Understanding Germany's federal structure is crucial to understanding contemporary Germany. The federal system shaped the way German unification was carried out, it shapes the way which policies are made, and it plays a role in determining the way in which Germany presents its priorities in the European Union. This first part establishes the context by setting out and analyzing the character of pre-unification West German federalism and the challenge posed for the federal system by German unification. The second part takes stock of key issues in the operation of post-unification federalism, including the policy process, the role of parties in federalism, conflicts of interest over financial allocations and the impact of deepening European integration. The final part offers a series of critical perspectives which address the long-term legacies of unification and the increasing pressures for reform which now beset the federal system.
Sprache
Verlagsort
Verlagsgruppe
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Zielgruppe
Für höhere Schule und Studium
Für Beruf und Forschung
Illustrationen
Maße
Höhe: 234 mm
Breite: 156 mm
Dicke: 22 mm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-1-85567-580-3 (9781855675803)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Part 1 Contexts: introduction - the institutional structures of German Federalism; territory and power - some historical determinants of the constitutional structure of the Federal Republic of Germany; centralizing trends in West German Federalism, 1949-1989; German unification and the Federal system - the challenge of reform; administrative reconstruction in the new Lander - the federal dimension. Part 2 Issues: federalism, legalism and political reality - the record of the Federal Constitutional Court; financial equalization in the 1990s - on the road back to Karlsruhe; rediscovering regional economic policy - new opportunities for the Lander in the 1990s; party competition and the federal system - the Lehmbruch hypothesis revisited; the effects of EU-integration on German Federalism; the transfederal relations of the East German Lander - the case of Brandenburg. Part 3 Critical perspectives: German federalism in comparative perspective; German federalism towards 2000 - to be reformed or deformed; efficiency, democracy and post-unification federalism in Germany - a critical analysis; from co-operative federalism to a "Sinatra Doctrine" of Lander?. Appendix: Federalism in the basic law.
