The Politics of Economic Reform in Germany: Global, Rhineland or Hybrid Capitalism

ISBN-13: 9780415568401 / Angielski / Miękka / 2009 / 168 str.

Kenneth Dyson

Opis

This new volume situates current debates about economic reform in Germany in illuminating historical and structural contexts. Showing how economic reform has become the central issue on the German political agenda, raising contentious issues of policy management and posing deeper questions about political beliefs and identities. It also examines the politics of the reform process, outlining competing views about the root causes of Germany's economic problems, the appropriate policy responses, and the distribution of costs. It situates the reform process in the wider context of the decline of the German economic model (Modell Deutschland) and Germany's transition from European 'pace-setter' to economic 'laggard'. Particular attention is paid to the following key questions:

• What continuities and discontinuities can be seen in Germany's political economy?
• Are globalization and Europeanization associated with a progressive neo-liberal ascendancy in economic reform?
• How does economic reform in Germany compare with that in other states, notably Britain and France?
• Are there distinctive patterns in the way domestic policymakers negotiate economic reform?
• How do the characteristics of the German labour market and welfare state condition economic reform?
• How much variation exists at the Laender levels?

This book was previously published as a special issue of German Politics.

Spis treści

Introduction: Global, Rhineland or Hybrid Capitalism? Kenneth Dyson and Stephen Padgett. 1. Globalisation and National Varieties of Capitalism: The Contested Viability of the ‘German Model’ Andreas Busch.2. The Finance Sector in Transition: A Motorfor Economic Reform? Susanne Lu¨ tz. 3. Reform in the Shadow of Community Law: Highly Regulated Economic Sectors Susanne K. Schmidt. 4. Economic Reform and the Political Economy of the German Welfare State Wolfgang Streeck and Christine Trampusch. 5. Old Bottles – New Wine: The New Dynamics of Industrial Relations Georg Menz. 6. Economic Reform at the La¨nder Level: New Life for Regional Interventionism Roland Sturm. 7. Binding Hands as a Strategy for Economic Reform: Government by Commission Kenneth Dyson. 8. The Party Politics of Economic Reform: Public Opinion, Party Positions and Partisan Cleavages Stephen Padgett.