Continuity and change in German politics. Beyond the politics of centrality? A Festschrift for Gordon Smith

Abstract:
This book is a celebration of the life work of Gordon Smith, a political scientist who for 30 years has provided some of the key concepts with which we interpret German politics. It is however more than a recantation of his life work. The editors, true to their hero, have defined a purpose for the work - to employ the intellectual legacy of Gordon Smith in an evaluation of contemporary German politics and government. The work evaluates the sustainability of the politics of centrality - in which a centre-oriented party system provides the model of party governance geared to a pragmatic search for consensual solutions - challenged as it is by the bi-polar party system in the post-Kohl era.

The work is comprised of twelve contributions by leading UK and German scholars. They use themes from Smith's work in an examination of the German political evolution through socio-economic change, globalisation, European integration, and the upheaval of unification. Contributors explore Germany's place in the wider context of European politics, government and political leadership, party system change, political economy and political culture. The period covered stretches from the Willy Brandt era through to Schmidt and Schröder. It represents a comprehensive picture of Germany at the turn of the Millennium.

The work will interest scholars and students of German and European studies, political sciences and comparative politics.

Stephen Padgett is Professor of Politics at the University of Strathclyde. Thomas Poguntke is Professor of Political Science at Keele University.

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