Governance in Contemporary Germany: The Semisovereign State Revisited

by Edited by Simon Green , William E. Paterson

• ISBN13: 9780521848817
• ISBN10: 0521848814
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-07-25
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, West Germany was considered to be one of the world's most successful economic and political systems. In his seminal 1987 analysis of West Germany's 'semisovereign' system of governance, Peter Katzenstein attributed this success to a combination of a fragmented polity, consensus politics and incremental policy changes. However, unification in 1990 has both changed Germany's institutional configuration and created economic and social challenges on a huge scale. This volume therefore asks whether semisovereignty still exists in contemporary Germany and, crucially, whether it remains an asset in terms of addressing these challenges. By shadowing and building on the original study, an eminent team of British, German and American scholars analyses institutional changes and the resulting policy developments in key sectors, with Peter Katzenstein himself providing the conclusion. Together, the chapters provide a landmark assessment of the outcomes produced by one of the world's most important countries.

Table of Contents

List of figures	vii
List of tables	viii
List of contributors	ix
Acknowledgments	x
List of abbreviations	xi
Introduction: Semisovereignty Challenged	1	(20)
Simon Green
William E. Paterson
Institutional Transfer: Can Semisovereignty be Transferred? The Political Economy of Eastern Germany	21	(25)
Wade Jacoby
Political Parties	46	(32)
Thomas Saalfeld
Federalism: the New Territorialism	78	(16)
Charlie Jeffery
Shock-Absorbers Under Stress: Parapublic Institutions and the Double Challenges of German Unification and European Integration	94	(21)
Andreas Busch
Economic Policy Management: Catastrophic Equilibrium, Tipping Points and Crisis Interventions	115	(23)
Kenneth Dyson
Industrial Relations: From State Weakness as Strength to State Weakness as Weakness, Welfare Corporatism and the Private Use of the Public Interest	138	(27)
Wolfgang Streeck
Social Policy: Crisis and Transformation	165	(25)
Roland Czada
Immigration and Integration Policy: Between Incrementalism and Non-decisions	190	(22)
Simon Green
Environmental Policy: the Law of Diminishing Returns?	212	(27)
Charles Lees
Administrative Reform: Is Public Bureaucracy Still an Obstacle?	239	(22)
Klaus H. Goetz
European Policy-making: Between Associated Sovereignty and Semisovereignty	261	(22)
William E. Paterson
Conclusion: Semisovereignty in United Germany	283	(24)
Peter J. Katzenstein
References	307	(27)
Index	334