Economic Globalization and the Shifting Boundaries of German Federalism

As in many other nations, economic globalization undermined the economic policymaking autonomy of the German federal government. At the same time, it prompted decentralization of other kinds of economic policymaking authority within the federal system. Thus, the Länder have assumed increased responsibility for regional economic adjustment through the expansion of regional economic policy networks. The economic impacts of globalization and the decentralization of economic policymaking, however, combine to promote greater disparities among the Lander. These disparities exacerbate growing competition among the Länder for investment and publicresources. This, in turn, creates deeper conflict among constituent governments that threatens to weaken further the problem-solving capacity of cooperative federalism. Copyright , Oxford University Press.