From Unitary to Asymmetric Federalism in Germany

Taking Stock after 50 Years

Bibliographic Data

ID6374447
AuthorsArthur Benz (0000-0001-5879-8578, corresponding author)
Year1999
Volume29
Issue4
Pages55-78
Publication date1999-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenuePublius The Journal of Federalism (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0048-5950 • E-ISSN: 1747-7107
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/oxfordjournals.pubjof.a030052
OpenAlexW2074604769
LanguageEN
Citations received41

Policymaking in the German federal system is influenced by the dynamic interplay of the institutions of cooperative federalism, of party competition in a parliamentary system, and of distributive conflicts between governments. This is shown in an analysis of 50 years of German federalism. It is argued that while the institutional setting outlived most reform efforts, changing patterns of party politics and growing distributive conflicts induced adjustments in intergovernmental relations. Since the 1980s, such adjustments have also been stimulated by European politics. In unified Germany, intergovernmental cooperation is now burdened with asymmetries between the East and the West, which are also expressed in a more regionalized party system. However, as party political confrontations have diminished, a pragmatic revision of the federal system seems feasible

Decentralization · Distributive property · Economic system · Economics · Federalism · fiscal federalism · Geography · German · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Stock (firearms · Unitary state · Law · Local Government Finance and Decentralization · Political Systems and Governance · Public Administration · Public Administration and Political Analysis

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