Reform backlog
Reform backlog is a political catchphrase that is used to criticize the lack of political or structural reforms that are seen as necessary .
The term reform backlog appeared in German mass media at the beginning of the 1990s and was the word of the year 1997. The reason for reform backlog in Germany is often a blockade policy of the respective opposition , which under certain circumstances has a majority in the Bundesrat (e.g. under the Helmut governments Kohl or Gerhard Schröder ).
According to Gerd Andreas Strohmeier, the feasibility of reforms depends largely on the constitutional framework of a state. These would have a predominantly reform-inhibiting effect in Germany: "In no country in the world have so many authorities to prevent as in Germany - perhaps with the exception of the Swiss concordance democracy ." In Great Britain, on the other hand, the framework conditions are predominantly reform-promoting: Here "(...) actually only governs the majority with which important basic decisions can be brought about immediately after a change of government ”.
The Veto Players lead in simple terms to the so-called "veto players" rule on reformability politics or stalled reforms. A basic idea of this theorem is that the number, cohesion and political position of the veto players are different in the states and that the political weight is related, among other things, to their number, their cohesion and the political-ideological distance between them. A political change of course by a government, the greater the smaller the number of veto players and the greater the political-ideological congruence between the veto players.
Günther G. Schulze, Professor of Economic Policy, sees another reason for a lack of reforms in the fact that the political system does not reward reform steps. Politicians wanted to be elected and based their policies on the expected approval. The gains from reforms lie in the future and are “uncertain in terms of their amount and the group of people affected; However, the initial losses from these reforms can usually be precisely quantified, and those affected know exactly what is at stake for them. ”Therefore,“ systematically practiced foresight or courage ”cannot be expected from politicians.
literature
- Günther G. Schulze (Ed.): Reforms for Germany. The most important fields of action from an economic point of view . Schäffer-Poeschel, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 3-7910-2917-7 .
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Between the separation of powers and the backlog of reforms: How many veto players does the country need? , From politics and contemporary history (B 51/2003) on the website of the Federal Agency for Civic Education .
- ↑ Veto player theorem and politics of the middle way , Manfred G. Schmidt in Bürger im Staat, 2003.
- ↑ Günther G. Schulze: Which economic problems we have to solve