Bøger i New Perspectives in German Political Studies serien

This book offers a systematic, theory-based, and empirically grounded introduction to the political system of Germany. Compared to other textbooks on government and politics in Germany, it has two particular benefits. First, it analyzes the individual dimensions of the German political system from a uniform theoretical perspective based on the well-known distinction between majoritarian and consensus democracy. Second, it particularly explains how political decision-making in the multi-level system takes place, including the local, state, federal as well as EU levels. This way, the book provides a comprehensive, detailed, and clear picture of how German democracy is organized and how it works.

This book investigates the parliamentary negotiation of executive secrecy. Parliaments depend on information to fulfil their roles as the people¿s representatives, legislators and overseers of the executive. However, there are examples of executive secrecy across all policy fields. How, then, do parliamentary actors try to reconcile secrecy and the normative demands of an open, democratic society? This volume analyses parliamentary arguments, conflicts and patterns of agreement around this topic in the case of Germany. Based on two case studies ¿ intelligence agencies secrecy and Public Private Partnership secrecy ¿ it argues that substantive justifications of secrecy focusing on necessity are highly contested. By contrast, procedural legitimation of secrecy, namely deciding about it democratically, is crucial. Still, there are inherent limits to the legitimation of executive secrecy. The book therefore underlines the fragility of secrecy¿s legitimation, and its need for constant actualisation.

On October 3, 1990 the future of both Europe and Germany became powerfully and inexorably intertwined across a politically broadened continent powering transformative social, political and economic interactions. The thirty year mark after the then reigning chancellor Helmut Kohl promised 'flourishing landscapes' in the former GDR is more than just a new anniversary from which mandatory reflections must follow. Arguably, it represents a temporal boundary between the adjustments and reactions conditioned and captivated by a sense of something new and uncertain, and that point moving forward from which unification¿s legacy inescapably tethers Germany¿s future to normal politics shaped by the issues of the moment, and not politics gripped by the debates of unification itself. That legacy is defined by an accumulation over thirty years of adjustments, mutations, counter-adjustments and strategic reactions which have now delivered through the many ripples of change a Germany managing thecourse-trajectory which unification has relentlessly plotted. The foreseeable future will certainly see that legacy of unification tenaciously continue to project yet shrouded within the background of Germany¿s routine politics. This volume explores that legacy within the post-unification era and reflects on the way forward into a near-term German future no longer consumed with unification itself but with the reality of politics it has steadily defined.

¿This book provides an account of the reforms undertaken in German federalism throughout the 2000¿s. It explores the consequences of the historic changes made to the German federal order through detailed analysis of a set of unique case study areas. It also evaluates the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic on German federalism, and the relationship between party politics and federalism in Germany. The authors investigate what happens when policy responsibility is decentralized. The reforms undertaken in Germany fundamentally altered the roles played by the federal and state-level governments in several policy fields, and the question as to what kind of impact this has for policy itself is a global one. In a world that sees an increasing trend towards the decentralization of political authority, this book offers insights and lessons that have a practical application on a global scale. It will find the interest of students and scholars in countries worldwide which are grappling with thenature of policy responsibility across levels of political authority.

This book provides a systematic overview of the prevalence, causes, and stability of left-wing and right-wing extremist attitudes in Germany between 1994 and 2017.

A comparative analysis of an old and new EU Member State's perceptions of and contributions to EU security and defence. This book focuses on change and continuity in both countries' defence policies and where convergence and divergence has occurred. This has important implications for the EU's effectiveness as an international security actor.

This study assesses the influence of German policy makers on EU policy and the impact of EU membership on foreign policy making at the national level. The book concludes that limitations remain on the Europeanization of German foreign and security policy and Germany's ability to play a leading role in military crisis management.

This book examines the impact on member states of long-term foreign policy co-operation through the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).

Notwithstanding its contemporary critics, political representation remains at the core of democratic politics.

This book builds upon our knowledge of the far-reaching economic, political and social effects of the Euro crisis on the European Union by providing a unique study of European identities.

Migration expert Bastian Vollmer explores the contentious issue of irregular migration in the highly-charged contexts of Germany and the UK. Through policy and discourse analysis the author explains why, despite the differing contexts and migration histories, German and British policy responses to the issue are now on a convergent path.

