欧洲经济模式评析——从效率与公平的视角

统一市场和经济货币联盟以及协调的欧盟经济政策结构是欧洲经济模式的基础。欧盟的经济模式是欧洲内部若干子模式结合的产物,德国弗莱堡学派的秩序自由主义的原则对欧洲经济一体化产生了较大的影响,在德国模式和欧洲模式之间有四点相似的特征。欧洲经济模式的特征是寻求经济效率和社会公平的均衡发展,是社会市场经济和福利国家市场经济的混合模式。通过采用基尼系数和全球竞争力指数对欧盟国家的效率和公平状况进行综合比较,在欧盟内部存在着4个略有差异的子模式,表明在效率和公平之间并不必然存在着此消彼长的替代关系。     

欧洲福利国家的未来在哪里？

欧洲的市场经济、社会保障制度以及劳资关系是在经济国际化、技术进步以及社会人口变化的压力下出现的。由于拥有完善的社会保护、先进的就业保障以及合作型的劳资关系,因此,欧洲社会模式可以以一种更为社会所接受的方式来适应经济变化。尽管存在共同的欧洲社会模式,但在欧洲福利国家间却存在着重大的差异。然而,由于全球化以及民族国家的内部问题,例如人口和社会变化,这些社会模式都面临着挑战。民族国家层面正在进行的改革以及由欧盟开放式协调法所引发的改革将改变这些国家的社会模式。改革的趋势包括：通过削减福利控制社会开支;社会责任从主要由公共机构承担更多地向私人自愿保险转变;通过扩大非典型性工作增加劳动力市场的灵活性;一些国家的政府与工会进行谈判并着手改革,而另一些国家的政府改变了社会伙伴在福利管理中的参与方式。欧洲面临的挑战是既要保持其社会模式的比较优势,同时又要使之现代化并适应新的经济和社会挑战。     

浅析德国福利国家的困境

随着全球化和欧洲一体化的不断推进 ,以及德国统一给德国内部环境带来的巨大变化 ,德国与其他欧洲国家一样 ,其福利国家制度也面临着新的危机。国家经济和社会职能的日益扩张 ,“集权化”的倾向和政治决策中的官僚主义 ,导致了经济发展效率的缺失 ,使福利国家在新的历史条件下经受着前所未有的挑战。     

福利国家中的社会经济压力和决策者——德国和意大利家庭政策的比较研究

德国和意大利的福利国家制度都是建立在深受基督教民主主义影响的欧洲大陆模式上的,强调以家庭为主的社会保障。但在近十多年里,两国在以家庭政策为代表的社会政策领域却呈现出不同的发展路径。本文运用历史制度主义理论对两国的这一差异进行比较分析后认为,社会经济压力能否对社会福利政策的延续或改变起作用,在于政治参与者是否达成认知上的趋同,从而把握住决定性的时机进行变革。     

试析欧债危机中德国经济社会的表现——兼议德国模式的作用及其前景

以信奉"社会市场经济"著称的德国在长期的经济和社会运行过程中形成了一系列适合自身发展的特征和模式,为其经济、社会的相对平稳健康运行构筑了良好的框架条件,这在2009-2013年的欧债危机中得到了充分的体现。德国因之在欧盟成员国中呈现出经济"一枝独秀"、社会相对平稳的良好局面。本文将探讨其背后支撑德国发展模式的原因,以及德国模式在经过此次危机后的发展前景。     

“欧洲化”对德国福利社团游说功能的影响

福利社团主义曾在相当程度上限制了德国福利社团的游说活动。福利社团主义与欧洲经济一体化的自由市场逻辑之间的冲突,使得"欧洲化"在一方面威胁到了德国福利社团在国内的独特法律地位,另一方面也弱化了福利社团主义对福利社团游说功能的限制作用。为了全面理解"欧洲化"对德国福利社团游说功能的复杂影响,需要扩展"欧洲化"研究中关于"适应性压力"的分析框架,以包含政治层面的适应问题和自下而上的变革机制。根据欧盟治理的形态和目标、福利社团针对欧盟的政治战略以及该战略对它们在国内政治中的游说行为的影响,可以将德国福利社团游说功能的变化分为三个阶段:防御阶段、进攻阶段和"双向现代化"阶段。     

欧洲国家公共养老金改革的路径选择:结构还是参数?

