Bulletin n. 1/2009 | ||
July 2009 | ||
Zohlnhöfer Reimut |
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Der Politikverflechtungsfalle entwischt? Die Effekte der Föderalismusreform I auf die Gesetzgebung | ||
in Zeitschrift für Politikwissenschaft , 19. Jahrgang (2009), Heft 1 , 2009 , 39-76 | ||
The Reform of German Federalism Part I: Effects on Lawmaking The paper discusses the effects of the first step of the reform of German federalism on policy-making. It turns out that the new legislative competences of the Länder are of limited importance because they tend to coordinate policies among themselves. On the federal level, the overall ratio of bills needing Bundesrat approval to all bills decreases substantially, but it is mostly routine decisions that can be adopted without Bundesrat approval now. A counterfactual analysis of the red-green coalition’s key decisions reveals that the necessity of Bundesrat approval might even decrease for important reforms. Nevertheless, the permanent electoral campaign which German governments find themselves in continues to make coherent and far-reaching reforms difficult. Furthermore, the effects of the reform depend on how the Federal Constitutional Court interprets the new constitutional rules. | ||