Module Directory

The aim of this module is to provide a profound understanding of contemporary German politics. For this purpose, the course will give a brief overview over Germany’s post-war political development. We will examine, in particular, the role of political culture and political institutions as determinants of successful democratisation. The challenge of bridging the East-West divide after reunification will receive special focus.

The course sheds light on general trends and developments that Germany shares with other countries, such as the increasing fluidity of electoral preferences or the fragmentation of the party system. At the same time, the course outlines and discusses some of the more distinct features of the German case, such as its ‘militant democracy’, mixed-member proportional electoral system, and the role of the second chamber and the Constitutional Court as veto-players. Contextualising and discussing current events in German politics will also be an integral part of this module.

The aim of this module is:

• To provide students with a thorough knowledge and understanding of German politics.

By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:

1. Demonstrate a comprehensive knowledge of Germany’s polity;


2. Understand Germany’s political culture and institutions;


3. Assess the German case in comparison with other country cases;


4. Analyse challenges the country is facing.

The module will be delivered via:

• 1x2 hour seminar each week

• Alister Miskimmon. (2012) 'Germany and the Wider World: A New Role in the Twenty-First Century?', in The politics of the new Germany, Abingdon: Routledge., pp.196-216
• Russell J. Dalton. (©1993) 'Changing Political Cultures', in Politics in Germany, New York: HarperCollins College Publishers. vol. The HarperCollins series in comparative politics, pp.107-144
• Simon Green. (2014) 'Citizenship, Migration and Cultural Pluralism', in Developments in German politics 4, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan., pp.262-278
• Wilke, Jurgen. (2008) 'Germany: Media System', in The international encyclopedia of communication, United States: Wiley/Blackwell., pp.1961-1964
• Henry Krisch. (2009) 'Germany Divided and Unified', in Politics in Germany, Washington, DC: CQ Press., pp.38-56
• Alister Miskimmon. (2012) 'A blockaded system of government?', in The politics of the new Germany, Abingdon: Routledge., pp.72-94
• Stephen Padgett. (2014) 'Energy and Climate Protection Policy', in Developments in German politics 4, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan., pp.241-261
• Susan E. Scarrow. (1997) 'Party Competition and Institutional Change: The Expansion of Direct Democracy in Germany', in Party Politics. vol. 3 (4) , pp.451-472
• Max Kaase. (2000) 'Germany: A Society and a Media System in Transition', in Democracy and the media: a comparative perspective, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press., pp.375-401
• Russell J. Dalton. (© 2020) 'Elections and Political Parties', in Citizen politics: public opinion and political parties in advanced industrial democracies, Los Angeles, California: SAGE, CQ Press., pp.133-154
• Georg Vanberg. (2005) 'The Federal Constitutional Court in Comparative Perspective', in The politics of constitutional review in Germany, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press., pp.61-94
• Simon Green; Dan Hough; Alister Miskimmon. (2012) The politics of the new Germany, Abingdon: Routledge.
• Christian Stecker; Klaus H. Goetz. (2014) 'Government at the Centre', in Developments in German politics 4, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan., pp.16-34
• Russell J. Dalton. (© 2020) 'Citizens and the Democratic Process', in Citizen politics: public opinion and political parties in advanced industrial democracies, Los Angeles, California: SAGE, CQ Press., pp.255-277
• Margret Hornsteiner; Thomas Saalfeld. (2014) 'Parties and Party System', in Developments in German politics 4, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan., pp.78-102
• Reimut Zohlnhöfer. (2014) 'Economic Policy', in Developments in German politics 4, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan., pp.149-165
• Debus, Marc; Müller, Jochen. (2013) 'Do Voters' Coalition Preferences Affect Government Formation?', in West European Politics. vol. 36 (5) , pp.1007-1028
• Schmidt, Manfred G. (2003) 'Continuity and Discontinuity in the Federal Republic of Germany', in Political institutions in the Federal Republic of Germany, Oxford: Oxford University Press., pp.201-235
• Alister Miskimmon. (2012) 'Parties and voters: The Path to Fluid Party Politics?', in The politics of the new Germany, Abingdon: Routledge., pp.94-114
• Schmidt, Manfred G. (2003) '“Governing with Judges”: The Judiciary, the Court System, and Judicial Review', in Political institutions in the Federal Republic of Germany, Oxford: Oxford University Press., pp.106-130
• Alister Miskimmon. (2012) 'Citizenship and demographics: (Still) a country of immigration?', in The politics of the new Germany, Abingdon: Routledge., pp.115-135
• Schmidt, Manfred G. (2003) 'Governing a Semi-Sovereign State: Germany's Executive and its Institutional Context', in Political institutions in the Federal Republic of Germany, Oxford: Oxford University Press., pp.26-73
• Schmitt-Beck, Rüdiger; Partheymüller, Julia. (2012) 'Why Voters Decide Late: A Simultaneous Test of Old and New Hypotheses at the 2005 and 2009 German Federal Elections', in German Politics. vol. 21 (3) , pp.299-316
• D. Hawkins. (2009) 'Case Studies', in The SAGE handbook of comparative politics, Los Angeles: SAGE., pp.50-65
• Russell J. Dalton. (2014) 'Partisan Dealignment and Voting Choice', in Developments in German politics 4, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan., pp.57-77
• Schmidt, Manfred G. (2003) 'From Negative Parliamentary Politics to Democratic Parliamentary Government: The Role of the Legislature', in Political institutions in the Federal Republic of Germany, Oxford: Oxford University Press., pp.74-105
• Dieter Rucht. (2014) 'The Politics of Social Protest', in Developments in German politics 4, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan., pp.118-132
• Russell J. Dalton. (©1993) 'The Institutions of Governance', in Politics in Germany, New York: HarperCollins College Publishers. vol. The HarperCollins series in comparative politics, pp.44-79
• Miranda A. Schreurs. (2016) 'Is Germany Really an Environmental Leader?', in Current History. vol. 115 (779) , pp.114-116
• Alister Miskimmon. (2012) 'Conclusion: Three themes reassessed', in The politics of the new Germany, Abingdon: Routledge., pp.217-223
• Klüver, Heike. (2015) 'Interest Groups in the German Bundestag: Exploring the Issue Linkage between Citizens and Interest Groups', in German Politics. vol. 24 (2) , pp.137-153
• Schmidt, Manfred G. (2003) 'Against “Leviathan” and “Behemoth”: The Anti-Totalitarian Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany', in Political institutions in the Federal Republic of Germany, Oxford: Oxford University Press., pp.9-25
• Krisch, Henry. (c2009) 'Organized Interest Groups and Social Movements', in Politics in Germany, Washington, DC: CQ Press., pp.136-156
• Green, Simon; Hough, Dan; Miskimmon, Alister. (2012) Politics of the new Germany, London: Routledge.
• Roberts, Geoffrey K. (2016) 'Germany and Europe', in German politics today, Manchester: Manchester University Press., pp.189-205