Contents -- Preface -- Chronology -- 1. 1949 and 1989 - New Democratic Beginnings and Continuity -- Post-war Germany and the Foundation of Two German States -- The Federal Republic and the GDR as Political and Societal Antipodes -- The Second Foundation of the Federal Republic -- 2. Constitutionalism and Constitutional Politics in Germany -- The Basic Law of West Germany -- The Socialist Constitution of East Germany -- Constitutional Basics of the Federal Republic's Political Order -- Basic Rights and the System of Values (Werteordnung) of the Basic Law -- The 'Free Democratic Basic Order' -- 3. The Constitution of the United Germany -- The Quest for Reunification in the Basic Law -- Constitutional Reform or Continuation of the Basic Law? -- Constitutional Provisions of the Unification Treaty -- Constitutional Amendments after Unification -- 4. West and East : Germany in Europe -- The Question of Sovereignty -- The Politics of Integration -- Deutschlandpolitik and Ostpolitik -- The Aims of Deutschlandpolitik -- The Path to German Unity -- The New Germany and the European Order -- 5. The System of Government -- Guiding Principles of the System of Government -- The Federal Structure -- The Constitutional Bodies -- The Central Role of Parliament -- The Executive and Public Administration -- Checks and Balances: the Federal Constitutional Court -- External Actors: Organised Interest Groups -- External Actors: the Media -- 6. Elections, Coalitions, and Coalition Governments -- The Central Role of Political Parties -- The Electoral System -- Federal Elections 1949-2002 -- Coalitions and Coalition Governments -- The Constitutional and Political Role of the German Chancellor -- Chancellor Democracy and Party Government - from Adenauer to Schröder -- Institutional and Political Constraints -- 7. The German Party System.

The Constitutional Role of Parties in the Basic Law -- The Party System of the 'Old' Federal Republic -- A Brief Portrait of the Major German Parties -- The Christian Democrats -- The Social Democrats -- The Liberals -- The Greens -- The Establishment of a New Democratic Party System in East Germany (1989-90) -- The German Party System after Unification -- 8. The Power Structure of the German Democratic Republic -- Dictatorship of the Proletariat or Socialist Democracy - The Political System of the GDR -- The Point of Departure: Creating a Socialist System in East Germany -- The Foundation of the German Democratic Republic -- Overcoming Stalinism -- Technocratic Reforms in the 1960s -- The Honecker Era -- The Collapse of the Old Regime -- The End of the State Party SED -- Structural Defects of the Communist System -- 9. The German Revolution of 1989 and German Unification -- Were the Events of 1989 a Revolution? -- Collapse and a New Beginning - the Citizens' Movements and Democratic Transition -- Dual Rule: The Old Regime and the New Political Forces -- The First Democratic Elections in East Germany -- The Controversy about a New Constitution for the GDR -- The Treaties of German Unification -- How to Unite Two Different Social and Political Systems? -- 10. Political Culture United? -- Political Culture in West Germany -- The Socialist Political Culture of the GDR -- The Political Culture of Revolt -- Political Culture in United Germany -- Appendices -- 1. The Basic Law of the Federal Republic (Excerpts) -- 2. Treaty of 31 August 1990 between the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic on the Establishment of German Unity - Unification Treaty (Excerpts) -- 3. Treaty of 12 September 1990 on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany &38211 -- Two-Plus-Four Treaty (Excerpts) -- Suggestions for Further Reading -- Index -- A.

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