Developments in German politics 3

Abstract:
This book follows on its predecessors which looked at the impact of unification on German politics. Germany's stance in international politics in Europe and beyond has been predicated from a position of economic strength. The contributions to this text assess the current trends in the Federal Republic which sees its economy in crisis and a debilitating factor in Germany's current role in Europe and the post-9/11 world. The thirteen contributors represent a wide spectrum of geopolitical opinion coming from the USA, Germany and the UK.

The first four essays range over such topics as Federal Government both at the centre and in its territorial policies, the changing pattern of voter choice and the 'New Model' party system. The influence of the 'Green' vote in setting a new political landscape is explored in chapter five, and the following two chapters discuss the German resistance to institutional change in the face of globalisation, and the changing nature of Germany's social policy. The effects of European policies on German governance are explored in chapter eight. The following chapter looks at Germany's foreign and security policy as it developed following unification and in response to NATO enlargement and the launch of Europe's common European Security and Defence Policy. Closer examination of the relationship of Germany with the new and wider Europe is made in chapter ten and discussion then moves to immigration and citizenship in chapter eleven. The influence of 'green politics' re-emerges in chapter twelve which examines environmental policies and the nuclear power industry. The closing chapter features the continuing search that Germany has for a unified identity encapsulating cultural and economic issues following the physical and outward unification consequent upon the collapse of East Germany.

The book will interest students, scholars, political/policy practitioners in German and European politics.