This book satisfies the need for an authoritative guide with key original source texts for all courses on contemporary Germany and German politics at sixth-form and university level.
This book satisfies the need for an authoritative guide with key original source texts for all courses on contemporary Germany and German politics at sixth-form and university level.
' . . . the texts well chosen, the conclusions sound. Overall presentation is good, rendering it accessible as an introduction to the subject.' German Politics
The book not only offers an up-to-date guide to contemporary German politics but also provides key documentary extracts from the constitutions, the party manifestos and the writings of German politicians, so that readers may examine the issues for themselves.
The first part of the volume gives an overview of the constitutional and political systems that were created in Germany after the Second World War. The Federal Republic is examined in the light of key extracts from the Basic Law, while a section on the German Democratic Republic's constitution reveals how the authorities' failure to comply with some of its key principles contributed to the eventual collapse of that system. The second part examines the history of all the major German political parties since 1945 - the CDU and the CSU, the FDP, the SPD, Bündnis 90, the East German SED and its successor the PDS. Also included are sections on the Greens and on the recent resurgence of right-wing extremism.
Brief biographical portraits are given of the most important party leaders and there is a summary of the present situation. The documentary sources for each section are accompanied by notes, a guide to the vocabulary and detailed questions to stimulate critical analysis of the principal ideas and policies of each party.
G. E. Edwards is an independent political analyst. She has previously worked with the Foreign Office, and her former academic positions include Lecturer in German at the following: Loughborough University, the University of Ulster, Bonn University, Humboldt University (Berlin) and Head of Humanities for the University College of Wales, Wrexham. She originally graduated from University of Wales, Aberystwyth and she currently lives in Rhyl.