TY  - JOUR
A1  - Scheller, Henrik
T1  - German Federalism: On the Way to a "Cooperative Centralism"?
JF  - Identities, trust, and cohesion in federal systems: public perspectives
N2  - Germany has a long tradition of federalism extending far back in history (Ziblatt 2004; Broschek 2011). This tradition has always been characterized by a discrepancy between the attitudes of the public to its federalism and the reform ideas of the (political) elites. While the public has a strong desire for an equality of living conditions, solidarity, social cohesion, and cooperation between the orders of government, academic discourse is shaped by calls for wide-ranging federalism reforms, which are oriented toward the American model of "dual federalism." Against this background, this chapter contrasts public attitudes on key aspects of the federal system with long-lasting academic recommendations for reform. Light will be shed on the general perception of the federal system as a whole, the division of powers, and in particular the issue of joint decision-making (Politikverflechtung) between the orders of government-all issues that have been repeatedly interrogated in various surveys. A further aspect of these polls is the question of the extent to which solidarity or competition shall be realized between the federal and Land governments-a question that is highly controversial in politics and academia (especially in the fiscal equalization debate), though public perceptions are quite different.
Y1  - 2018
SN  - 978-1-55339-535-5
SN  - 978-1-55339-536-2
SP  - 255
EP  - 279
PB  - McGill-Queens University Press
CY  - Montreal
ER  -