Germany's Gathering Crisis The 2005 Federal Election and the Grand Coalition

This book analyses German politics and economy. It analyzes the gathering crisis during the Red-Green government, the government's efforts to impose a reform agenda, the impact of the 2005 federal elections, and provides an evaluation of the success of the Grand Coalition in meeting these challenges in the run-up to the 2009 elections.

Introduction; W.E.Paterson & J.Sloam Crisis in German Economic Statecraft? Policy Misfit, Institutional Gridlock, and Firm-Led Adjustment; K.Dyson Endgame? The Fiscal Crisis of the German State; W.Streeck The German Party System Since 1998: Co-operation and Competition Under Growing Uncertainty; T.Saalfeld Schröder's Agenda 2010: From 'Plan B' to Lasting Legacy?; A.Busch A Crisis of Influence? German Foreign Policy since 1998; A.Miskimmon Catch-All Parties Catching Less: The 2005 Election and the Decline of the German Volkspartei; J.Sloam Smaller Parties and the 'Normalization' of the German Party System; D.Hough The Reform Corridor: Coalition Building 2005 and the Implications for Policy and Voters; U.Jun Last Orders? Semisovereignty and the Crisis of Cost Containment in the Grand Coalition; S.Green & W.E.Paterson The Internationalisation of Germany: Adapting to Europeanization and Globalization; A.Falke Coping with the Gathering Crisis; A.Miskimmon & W.E.Paterson

William E. Paterson was formerly Professor of Politics, Warwick University, Salvesen Professor of European Institutions at Edinburgh University and Director of the Institute of German Studies at Birmingham University. He is now Honorary Professor of German and European Politics at Aston University. Author of 28 single authored, co-authored and co-edited books and 160 articles and chapters. Co-editor of The European Union Series, PSEUP and New Perspectives on German Politics for Palgrave. Former editor of German Politics (Taylor & Francis) and JCMS (Wiley). Awarded Lifetime achievement awards by UACES (1997) International Association for the Study of German Politics(1994) and PSA (2011). Awarded OBE by UK Government 1999 and Oder of Merit (First Class) by the German Government in 1998. Co-edited the latest edition of Developments in German Politics 4.