Historisch-Politische Mitteilungen

Overview & Synopsis

The scope and intensity of contemporary German research on state politics largely do not correspond to the importance that the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany attributes to the federal system and thus to the states as independent actors. This volume, which emerged from an academic conference, therefore addresses important areas of a source-based examination of state history as an integral component of contemporary German history in three thematic blocks – from both West and East German perspectives. The emergence, development, and maintenance of state consciousness and state identity are addressed, as are the broad fields of education, school, and higher education policy. The latter not only forms the core of state political responsibility and is often highly ideologically charged, but has also given rise to, and continues to give rise to, criticism of federalism like hardly any other topic. A third focus is on debates about municipal administrative, territorial, and structural reforms, in which the need for increased efficiency and modernization often had to be reconciled with political interests or a pronounced local-regional identity.