Policy and Politics in West Germany: The Growth of a Semisovereign State (review)

288 SAIS REVIEW Policy and Politics in West Germany: The Growth ofa Semisovereign State. By Peter J. Katzenstein. Philadelphia, Penn.: Temple University Press, 1987. 434 pp. $15.95/paper. Reviewed by Lynda K. Barrow, M. A. candidate, SAIS. The "German Question" has historically asked first how one nation could be at the center of three conflicts with its neighbors after its unification in 1870 and then how a vigorous cultural center could support a Nazi regime with all its attendant horrors. The geopolitical answer to the first question is that a united Germany is simply too big; in that respect the postwar division of Germany should have resolved the issue. The sociocultural answer to the second question relies on historical peculiarities— perhaps Germany's late and rapid industrialization — and the so-called distinctive German character. In Policy and Politics in West Germany PeterJ. Katzenstein presents a more forward-looking formulation of the "German Question": Why are changes in the partisan composition of government not reflected in policy change, and why has incremental policy change been the rule in the Federal Republic? Katzenstein argues that "institutional interpénétration," the structure whereby political mechanisms connect the decentralized state with a highly centralized society, answers this new German question. He defines the three nodes of the German policy network as the party system, "cooperative federalism," and "parapublic" institutions. The party system is characterized by catchall parties and coalition governments that encourage centrist politics. Political parties provide the institutional arena where state and society meet to formulate public policy. By giving the Länder (states) primary powers in such matters as education , and by providing for a field system of administration, the Federal Republic 's Basic Law has created a system of cooperative federalism in which the federal government lacks its own bureaucracy for implementing policies. Parapublic institutions, encompassing policy arenas as well as such political actors as the Bundesbank, act as "political shock-absorbers." By bringing private bureaucracies under the auspices of state administration these institutions limit both political controversies and the scope of policy initiatives, thus engendering political stability. Internally and externally, state sovereignty is incomplete. Externally, policy options are constrained by Germany's membership in international organizations , particularly the Atlantic Alliance and the European Community. Postwar stability in Central Europe was largely imposed by external forces. Internally, semisovereignty is maintained by the state's embrace of many institutions that also shackle its power and prevent large-scale change. The state's power has been modified and dispersed but, according to Katzenstein, not eroded. As an actor the state is impotent; however, as a set of institutional relations bridging the hazy line between public and private sectors, it is omnipresent. While social forces have access to and considerable influence on state institutions, the state's tentacles penetrate civil society. Given its historical legacy, this institutional arrangement may be the politically logical choice for Germany, since its fetters inhibit all actors from taking bold new steps. BOOK REVIEWS 289 Katzenstein's analysis is well organized and well focused, ifsomewhat redundant . The author's central point — that, regardless of governmental changes, incremental policy change is the rule in the Federal Republic because of Germany 's distinctive institutional arrangements — cannot possibly be missed. He supports his thesis by discussing the context, agenda, process, and consequences of the policymaking process in six broad areas of domestic politics: economic management, industrial relations, social welfare, migrant workers, administrative reform, and university reform. Only university reform failed to fit the pattern of small-scale, incremental change, Katzenstein notes. Finally, each chapter ends with readings highlighting key features of landmark legislation and relevant reports and speeches to provide a flavor of the contemporary debate on the policy issue. Democracy, Italian Style. ByJoseph LaPalombara. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1987. 320 pp. $25.00/cloth. Reviewed by Daniel Gringauz, M. A. candidate, SAIS. In Democracy, Italian Style Joseph LaPalombara refutes the clichéd picture many have of Italy as an ideologically polarized country suffering from constant internecine political warfare and standing on the verge of total disintegration . The book is about democratic government as practiced in Italy, a form of democracy LaPalombara convincingly portrays as effective, stable, and highly...