This book provides an introduction to how the Länder (the sixteen states of Germany) function, not only within the country itself, but also within the wider context of Europe's political affairs. It looks at the Länder in the constitutional order of the country, as well as their political and administrative systems, and also discusses their organisation and administration, together with their financial administration. Finally, the book looks at the role of political parties and elections in the Länder, and considers the importance of their parliaments.
chap 4 27/5/03 11:54 am Page 141 4 The Land constitutions Introduction For almost forty years after the federal Constitution went into effect, little attention was paid to state (Land) constitutions in Germany. Amendments were made on numerous occasions, but these were almost always rather minor changes or technical corrections and did not arouse much controversy. At the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s, this changed dramatically for two major reasons. A scandal in SchleswigHolstein in 1987 involving allegations that the prime minister
chap 9 27/5/03 11:57 am Page 289 9 Elections in the Länder Introduction Five phases can be distinguished in the development of political parties in the Länder. The first phase, from 1945 to 1953, was the period during which older parties were reestablished, e.g., SPD, and new parties were founded, e.g., the refugee party (BHE), CDU, and FDP (although the CDU has its roots in the old Center Party [Zentrum] and the FDP could be traced back to liberal parties of the Empire and Weimar Republic). The second phase, from 1953 to 1969, saw the developing
chap 6 27/5/03 11:55 am Page 212 6 The German Land parliaments (Landtage) Historical development In the Kaiserreich of 1871–1918, the Constitution gave the central government only a brief catalogue of powers, with all other powers reserved for the states; however, the central state also had concurrent powers and implied powers. Over time the national government assumed more powers through constitutional changes and legislation which also had to be passed by a second chamber, the Bundesrat, that represented the mostly monarchical governments in the states
4 Land reforms and ethnic tensions: scenarios in south east Europe Christian Giordano Introduction: ‘Staatsnation’ and the ‘purity myth’ and eastern Europe the specific combination of territory, language, creed with citizenship and/or nationality, is generally perceived as an invariable and inviolable heritage of individual and collective ‘identities’ (Conte 1995: 138). It is a widespread belief that can be found even in the most common aspects of everyday life. This belief reaches its political–institutional achievement in the concept of
chap 1 27/5/03 11:47 am Page 7 1 The origins of the Länder Introduction Where is Germany? What are its constituent parts? Who is a German? These questions may not be entirely unique to Germans; they are sometimes asked in many nation-states in Europe and elsewhere. But questions about identity have been asked for centuries in Germany and to some extent are still asked today. For hundreds of years “Germany” was a group of tribes located in north-central Europe, most but not all of which became a part of the empire of Charlemagne and, after the death of
chap 11 27/5/03 12:03 pm Page 360 11 European and foreign policy of the Länder Introduction At first it would appear that this chapter is misnamed. Surely “European and Foreign Policy” are themes that belong to the federal government. They do, of course, but the Länder are not irrelevant in these areas. Indeed, European policy is now to a considerable extent domestic policy, and many responsibilities that have traditionally belonged to the Länder have been and are today the subjects of European Community – now EU – regulations and legislation. The efforts
chap 8 27/5/03 11:57 am Page 265 8 Parties and politics in the Länder Introduction In every federal system there is a national party system which, in spite of certain commonalities, is likely to be somewhat different from the regional and/or local party systems. In the United States there are two dominating, loosely organized, personality- and candidate-oriented, generally weakly disciplined parties with no single universally recognized national party leader except perhaps the president. They are financed by various private interest groups and individuals
chap 7 27/5/03 11:56 am Page 243 7 The Land parliaments deputies in Germany Introduction When one reads of European parliaments and their members, one normally thinks of the national level. This is understandable with respect to the mostly unitary political systems, which have only national parliaments. But some of these states, such as Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Belgium, are federal systems, and some others, such as Spain, have a semifederal territorial organization. In these systems far more parliamentarians are members of regional parliaments
chap 10 27/5/03 12:02 pm Page 339 10 The Länder, the Bundesrat, and the legislative process in Germany and Europe The Federal Council, or Bundesrat All federal states have some kind of second chamber that participates in the legislative process and represents the constituent parts of the whole, but Germany’s second chamber is unique in the world’s federal systems.1 It is unique in that it is a federal, not a Land, organ, in which the member states are represented by their governments (i.e., cabinets). This means it is an executive as well as a legislative