Federalism, Feminism and Multilevel Governance by Marian Sawer

Author:Marian Sawer [Sawer, Marian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political Science, General
ISBN: 9781317136088
Google: 0H8GDAAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 30000254
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2016-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

German federalism and the European Union

The German federal system is generally described as co-operative federalism. This involves a relationship among the German federal government and its 16 constitutive units (Länder) that is defined by joint jurisdiction and shared competencies. The Länder are drawn directly into the making of legislation and, perhaps more importantly are generally responsible for the implementation and execution of federal legislation. The federal and Länder levels consequently have become increasingly entwined and enmeshed in the federal legislative process (Jeffrey 1991: 2). This Politikverflechtung [intertwining of policy actors] has been the source of much criticism.

While in theory the system prioritises cooperation, in practice, involvement of the Länder in a vast set of policy decisions has frequently led to stalemate and contributed to a ‘joint decision trap’ in which interdependence results in an increase in veto players and policy stalemates (Scharpf 1988). Legally, the Länder have the right to legislate in all areas that are not exclusively and constitutionally allocated to the federal government. In practice however, most legislation is undertaken jointly by the federal and the Länder governments. Policy deadlocks and compromises have frequently undermined the potential of new legislation. Consequently, some view this cooperative system ‘as permanently in need of reform’ (Abromeit, quoted in Gunlicks 2003: 390). Those calling for change have stressed in particular that there must be a clearer delineation of policy tasks between the federal and the Länder governments. While the most recent reforms (in 2006) officially set out to do precisely this, in the end, very little was changed (Jeffery 2008: 587). At best, the reforms have allocated some specific tasks, including culture, education, and regional environmental planning to the Länder governments, thus reducing the number of areas of joint jurisdiction, and possibilities for political impasses. Nonetheless, the federal government maintains the primary policy role in most policy areas.

The formal involvement of the Länder occurs through their representation in the Bundesrat. Although this body does not have the right to initiate legislation its assent is required to pass most legislation.1 Each of the Länder sends representatives to the Bundesrat to discuss, negotiate and vote on legislative proposals. Votes are weighted depending on relative population, with the largest states receiving six votes and the smallest three. An absolute majority is required to pass legislation. Federal opposition parties who hold power in one or more of the Länder can thus use the Bundesrat to stall or thwart the federal government’s political agenda. Given this, the Länder exercise few competencies but much influence. This influence, however, is largely limited to actors directly involved in policy making (i.e. government administrations and political parties) with little input from civil society actors. Consequently, ‘there are practically no domestic policy areas that cannot be shaped by the national governing majorities – and at the same time there are practically no domestic policy areas where the national majorities do not depend on the agreement of Länder governments’ (Scharpf 2008: 511).

The dense network of interwoven competencies extends to the fiscal realm as well.

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