近几十年来,欧洲福利国家的兴衰已经成为学界和政界的一个热门话题。作为资本主义制度的典型模式,福利国家及其提供的社会服务,特别是养老服务,出现了巨大的财政风险。20世纪80年代以来,福利国家改革在欧洲各国经历了不同的遭遇。欧洲福利国家模式是否已经走入绝境,是否还有其他方式可以对其进行有效改革。近些年来在欧盟内部出现的被称为"参数改革"的实践受到广泛的关注。本文就这种参数改革及其与"结构改革"的关系以及对福利国家前途的影响进行了初步探讨。     

福利困境、“去民主化”和欧洲一体化:欧洲政治转型的路径

由于全球化的不断发展,欧洲福利国家面临着巨大的改革压力。但是,在代议民主制下福利的需求是刚性的,必要的福利国家改革难以推进。因此,欧洲人转而推动欧洲共同市场建设,将与市场活动相关的经济政策制定权能转移到不受民主程序控制的欧共体/欧盟层面,削弱了民众通过选举影响国家干预的能力。从某种意义上说,欧洲共同市场建设也是"市场逃离民主"的过程,是变相的"去民主化"的过程。欧洲一体化在欧洲的政治转型过程中扮演了至关重要的角色,它在维持代议民主制的条件下为欧洲国家摆脱"福利困境"提供了一条出路。由于进行福利国家改革的压力持续不减,这种"去民主化"的进程在可见的未来仍将持续。     

并肩前进抑或分道扬镳?——德国社民党与工会的关系

基于自身的思想和政治传统 ,德国社会民主党和工会有着 14 0年的特殊关系 ,这种关系也是社民党能够长期在德国政治生活中发挥重要作用的一个关键性因素。但是 ,随着当今德国经济、政治和社会的结构性变化 ,这种关系却面临着新的挑战。施罗德总理的社民党政府所颁布的削减社会福利的改革方案———《2 0 10规划》 ,引发了工会与社民党之间的尖锐矛盾 ,双方的关系面临严峻考验。工会与社民党之间冲突的根本原因在于德国福利社会体制自身所面临的巨大压力 ,但目前的矛盾不会导致工会和社民党的彻底分裂。社民党和工会都需要进行必要的调整。否则 ,双方都将陷入困境 :社民党将丧失它的传统基础 ;工会的政治能力也会在企业管理和劳资谈判中受到限制。社民党应努力做到改革与维持传统价值的统一 ,以不失去工会这个传统伙伴 ;工会应就福利社会改革提出切实可行的替代方案或妥协建议。     

卡特尔政党模式在德国的兴起及其动因分析

卡特尔政党模式是西方政党类型学研究的突出成果,其显著特点是政党与国家的结合以及政党之间的频繁联盟。因此,卡特尔政党最大的理论贡献在于对政党作为治理工具特性的强化,以及对传统西方以"选举竞争"为基础政党理论的颠覆。从组织结构、社会基础、财政资助和政党竞争等四个维度出发,卡特尔政党模式显然已经在德国兴起。本文认为,选民代际更替和新社会运动对政党功能的部分替代是德国政党卡特尔化的结构性原因;主要政党为实现自身利益最大化而采取结盟而非竞争的方式进行运作则是行动者因素;德国国内治理问题、外部环境压力以及政治文化的改变也是影响德国政党卡特尔化的情境因素。     

Economic Linkage and Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik: The Case of the Warsaw Treaty

This article focuses on German–Polish relations at the time of the 1970 Warsaw Treaty, a pivotal moment in German diplomatic history. However, the study's relevance goes beyond this case. It illustrates an important source of the Federal Republic's international influence, past and present: its ability to use economic strength for political purposes. As this case shows, Germany has been particularly successful in using economic incentives (positive linkage) to improve ties with its neighbours. This article illustrates the important role of positive linkage both in German Ostpolitik and in international relations in general.     

The strong German state and the weak feminist movements

This article examines the causes of the marginalisation of women in political and economic decision‐making processes that are part of the ‘routine’ policy‐making process of the German state. The larger theoretical question is whether there is a ‘gender bias of the German state’ that has made its institutional structures less amenable to women's participation and their political agenda. Given the evidence, the answer is ‘yes’. There are specific exclusionary mechanisms that characterise the German polity, and these are antithetical to women's participation and concerns. These mechanisms act as gatekeepers of both legislation and discursive practices and are constitutive of the German Fraktionstaat and the corporatist system of economic bargaining.     

Standort Deutschland in the globalising economy: An end to the economic miracle?

This article reviews the economic position of Germany in an era of increased internationalisation of economic activity. Since unification there have been worrying trends in the German economy: in particular, high unemployment, increasing government debt and a substantial increase in the overseas activities of Germany's major companies. However, this article argues that the micro‐economy in general, and the institutional structures inherent to the social market economy of post‐war Germany in particular, are strong. Indeed, only by understanding the historical interrelationships between the individual structures of the German social market economy is it possible to appreciate the continued strength of the German economy.     

