Political parties and public policy in the German länder
Subtitle: when parties matter
By: Ed Turner
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan; Springer
Published: 2011
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 263
ISBN-13: 9780230284425
Subjects: States; State governments; Case studies; Political parties; Political planning
Description: When Parties Matter looks at the extent to which political parties can make a difference to public policy, focusing on the regional level in Germany. Politicians of the left and the right sometimes have radically different views, but inevitably the combined forces of legal and financial constraints, bureaucracy, public expectations and the 'weight of history' restrict their ability to translate political disagreement into policy change. Giving a detailed examination of education policy, childcare and family policy, and labour market policy in three German regions between 1999 and 2006, this book provides insights into what politicians can and cannot achieve, in particular at the level below the nation-state.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction: Partisan influence upon public policy in decentralised polities; title: Do parties matter in the German länder? theoretical and practical challenges, past attempts at exploration, and a new approach; title: Contemporary German federalism; title: Education, family and childcare, and labour market policies at a land level; title: The case of Hesse 1999-2003; title: The Saarland 1999-2004; title: Saxony Anhalt 2002-2006; title: Conclusion.