Text Set #2

Text Set #2

Anton van den Berg

REED 461

Topic: The German Government and Political System

1.      http://www.germany.info/Vertretung/usa/en/Startseite.html

This site is for the German Missions in the United States. It contains links to the state department here in the U.S., the embassy, consulates, and other institutions in the U.S. It also contains information about Germany’s foreign policy. This website is at about a 9^th grad reading level.

2   http://www.economist.com/topics/german-politics

This is from the Economist. It contains current, up-to-date information about Germany, including: current events, stocks, politics “this week”, news, foreign policy and agenda setting. This website is at about an 11^th grade reading level.

3.    http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/guide-to-german-political-parties-a-886188.html

This article comes from a very renowned magazine in Germany der Spiegel (the mirror). It contains a list of each current German political party and a few of their stances, policies they have made, and other information on their affiliation within the German political system. 10^th grade reading level.

4.     https://www.btg-bestellservice.de/pdf/80201000.pdf

This is a PDF straight from the German Bundestag. It lists the basic law for the Federal Republic of Germany. This would be a great resource for anyone wanting to compare German and American laws in dept. This source would be at a college reading level when translated into English.

5.    http://www.cdu.de/

This is a direct link to Germany’s Christian Democratic Union party. The current chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, belongs to this party. It has links to their policies and stances on certain issues as well. This website, when translated into English, would be at a 9-10^th grad reading level.

6.    http://www.spd.de/

This is a link to Germany’s Social Democratic Party (Sozialedemokratische Partei Deutschlands). It also has links to their stances on issues, legislation they have passed, and news. This would also be at about a 9-10^th grad reading level when translated into English.

7.     http://www.die-linke.de/die-linke/aktuell/

This is a direct link to the Germany party, Die Linke (the left). They stand for democratic socialism, and they are a prominent party in Germany, but not the most prominent (the previous two are the leading parties). This link also provides information about their legislation, involvement in the German government, and causes. 9-10^th grade reading level.

8.     http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09644009708404464#.Upvq02Tk-JM

Here is the link to a book entitled, German policy towards the European Union: The effects of historical memory. This book looks back at German policy making and how the evolution of the German government plays a role in the way they act today. This book would be at a 12^th + reading level.

9.     http://www.gruene.de/startseite.html

Here is a direct link to Germany’s political party, Die Grünen (the greens/green party). This site allows access to all of their initiatives, policies, and influence on the German government. This party plays a much bigger role in their government than our version of this party. This site in English would be at about a 9-10^th grade reading level.

10.  http://www.npd.de/

This is an interesting site, because I would bet that the majority of the general public would either assume that Nazis did not exist in Germany anymore, or they would at least not be allowed representation. Both would be correct in some way. The NPD (Nationalsozialistische Partei Deutschlands-Nazi Party) is not allowed representation in the Bundestag (at the national level), but due to free speech and diversity in their constitution, the party is allowed to be heard at state levels. So this site lays out their policies and anything they have been a part of. This site is at about a 9-10^th grade reading level.

11.  http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/EN/Europa/DeutschlandInEuropa/entscheidungsfindung_node.html

This is a link to the Federal Foreign Office of Germany. It deals mainly with policy making in Germany and how they go about it. There are also links to the European Union policymaking sites. 9-10^th grade

12. http://www.bundestag.de/kulturundgeschichte/architektur/reichstag/

Every nation has a building that is synonymous with their government, and in Germany it is no different. This is a link to the German Parliament building (der Reichstag). It has links to the history of the building, the architecture, its use and effectiveness in the German government and what goes on in the building. 10-11^th grade reading level.

13. http://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/24356

Germany is a pretty liberal country compared to the United States, and its political system shows that in its diversity of party representation. This is a link to an abstract for a book titled Alternative Politics: The German Green Party. This book takes an in depth look at the party itself, its policies, and formation. This book would be at a 12^th grade reading level.

14. http://users.ox.ac.uk/~trin1631/texts/religionpolitics.pdf

This is a link to a PDF that compares the relationships and involvement of religion in politics in Germany and the United States. This is interesting for anyone curious to see how the government makes a governmental system without a clear separation of church and state work effectively. This would be at about an 11^th grade reading level.

15. http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/EN/Startseite_node.html

This is a link to the German Foreign Affairs Office. Here you can find information about Germany’s foreign policy and their influence economically and socially around the world. 9-10^th grade reading level.