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Informationen zum Autor Florian Meinel is Professor of Comparative Constitutional Law and Political Science at the University of Göttingen, Germany. Klappentext This book offers a compelling and persuasive framework for understanding the German constitutional system. It argues that it can only be fully understood as a dual structure combining two layers with little in common. The first layer is the basic administrative institutional structure, comprised of federal institutions. The second layer is that of parliamentary democracy. It is the interplay between the two, as mediated by the chancellery, the major political parties and the Federal Constitutional Court, which lies at the heart of the German constitutional arrangement. This innovative hybrid perspective allows for a better understanding of the current challenges of parliamentary government and its potential long-term development. An updated translation of its impactful German edition, this provides one of the most brilliant introductions to governmental systems of one of the world's most influential states. Vorwort This book provides a brilliantly insightful introduction to the constitutional system of Germany including the impact of COVID-19. Zusammenfassung This book offers a compelling and persuasive framework for understanding the German constitutional system. It argues that it can only be fully understood as a dual structure combining two layers with little in common. The first layer is the basic administrative institutional structure, comprised of federal institutions. The second layer is that of parliamentary democracy. It is the interplay between the two, as mediated by the chancellery, the major political parties and the Federal Constitutional Court, which lies at the heart of the German constitutional arrangement. This innovative hybrid perspective allows for a better understanding of the current challenges of parliamentary government and its potential long-term development. An updated translation of its impactful German edition, this provides one of the most brilliant introductions to governmental systems of one of the world’s most influential states. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1. Introduction: The Two Crises of Parliamentary Government I. Brexit and the Europeanisation of Westminster Parliamentarianism II. Master Narratives of the German Democracy – and Recent Doubts III. Realities of Mass and Social Media IV. Outline 2. The Two Worlds of German Constitutionalism I. What is Parliamentary Government? A. The Monism of Powers B. Reservations about Parliamentary Rule C. Confidence, Power and Control D. The Asymmetric Juridification of the System of Government II. The Dual Structure of the German Constitution A. The Administration ’ s Uncoupling from the Political System B. Continuity as Principle C. The Constitution as an Achievement III. The Outsider’s Republic: Parliamentary Government and the Political Culture of the Merkel Era A. Technocracy or Morality? B. The Weakness of Parliamentary Instruments of Power C. The Drama of the Social Democrats IV. Merkel’s Legacy and the Cautionary Tale of the Grand Coalition A. The Supermajority as Working Principle B. The Democratic Costs of the Multi-Party System C. The Future of the Constitution V. Parliamentarianism and Anti-Parliamentarianism 3. Transformations of Parliamentary Government in Germany Since World War I I. The Written and the Real Constitution A. A Constitution without a Theory B. The Link between Parliament and Government II. 1919: Weimar – A Semi-Parliamentary Bureaucracy A. The Very Different Example of England B. The German Problem C. Organising Responsibility D. Distorted Images in Parliamentary Theory: A Weimar Legacy III. 1949: Parliamentarianism and the Basic Law A. The Point of Departure B. A Turn Away from the Parliamentary System of Government? C. The House that Adenauer B...
