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.

Integrating insights from foreign policy analysis, integration theory, and social theory and providing an in-depth analysis of both refugee and security policy, the book develops an innovative framework for analysis that is capable of accounting for an incremental 'de-Europeanization' in Germany's EU policy.

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.

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

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.

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.

Based on original empirical research that includes 90 interviews with key leaders, this book compares and contrasts negotiations during the processes of German unification and Eastern enlargement of the EU, with particular attention to the Czech Republic.

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.

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.

This study of the German right-extremist movement looks at the three rightist political parties, neo-Nazi groups, skinhead gangs, and New Right intellectuals. It poses the question whether, at a time of global recession, the existing democratic system is resilient enough to meet the challenges posed by the xenophobic and racist groups.

A wide-ranging collection of essays by leading British, American and German scholars, covering German literature, culture and politics from the Middle Ages to the present day. Based mainly on original research, the individual contributions reveal the rich complexity and vitality of contemporary German studies.

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.

In 1990, the future of Europe's international politics hinged on two questions. The intersection of these questions is the topic of this book, which explores, quite plainly, what made Germany's policies towards its immediate Eastern neighbours tick.

This book explores the German idea of federalism denoting 'diversity within unity'. Historians, linguists and political scientists examine how federalism emerged in the Holy Roman Empire, was re-shaped by nineteenth-century cultural movements, and was adopted by the unified state in 1871 and again after 1945.

This book examines the EU policy of the German Social Democrats (SPD) after German unification, following their rise to power in 1998 and their record in office under Chancellor Schroeder.

This is the first study of mass media in Germany from a social and cultural-historical perspective. Beyond the conventional focus on organizational structures or aesthetic content, it investigates the impact the media has on German society under varying political systems, and how the media is shaped by wider social, political and cultural context.

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.

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 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.

Hennis has been a leading critic of German political life and thought for the last 50 years. In this selection from his writings on government and constitutionality he shows how the postwar reconstruction of democratic politics in Germany highlighted general problems of party politics and democratic order that have only recently been recognized.

Departing from the recent critical literature on the emergence of a new German Jewry, this volume proposes a new perspective on the post-1980s phenomenon of re-emerging Jewish culture in Germany as a case study for wider developments in Europe and the international context.

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.

Germany's unique historical experience of undergoing national unification twice in a little over a century makes it a fascinating object of study. In this volume the processes of unification are analysed from the point of view of historians, political scientists and literary historians.

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.

Increasingly, the state reduces its social policy commitments towards securing the achieved living standard of former wage earners, which in the past had been the key normative principle of social policy in Germany, while at the same time public support and services for families are expanded.

This comprehensive, in-depth assessment of the German foreign policy record under the Red-Green government of Gerhard Schroeder and Joschka Fischer from 1998 to 2005, produced by a team of German and international experts, explores the idea of continuity and the sources, depths and directions of German foreign policy.

A fascinating collection of essays by leading British and Swiss scholars which explore the development of Swiss democracy from 1848 to the present day.

This book analyses German politics and economy. It analyzes the gathering crisis during the Red-Green government, the government's efforts to impose a reform agenda, the impact of the 2005 federal elections, and provides an evaluation of the success of the Grand Coalition in meeting these challenges in the run-up to the 2009 elections.

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.

To this end, they examine not only classical foreign policy institutions like the Chancellery, Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence, but also other organisations such as specialised ministries, the Lander Parliament, political parties, NGOs, and the media.