Cooperative federalism
The cooperative federalism is an expression of federalism . The individual regional units in a state should work together as far as possible. The opposite is competitive federalism .
Supporters of cooperative federalism want to keep the differences between the member states as small as possible and work for equal living conditions. The federalism in Germany is opposed to this view, among other things, the demand for equality of living conditions in Art. 72 para. 2 of the Basic Law and by Art. 106 para. 3 Basic Law, which speaks of the "uniformity of living conditions in the Federal Republic." The Basic Law determines which competences are assigned to the federal government, which to the federal states ( exclusive legislation ) and which federal and federal states jointly ( competing legislation ). In addition, the states work closely together on school policy, for example, through the Standing Conference , as it would be undesirable if school certificates from one state were not recognized in another.
In the following, Germany is referred to as a unitarian ( i.e. one that is concerned with uniformity). The German system is thus tending towards a decentralized unitary state.
Supporters of competitive federalism in Germany criticize, for example, the state financial equalization , in which richer federal states pay for poorer ones. In the course of the federalism reform , it has been possible to reduce the proportion of laws that both Bundestag and Bundesrat have to agree to, from around 60 to 41% since the reform began on September 1, 2006.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Helge Lothar Batt: Constitutional Law and Constitutional Reality in United Germany. The dichotomy of the Basic Law between limiting-formal and directing-material understanding of the constitution. Springer, Wiesbaden 2003, ISBN 978-3-8100-3708-4 , p. 43 ff.
- ^ R. Preuss: Federalism reform: power of the states is unbroken. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung of May 15, 2010.
