Centralization vs. Federalism: Implications and Responses

Abstract

There are few countries in the EU with such a weak regional structure as the UK and it is frequently argued that England lacks traditions of political and cultural regionalism. English regionalism has therefore been described as ‘the dog that never barked’ (Harvie 1991). Harvey and Robins (1994: 46–7) observe: ‘The absence of strong regional institutions — the contrast with the German Länder is the obvious one — is likely to make regional devolution at best a hesitant and difficult process.’ Germany, by contrast, after World War Two became a Federal Republic, finalized in the Constitution that came into effect on 23 May 1949. This established that the Länder were given large degrees of autonomy. Since legislation for broadcasting was not yet put in place and the Bund was used to centralize broadcasting coordination as pursued in the Weimar Republic, Adenauer aimed to set up a broadcaster controlled from Bonn. Following a Länder complaint, the Federal Constitutional Court, however, made absolutely clear that the sole responsibility for broadcasting rests with the Länder and that this applies even to national television (BVerfGE 12, 205). The Court reaffirmed this status in the following ruling (BVerfGE 31, 314) and went on to strengthen it in the future. Apart from the legal framework, in Germany the key forces which determined the (federal) structure of the broadcasting system as well as the functioning of the individual broadcasting organizations are political in nature, linking broadcasting and Länder politics.