradition of despotism, represented by Prussia, can be traced back at least to the 16th century. The pluralism of political development as reflected by the historical development of Germany in the 16th and 19th centuries and the democratization of the parliamentary system in early modern history show that except for despotism