German Federalism from Cooperation to Competition

Abstract

This contribution is about the demise of what has become known as cooperative federalism in Germany. This term is a convenient and apt shorthand for the distinctive features which characterized West German federalism by the mid-1970s:

• a functional division of competence between federal legislation and Länder administration;

• the entrenched role of the Bundesrat in the federal legislative process;

• a commitment to securing consensus among the Länder and between Länder and federation on policy formulation and implementation, which was facilitated by a multitude of coordinating committees;

• the consequent bureaucratic ‘entanglement’ (Politikverflechtung) of the two levels of government;

• and the relative marginality of the few remaining exclusive competences still exercised by the Länder and their Landtage;