Balancing cooperative federalism with local autonomy: subnational governments and governance in Germany

Germany’s subnational governance arrangements are a legacy of the constitutional framework that the Western Allies established for the Federal Republic in the aftermath of World War II, as well as its pre-1933 history of decentralisation and local autonomy. The country’s 16 states exert significant influence at the national level through the Bundesrat (second parliamentary chamber) and oversee their own distinctive local government systems. Nonetheless, there is close co-operation between tiers of governance in policymaking and implementation. This “cooperative federalism” can help to mobilise action where consensus exists, but also hinder progress in more controversial policy sectors. This chapter shows how these intergovernmental dynamics play out in terms of public management reforms and local climate policy. Specifically, it highlights how Germany’s system of subnational governance led to a highly patchwork implementation of New Public Management-type initiatives across the country, and a similarly uneven approach to climate mitigation and adaptation.