German Federalism in Transition
Federalism in Germany has come to be viewed as the root cause of the countrys current economic and social malaise. The federal political system which contributed enormously to the economic success and political stability of West Germany is said to be outdated, overburdened and unworkable. German federalism is now widely seen as being synonymous with Reformstau (reform blockage) and Stillstand (inertia). Critics argue that the system urgently needs to change if Germany is to continue to compete in the global era.
This major new text offers a unique scholarly evaluation of the recent major attempts to overhaul Germanys federal political architecture. It brings together thematic chapters by leading authorities on German federalism to provide a comprehensive assessment of the reform processes to date, their inception, scope, objectives and outputs. The contributions provide new insights into the dynamics of reform in key policy areas such as economic policy, Europe and the tax equalisation system, as well as in the institutional frameworks for decision-making. It will be essential reading for students of Germany, its politics, law and economics.
This book was published as a special issue of German Politics.
Carolyn Moore is the Deputy Director of the Institute of German Studies, Department of Political Science and International Studies, University of Birmingham, UK.
Wade Jacoby is Professor of Political Science, Brigham Young University, USA.
First published 2010 by Routledge
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2010 International Association for the Study of German Politics
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
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ISBN10: 0-415-56137-X
ISBN13: 978-0-415-56137-2
KATRIN AUEL is a University Lecturer in Politics at the University of Oxford and a Fellow at Mansfield College, Oxford. Her research focuses mainly on questions of democratic legitimacy in systems of multilevel governance. She is currently working on German federalism and on parliamentary delegation and accountability in European affairs.
ARTHUR BENZ has been a Professor of Political Science at University of Hagen since 1999. He taught previously at the Universities of Konstanz and Halle-Wittenberg. As a visiting researcher, he worked at the Max-Planck Institute for the Study of Societies in Cologne (1990/91) and at Carleton University in Ottawa (2007/08). In 2003/2004 he participated as an expert adviser to the joint commission of the Bundestag and Bundesrat on the reform of German federalism.
SIMONE BURKHART studied Public Administration at the University of Konstanz and Prague and received her PhD in Political Science from the University of Cologne in 2007. Her areas of research include German federalism and legislative politics. Her work has been published in Legislative Studies Quarterly, German Politics, Politische Vierteljahresschrift and Zeitschrift fr Politikwissenschaft .
ANNEGRET EPPLER is a Lecturer and Researcher at the Institute of Political Science, University of Tbingen and is currently completing her doctoral thesis on the Europeanisation of federal structures in Europe.
ARTHUR B. GUNLICKS is Professor Emeritus, University of Richmond, Virginia, where he has taught courses in political science, especially on European politics. He is the author of The Lnder and German Federalism , Manchester University Press, 2003 and Local Government in the German Federal System , Duke University Press, 1986 and the contributing editor of several other books, including German Public Policy and Federalism , Berghahn Books, 2003. He has also published numerous articles and book chapters on German federalism, campaign finance, and political parties.
MARCUS HRETH is a Research Associate and Lecturer at the Institute of Political Science and Sociology, University of Bonn. He was a Visiting Scholar at the Georgetown University Law Center, Washington D.C. in 2005. His main research interests in the field of comparative politics are the European Union and German Federalism. His most recent work compares the European Court of Justice and the U.S. Supreme Court.
WADE JACOBY is Professor of Political Science at Brigham Young University, Provo, USA where he also directs the Center for the Study of Europe.
CHARLIE JEFFERY is Professor of Politics at the University of Edinburgh. He has written on German federalism, and its various non-reforms, for around twenty years.
BEATE JOCHIMSEN is currently Assistant Professor at the Department of Economics of the Free University of Berlin. She teaches various aspects of public finance and has research interests in fiscal federalism, public choice, bureaucracy and European integration.
PHILIP MANOW is Professor for Political Science at the University of Konstanz. Research interests include: German political system, comparative welfare state research, political economy, political corruption, European integration. Philip Manow has published in Comparative Political Studies, West European Politics, Legislative Studies Quarterly and European Journal for Political Research .
CAROLYN MOORE is a Lecturer in German and European Politics and Deputy Director of the Institute for German Studies, University of Birmingham.
THIE PETERSEN is Project Manager on The demographic change campaign of the Bertelsmann Stiftung in Gtersloh, Germany. His main research interests are the consequences of demographic change on economic development and public finances.
FRITZ W. SCHARPF is Director Emeritus of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies in Cologne, Germany. His recent research included comparative studies of economic and social policies in OECD countries and studies of multi-level government in Germany and the European Union.
HENRIK SCHELLER is Project Manager on The demographic change campaign of the Bertelsmann Foundation in Gtersloh, Germany. He is responsible for a project on the implications for Germanys financial system of demographic change. He is also Associate Chair of Politics and Government in Germany and Europe at the University of Potsdam.
OLE WINTERMANN is a Project Director for the Bertelsmann Stiftung. He was awarded his doctoral degree (D. Phil) in 2005 for work based on an empirical comparison of the Swedish and German social welfare states. Besides his interests in demographic change, he also focuses on public funding and finance, as well as comparative research in the nonprofit sector.
DANIEL ZIBLATT is Associate Professor of Government at Harvard University. His research focuses on federalism, democratization, state-building, and electoral politics. Ziblatt is the author the prize-winning book Structuring the State: The Formation of Italy and Germany and the Puzzle of Federalism (Princeton, 2006) as well as articles published in journals including World Politics, German Politics and Society and Politische Vierteljahresschrift .