An analysis of think-tanks in Britain and Germany and their role in the re-making of the British Labour party and Germany's Social Democrats as 'Third Way' parties. The part that think-tanks played in the creation of the the 'workfare state' in the 1990s and 2000s is also explored in this book.

Political Parties and Public Policy in the German Lander considers the extent to which, and in what circumstances, political parties affect public policy. Exploring the regional level in Germany; using case studies in the areas of education, childcare and family, and labour market policy.

Investigates the transformation of German labour market policy, showing that Germany has departed from the conservative-corporatist path of welfare, especially with the Hartz Legislation of the Red-Green government.

Phantoms of War in Contemporary German Literature, Films and Discourse offers an up-to-date and comprehensive analysis of fundamental shifts in German cultural memory.

Wittlinger takes a fresh look at German national identity in the 21st century and shows that it has undergone considerable changes since unification in 1990. Due to the external pressures of the post-cold war world and recent domestic developments, Germany has re-emerged as a nation which is less hesitant to assert its national interest.

This book traces shifting attitudes towards science and technology, nature and the environment in Twentieth-century Germany. It approaches them through discussion of a range of literary texts and explores the philosophical influences on them and their political contexts, and asks what part novels and plays have played in environmental debate.

This book examines a range of public debates on the Nazi legacy in Germany since Schroeder's SDP-Green coalition came to power in 1998. A central theme is the 'dialectic of normality' whereby references to Nazi past impact upon present normality. The book is a valuable resource for students of contemporary German politics, history and culture.

This is the first book in either English or German to analyse the development of Germany's newest political party, the Left Party. It compares and contrasts the party's development with that of Germany's most well-known outsider party - the Greens. It also analyses the party's performance in office in two eastern German Lander.

What will German foreign policy look like in 2015? This book speculates by making a provocative argument: what drives German foreign policy is its power position in Europe and on the international stage. Crawford examines Germany's manoeuvres in the Balkans, its role in EMU, and its leadership in curbing Europe's proliferation of WMD technology.

Schweiger outlines the changes in British and German European policies which have been characteristic of a process of normalization in both countries. Schweiger examines possible areas for cooperation between Britain and Germany on major European issues and the significance that such a working partnership could have within the enlarged EU.

This book examines the role of the masses in the collapse of the East German regime and state in 1989 in the northern district of Schwerin.

This is the first full-length study in English of the New Right in Germany and it breaks new ground by considering the New Right as a political and a cultural movement. The book examines the often contradictory motives that feed into New Right political pronouncements and explores the cultural thinking that feeds into extreme political commitment.

This new interpretation analyzes some of the central enigmatic features of his writing, arguing that they result from the co-presence of religious scepticism and the desire for a religious foundation of social life.

Combining new thinking in International Relations theory with original historical research, Kleuters explores the struggle between Christian Democrats and Social Democrats on the subject of German reunification, from Westbindung to Ostpolitik. The result is a gripping narrative focussing on theoretical relevance in foreign policy decisions-making.

This book provides the first systematic and comparative analysis of the German right-wing populist protest movement "PEGIDA". It offers an in-depth reconstruction of the movement's historical development, its organisational structure and its programmatic orientation. It depicts the protestors and their motivations, reactions in politics, media and society, and PEGIDA's European network. The volume presents and compares the results of scientific surveys among PEGIDA-participants and brings them into the context of long-time studies on political culture in Germany, representing a comprehensive study of the emergence of contemporary right-wing populist movements. The book will be of interest to researchers, academics and students focusing on comparative politics, (right-wing) populism, protest movements in western democracies, and political culture in Germany, as well as journalists, political educators and policy makers.

This book examines attitudes towards democracy in the Federal Republic of Germany. Overall, the findings challenge suggestions of a crisis of democracy but they also demonstrate that support is particularly low towards aspects of the European Union.

This book examines the impact on member states of long-term foreign policy co-operation through the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).

Before the fall of the Berlin Wall many East German writers were praised in the Western world as dissident voices of truth, bravely struggling with the draconian constraints of living under the GDR's communist regime.