Suchergebnisse

This is a multiauthorial review essay of Daniel Ziblatt's Structuring the State: The Formation of Italy and Germany and the Puzzle of Federalism (Princeton: Princeton U Press, 2006) that includes a rebuttal by Ziblatt. Maurizio Cotta notes the persuasiveness & convincibility of the factors singled out by Ziblatt in support of the book's central thesis that the unification of Italy & Prussian Germany in the second half of the 19th century, although begun in both countries with similar regional institutions, ended with a centrist government in the former & a federalist regime in the latter. He questions, however, his attempt to project these factors in developing a more comprehensive theory of the emergence of major nation states in Western Europe, pointing out that the generalization that gives a satisfactory account for Germany & Italy becomes a fallacy when extended to Belgium or the Netherlands. Alfio Mastropaolo objects Ziblatt's implicit premise that federalism is superior to a centrist-unitarian governance & the implied conclusion that Italy would have fared better with a federalist government after its unification. He observes that neither Germany was spared from Nazism by federalism & nor Italy from Fascism by centralism. Mastropaolo points out that Ziblatt overlooks the importance of ideological factors, in particular the strong sentiments favoring a unitarian state in pre-1861 Italy. Gianfranco Poggi notes that the book fails to consider some important cultural & ideological theories of federalism that suggest an alternative explanation of the preference for federalism in Germany but not Italy. In his rebuttal, Ziblatt replies to the objections raised by each interviewer, defending the descriptive-explanatory efficacy of the historical-comparative approach adopted in the book & Charles Ragin's (1987) qualitative-comparative analysis applied in the extension of the generalization to other European states. He flatly rejects Mastropaolo's imputation that the book favors federalism as a superior form of government. Ziblatt also provides a rationale to justify the relevance of comparing the unification experience of Italy & Prussian Germany for contemporary political science. Z. Dubiel

Has Germany changed after the reunification? Is the country still actively involved in the building of Europe? Is it still a leader in the European Union & will the French-German axis still be the focal point of Europe? Does Germany strive to go beyond European boundaries to take a more incisive role in the international scene? How will the relationship between Italy & Germany develop in the future? In order to find answers to these & other questions on Germany's foreign politics, the University of Pavia held four conferences between Nov & Dec 2003, for Political Science students specializing in European integration & history of international relations. Two Italian & two German lecturers offered different perspectives on contemporary Germany & its relation with Italy & Europe. M. Williamson

Traces the history of the Bundesrat or Federal Council of Germany, an administrative and legislative body through which the interests of individual states are represented, from the 19th century to its reorganization in 1949, and analyzes its present functions in a reunified Germany. Summary in English.

Political, social, and economic restructuring in eastern Germany.