By Dr. K. Louise-Davidson-Schmich On Friday June 30th, in its last meeting before the summer holiday and the fall 2017 election, the German parliament suddenly voted to allow gays and lesbians to marry. This legislation was proposed by leftist parties in Germany’s upper house (the Bundesrat) and placed on the agenda of the lower house… Read More Angela Merkel, Her Opponents, and Marriage Equality in Germany
Note: This contribution is the second in a series on our ‘state of the parties’ blog posts. The rise, fall, and rise of the AfD So far, the short career of the “Alternative für Deutschland” (AfD) has been nothing but astounding. Founded only a few months before the 2013 Bundestag election, the AfD polled 4.7… Read More Kai Arzheimer- Germany’s new AfD party: state of play
Note: This contribution is the first in a series on our ‘state of the parties’ blog posts. Just over two years since their failure to meet the required five per cent for representation in Bundestag, it is not yet clear whether 2013 was an electoral aberration or the beginning of their political decline. What is… Read More Eliot Taylor: The FDP: on the Road to Recuperation in the Federal Republic?
For a sports fan of a certain age, the summer of 2015 has had rather a depressing feel to it. Not so much on account of any particular events that have taken place out on the field of play, but more for what has been transpiring off it. Over the last few months some of… Read More Dan Hough: Franz, say it ain’t so …
When the economic and financial crisis hit Europe in 2008, it was not just politicians who found themselves scrambling for answers. Researchers, particularly in political science and law, have struggled to explain the scale and impact of what is clearly the worst crisis the EU has ever experienced. Their befuddlement is hardly surprising, as they… Read More Dr. Henrik Scheller: European Disintegration – the blind spot of European integration research
Even until right before the Berlin Wall fell on November 9th, 1989, most Westerners could barely imagine the reunification of East and West Germany. The division of that country and continent was considered final, or that nothing would change “in my lifetime.” Even today the sudden demise of East Germany and the communist bloc, the… Read More Eric Langenbacher: Thoughts on German Reunification Twenty-Five Years On: A Tale of Two Dates
The words ‘corruption’ and ‘Germany’ are not generally mentioned in the same sentence. While the Federal Republic generally performs admirably in international corruption comparisons, complacency is rarely a sound policy choice. Germany would benefit from thinking just a little more about where corruption may be lurking and what it might want to do about it.… Read More Dan Hough: Anti-Corruption in Germany; A Culture of Complacency?
The foundations of European democracy are slowly eroding. The longer the crisis in the eurozone smolders, this democratic deficit is increasingly endangering the integration capacity of the European Union (EU) and its member states. The result is sociocultural disintegration despite functional integration efforts of the EU. Since the onset of the financial and economic crisis… Read More Henrik Scheller: The Democratic Deficit as Driver for Social Disintegration in the EU
Over the course of the Eurozone crisis the German government has been the most important influence on policy, raising the question of its potential hegemonic role. Its prescriptions have followed an ordoliberal script. Over the past couple of weeks Berlin’s policy has been presented with two linked challenges: the European Central Bank (ECB)’s announcement of… Read More Simon Bulmer: Merkel, Draghi and Tsipras: These are the three key European leaders of the moment, but a Eurozone ménage à trois remains highly unlikely…
What Germany’s Gender Quotas for Candidates Can Teach Us about Its Gender Quotas for Corporate Boards By Louise Davidson- Schmich, University of Miami In December the New York Times International Edition published an op-ed piece, written by Carrie Lukas from the Independent Women’s Forum, entitled “Boardroom Quotas Won’t Help Women.” In her editorial, Lukas… Read More Louise Davidson-Schmich: What Germany’s Gender Quotas for Candidates Can Teach Us about Its Gender Quotas for Corporate Boards
The International Association for the Study of German Politics 