Synopses & Reviews
This volume offers a detailed account of German political institutions as they have developed over the last decades. Each of the individual chapters, written by leading German specialists, provides a balanced assessment of the institution under consideration as well as the more recent political research in the given field. The extended introductory chapter gives an overview of how the institutional system of the Federal Republic has combined the conflicting tasks of political stability and adaptation.
Synopsis
After an extended period of major political upheaval and remarkably low regime stability before the Second World War, Germany has become one of the most stable democracies in western Europe. A great deal of this success has traditionally been put down to the Federal Republic's specific brand of political institutions. More recently, however, the same institutions have been criticized for their marked propensity to produce gridlock and political immobility. How much change and adaptation has there been behind the widespread perception of the eternal stability' of the Federal Republic's institutional system? What effect have German unification and European integration had on the performance of the core political institutions, and how well prepared is the German polity to face the challenges of the twenty-first century? The views of nine distinguished German scholars are assembled in this volume, and they offer their assessments of the German political core institutions from a broad historical perspective.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 205-224) and index.
About the Author
Ludger Helms is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the Humboldt University of Berlin.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Institutional Change and Adaptation in a Stable Democracy--Ludger Helms * The Bundestag: Still The Center of Decision-Making?--Klaus von Beyme * The Federal Presidency: Parameters of Presidential Power in a Parliamentary Democracy--Wolfgang Rudzio * The Federal Government: Variation of Chancellor Dominance--Karlheinz Niclauss * The Federal Constitutional Court: Institutionalizing Judicial Review in a Semisovereign Democracy--Ludger Helms * The Federal System: Breaking Through the Barriers of Interlocking Federalism?--Roland Sturm * The Electoral System: More Continuity than Change--Eckhard Jesse * Monetary Institutions: Maintaining Independence in Times of Fiscal Stress--Uwe Wagschal * Parties and the Party System: Pluralization and Functional Change within Limits--Oskar Niedermayer * Interest Groups: Continuity and Change of German Lobbyism since 1974--Martin Sebaldt