Regionalisation in Germany: the advantages of a federal state

Autonomous Länders

Germany is a federal state, composed of 16 regions (Länder). The federal structure of 1949 was designed by representatives of the already existing Länder in the Parliamentarian Council under Western Allied supervision. Some Länder could keep their traditional structures after 1945, like Bayern, Hamburg and Bremen. Others were formed out of smaller regions or were the result of the deconstruction of the former Prussian state. The federal principle is fixed in Article 20 of the Basic Law and cannot be changed (Article 79, III). The original intent was to establish a decentralised federal structure based on a strict separation of powers and own finances for each level of government, where all power is distributed to the Länder unless otherwise mentioned in the Basic Law (Article 30). But the most important policies that are mentioned are in the exclusive jurisdiction of the central state (Bund) or organised in a system of joint Bund-Länder responsibility. The Länder, as central political regions in Germany, are strong but confined to the boundaries of a centralising political culture which hasn’t changed profoundly since the previous history of the Second German Republic.

All Länder not only have full developed autonomous legislative, executive and juridical bodies, but also their own constitution. This reflects the own state character of each Land even though their constitutional regime has to be based on the principles of the Basic Law (Article 28). On the basis of Article 30 and Article 70 of the Basic Law, the following policies that effectively remain in the jurisdiction of the Länder are chiefly: culture, media, education, regional planning and inner security / police in the region. In the context of public finances, the Länder have no own autonomous tax authority. The taxes and their distribution are determined by the federal government and parliament, but only with the approval of the Bundesrat (Federal Council), the legislative chamber that represents the Länder, which is crucial in the federal legislative process.

System of financial equalisation

Another typical characteristic of the federation is the vertical and horizontal financial equalisation system. The first manages the allocation between the federal, state and the Länder as a whole; the second is an interregional mechanism between the Länder. Regarding matters of European integration, the Länder participate in addition via the Bundesrat if their sphere of responsibility is concerned (Article 23 Basic Law). As a result of the participation of the Land governments using the Bundesrat and the numerous conferences involving federal and Land officials, references are frequently made to the German system of “participatory federalism” or “executive federalism”. The interlocking system of political cooperation in Germany often gets in the way of a principle which is closely connected to regions and democracy: subsidiarity.

Governance and identity

The governments are the winners of the cooperative federalism in all of its dimensions. The party system is rather centralised and the regional divisions of all parties listen more or less to what the particular federal organisation claims. The electoral systems of the Länder are geared to the federal electoral system, the so called personalised or mixed member proportional representation, with a five percent barrier except for the national minorities. In Germany the cultural identity is quite homogenous. The traditional ethnic and respectively linguistic minorities cover only a few thousand people in a population of about 80 million (Danes, Frisians, Sorbs, Sinti and Romani). The history of the Federal Republic doesn’t know any separatism. The Länder, in contrast to the federal level, have developed different forms of direct democracy and fixed popular legislation in their constitutions.

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