The textbook introduces the self-understanding, institutional structure and practice of the political system of the Federal Republic of Germany. The work provides a problem-oriented overview of the basic constitutional and foreign policy decisions that have constituted German democracy; the political field of forces formed by interest groups, citizens' initiatives, parties and mass media; the political institutions at the federal, state and local levels; the social reach and administrative enforcement of political decisions; the political culture including the structure of the political ruling class. The new edition also addresses, among other things, the consequences of the Corona crisis for the political system, the changing party system and the crisis of the EU after the 2021 federal election.
Author(s): Tom Mannewitz, Wolfgang Rudzio
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 580
City: Wiesbaden
Preface
Contents
Part I Fundamentals of the political system
1 The External Conditions of the Federal Republic
1.1 Westbindung as a Foreign Policy Basic Decision
1.2 Role Search: Germany in the Changed World since 1990
1.3 From Division to German Unity
1.4 The Direction of European Integration
References
2 The Anti-totalitarian Democracy of the Basic Law
2.1 History of the Constitution
2.2 The Central Constitutional Principles
2.3 The Legitimacy and Change of the Basic Law
References
Part II The political field of forces
3 Organized Interests: Between Pluralism and Corporatism
3.1 The Pluralism of Interests in Germany
3.2 The Sociology of Interest Organisations
3.3 Association Influence: Rule of the Associations?
3.4 Interlocking with the State: Features of Corporatism
3.5 Citizen Initiatives and Movements: Supplement or Alternative?
References
4 Multi-Party System with Limited Coalition Options
4.1 Germany—a Party State?
4.2 Changes in the Party System
4.3 Two-Dimensional Multiparty System with Unwanted Governments
4.4 The Party Programs
References
5 Internal Party Democracy or Rule of Oligarchy?
5.1 The Organizational Structure of the Parties
5.2 Inner-Party Democracy in Practice
5.3 The Party Members—The Downside of Participation
5.4 Problems of a Fair Party Financing
References
6 Voting Behavior: Social Characteristics and Current Orientations
6.1 Personalized Proportional Representation and Voter Turnout
6.2 Social Characteristics: Class, Confession and Age Group Choice
6.3 Social Psychological Motivations and Conjunctural Issues
6.4 The Economics of the Election Campaign
References
Part III Political Institutions: A Complex Multi-Level System
7 The Bundestag: Parliamentary Majority Democracy
7.1 The Dualism of Majority and Opposition
7.2 The Organization of the Parliamentary Faction Parliament
7.3 The Electoral Function: Legitimizing Majority Formation
7.4 Control Function and Co-government
7.5 Legislative Function: Between a Debating and a Working Parliament
References
8 The Federal Government: Problems of Political Steering
8.1 Chancellor Democracy, Cabinet and Departmental Principle
8.2 Decision Centre: Cabinet or Coalition Committee?
8.3 Political Leadership and Ministerial Bureaucracy
References
9 Institutional Counterweights: Features of Negotiation Democracy
9.1 The Federal Council of Germany: Veto Power of the State Governments
9.2 Federal Constitutional Court: Guardian and Shaper of the Constitution
9.3 The Federal President: Potentially More Than Just a Representative?
9.4 Limits of Parliamentary Majority Rule
References
10 The German Federalism
10.1 Federal States and State Parliamentarism
10.2 The Interlocking of Politics Between the Federal Government and the States
10.3 The Perennial Problems of Federalism
References
11 The Municipalities: Between Administration and Politics
11.1 The Janus-Faced Nature of German Municipalities
11.2 Directly Elected Mayors, but Two Models of Democracy
References
12 Public Administration and Implementation
12.1 From Administration to Public Management
12.2 Enforcement from Within, Protection from Outside
References
13 Germany in the European Union
13.1 German Interests in European Politics
13.2 The Europeanisation of the Political System
13.3 The Reduced German Democracy Within the EU
References
Part IV Sociological aspects of German politics
14 The Media as Intermediaries and Actors
14.1 Democracy and Mass Communication
14.2 The Dual Media Landscape
14.3 The Media System—Functions and Problems
14.4 Welcome Culture: Crisis of Pluralistic Political Mediation?
References
15 Political Elite in Democracy
15.1 Political Leaders—Not a Mirror Image of Society
15.2 Attitudes: Career Patterns and Inconsistency With Voters
References
16 Political Culture of the Loosened Bindings
16.1 Development Phases of Political Culture
16.2 Dimensions of Present-day Political Culture
16.3 The Difficult Handling of Political Extremism
References
17 Social Problems and Fields of Action of Politics
17.1 Demography and Economy: A Country in Decline?
17.2 Distribution Structures of a Middle-class Society
17.3 Policy Areas: Different Arenas
17.4 Perspectives of the Federal Republic
References
