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European Centre for Research on Federalism, Tuebingen/Germany

Yearbook on Federalism 2004

Beiträge zum deutschen Föderalismus [Articles on German federalism]

Unverzichtbares Korrektiv oder ineffektive Reformbremse? Wahrnehmungen föderaler Strukturen und Institutionen in Deutschland
[Indispensable Corrective or Ineffective Impediment to Reform? Perceptions of Federal Structures and Institutions in Germany]

Norbert Grube

pp. 163-175

In view of the debate on government efficiency, along with the need for reforms in social and economic policy, the Germans' attitudes toward the federal system are gradually beginning to sway. Although the population still feels that political decisions should apply uniformly to all states and not specifically to any particular states, we also findat a time when state and local governments are battling to secure scarce federal fundsthat the population is cautiously becoming more amenable to certain elements of federal competition, as reflected by the increasing support for minimizing the states' influence on federal politics and the somewhat hesitantly voiced reservations about the way in which funds are currently distributed between the federal, state and local governments. This shift is also accompanied by growing criticism of certain federal institutions, particularly the Bundesrat, a trend that must be viewed in light of the Germans' waning confidence in political institutions in general. The Bundesrat is perceived as an impediment to reform and, at the same time, as a reliable body in the system of legal checks and balancesthus signalling the simultaneous existence of both traditional attitudes and new orientations among the population.

Suggested citation for this article:
Grube, Norbert 2004: Unverzichtbares Korrektiv oder ineffektive Reformbremse? Wahrnehmungen föderaler Strukturen und Institutionen in Deutschland, in: Europäisches Zentrum für Föderalismus-Forschung (ed.): Jahrbuch des Föderalismus 2004. Föderalismus, Subsidiarität und Regionen in Europa, Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, p. 163-175.