Left of Eden: The Changing Politics of Economic Inequality in Contemporary Germany

This article explores the changing politics of economic inequality in Germany and its relationship to the transformation of the German Left. During the post-war ‘Economic Miracle’, few saw economic inequality as cause for concern. Though inequalities existed, their economic impact and political significance were masked by the fact that workers' incomes were increasing and unemployment was rare. During the past two decades, by contrast, labour-market liberalisation and the increased political salience of rising economic inequality have changed the German political landscape in several ways, including the emergence of Die Linke, a far-Left party committed to economic redistribution. The article argues that this change represents more than a simple shift ‘to the Left’; instead, it reflects an important rethinking of the post-war ‘Social Market Economy’, its ability to reconcile equity and economic growth, and the politically acceptable range of public policies designed to alleviate economic inequality and exclusion.     

Europe and the German Model: Growing Tension or Symbiosis?

Recent conflicts between the Commission of the European Communities and the German government suggest a growing tension between structures of the German political economy and the agenda of economic liberalisation fostered by European integration. Will mounting conflict ultimately force Germany to choose between its commitment to the integrity of the social market economy and support for European economic integration? This article considers the cases of Germany's public sector banks and the German postal service. Both entail potential conflict between the public service functions integral to the social market economy and the competition central to Europe's single market. Examination of these cases suggests that, rather than forcing change on a reluctant Germany and jeopardising the core of the social market economy (SME), enforcement of European competition policy from Brussels has taken place in fundamental symbiosis with the SME. Nonetheless, tensions between federal government and Länder indicate that a positive-sum relationship between Europe's single market and Germany's social market economy may be constrained by German federalism.     

Political Indigestion: Germany Confronts Genetically Modified Foods

Why has German policy toward agricultural biotechnology been notably unsupportive, compared to other countries with large biotechnology industries, despite its economic significance and the senior governing party's initial support across both the SPD–Green and Grand Coalition governments? I argue that German policy is the result of the interlocking dynamics in the economic and political arenas. In both realms, the GMO issue led to ‘business conflict’ by dividing economic sectors into pro-GMO and anti-GMO blocs. This enhanced the anti-GMO movement's ‘opportunity structures’ in both the economic and the political arena. It also affected the relative strength of contending political coalitions on both sides of the GMO issue, which in turn affected policy outcomes. Finally, I argue that the partisan composition of Germany's coalition governments also contributed to the outcome.     

What's Right about the Left–Right Dimension? The Causes and the Consequences of Ideological Inconsistency on Economic Issues in Germany

There is growing evidence that policy preferences of citizens on economic issues do not follow an ideological left–right pattern; that is, from the perspective of political science theory, citizens' economic policy preferences are ideologically inconsistent. This article examines this phenomenon for the German case. It shows that a large share of German citizens have ideologically inconsistent views on economic issues. The article further investigates the causes of this ideological inconsistency and its consequences for democratic representation: citizens with inconsistent views tend to be more dissatisfied with their own societal position and tend to have less political knowledge. The article further shows that citizens with ideologically inconsistent views are less satisfied with democracy and less likely to vote in elections, because they cannot find adequate representation among the established parties.     

The role of Britain in West German foreign policy since 1949 1

Anglo‐German relations since 1949 have been a curious mixture of harmony and tension. This paper looks at the reasons both for cooperation and conflict and some of the ways in which German perceptions of Britain have changed since 1949. Attitudes to security, economic integration and political identity produced a complex pattern, where each side at times had unrealistic expectations of the other. Recently published documents from the Auswärtiges Amt for 1963–64 give an insight into the ‘official mind’ of German foreign policy at a critical moment.     

An ounce of prevention? The reform of the German trade union Federation

This article investigates the causes and content of the ongoing reform of the German Trade Union Federation (DGB). We argue that problems predating German unification ‐ in particular, a skewed demographic profile, financial crisis and waning political clout ‐ are the central factors that led German unionists to undertake reform and have largely determined the reform's content. German unification acted simply as a catalyst rather than the cause prompting union reform. German unions can only retain their prominent economic and social position if they promote genuine democratic reform within their ranks. Otherwise unions will never attract employees from the high technology and service sectors that are essential to the union movement's survival in the coming century. German unions should also resist the temptation to take on all of the problems plaguing German society. They must instead concentrate on the essential tasks of all labour movements: discerning the ever‐changing wants of today's increasingly heterogeneous work force and fighting with employers and governments to obtain them.     

Why Germany Wanted EMU: The Role of Helmut Kohl's Belief System and the Fall of the Berlin Wall

In light of the current Euro-crisis and seemingly erratic German response to it, the question of why Germany wanted EMU has gained new relevance. While EMU entailed economic and political benefits for Germany, this article indicates that taking into account the German shared historical consciousness, and the combined effect of Chancellor Kohl's beliefs and 1989 Eastern European revolution provides a more adequate answer to this question. More specifically, such an explanation provides an answer to remaining questions concerning the timing of the German acquiescence, and the ambiguous and inconsistent behaviour of the Kohl government on the road to Maastricht.