Governance in Contemporary Germany: The Semisovereign State Revisited

Much has changed in Germany over the past twenty years. In 1987 Peter Katzenstein produced a seminal analysis of the 'semisovereign' politics of West Germany, providing a compelling account of policy-making in Europe's largest economy. However, unification in 1990 changed Germany's institutional configuration radically, and created economic challenges on a huge scale. By building on the original study, an eminent team of scholars asks whether semisovereignty still exists in contemporary Germany and whether, as Katzenstein originally contended, it remains an asset.

"This is a rare thing indeed. Edited volumes tend to contain a hodgepodge of contributions only loosely centered around some theme… In the present case, however, we have an edited volume planned and implemented around a clear vision. If not for the list of contributors (luminaries in the scholarship of German politics), one might easily take this book for a single-authored text… [T]his volume constitutes an absolute 'must read' for scholars of German and European politics. It is also highly recommended for scholars of comparative politics more generally, particularly those interested in evolving state-societal balance."
Perspectives On Politics

'… Peter Katzenstein provided a classic analysis of the political and institutional factors which underpinned West Germany's remarkable post-war renaissance and created a distinctive polity and society. After almost two decades this book returns to that analysis and asks how far it is still relevant to understanding the politics of Germany today and the challenges it faces, in the era after unification and the end of the cold war. These essays present an authoritative, penetrating and wide-ranging exploration of Modell Deutschland and its prospects, and Peter Katzenstein supplies a trenchant and illuminating response, which reaffirms the central themes of his earlier analysis. There are few questions in European politics as important as the future development of Germany, and this book makes a timely and valuable contribution to our understanding of Germany's problems as well as Germany's potential.' Andrew Gamble, University of Sheffield

"The German political and economic system is undergoing fundamental changes. Leading British and European experts provide a unique analysis of political and economic developments in Germany. This book gives an in-depth and authoritative assessment of the problems and challenges Europe's largest country is facing today and in the years to come." Prof. Dr. Gert-Joachim Glaessner, Humboldt-University Berlin

'With perfect timing, Green and Paterson, together with their all-star contributors, address the critical governance issues now confronting the unified German polity. This book adds a new dimension to our understanding of political development in Germany and elsewhere.' David P. Conradt, author of The German Polity, East Carolina University

'… in their edited volume … Simon Green and William E. Paterson …present the most lucid stock-taking of Standort Deutschland for some time.' Christoph Nesshöver, Handelsblatt (Translation by Arne Zeschel)

'Simon Green and William E. Paterson of the renowned Institute for German Studies at the University of Birmingham present the most lucid stock-taking of Standort Deutschland for some time.' Handelsblatt

'… stands out pleasantly from the flood of reform literature that rehashes an undifferentiated litany of 'consensus in nonsense.' Berliner Republik