Germany

In her Book, "States and Regions in the European Union," author Tanja Borzel explores the relationship between countries that have traditionally had cooperative regional legislatures and their level of integration into the European Union. Using Spain as an example, Borzel explains that the legislature on the local level is very active, and it participates cooperatively with the national legislature. It is Borzel's conjecture that states that operate in this way have more success being integrated into the European Union than do states with poor regional participation rates (one example being England).

Recalling the very first observations made in this project, the EC/EU was essentially formed for Germany; at the very least it was formed around a German/French peace agreement. For this reason, Germany's integration has never been questioned - but more importantly, Borzel's conjectures still apply. Germany has a very high participation rate on the individual citizen and regional level. Not being a sociologist or psychologist, I am timid to make assumptions about human behavior, but I think it is safe to say that political participation rates increase as people find their government more responsive to their opinions. Germans participate so actively in their regional legislatures because, on the whole, they are politically engaged. As a country that has a long history of both federalism and nationalism, it is not a surprise that the citizens take their politics seriously. A simple way to summarize this point is to say that Germans like their country, and they like being part of the European Union - and their participation, combined with Borzel's ideas, demonstrates this.

Germany's story as a member of the EU is one of a country attempting to balance economics and politics. Remember that the EEC began as a political association disguised as an economic union. It was the unexpected and enormous success of the EEC in the steel and coal industries that first introduced the idea that the EU could eventually one day be as much of a political entity as an economic one. The reason that Germany struggled with this duality is that during the years following WWII, and during the years of the cold war, economic power looked to many like a political move - possibly even a move towards war. Keep in mind that in the early years of the EC, England failed because they were too economically motivated and did not demonstrate the passionate desire for political change present in France and Germany. Thus, it was Germany's top priority to never lose this desire for political change (or at least the semblance of desire) so that they did not lose power in the community. On the other hand, it also was necessary to focus on economic ideas from time to time - it would have been foolish not to take advantage of things like tariff-free trading as they became available.

Perhaps we can learn most about Germany' s role in the EU by looking at the EU itself. Consider that the EU is very rarely thought of as a political entity in the modern world. It is a political entity because it has to be - but more importantly it is an economic being. The treaties and discussions that go on are all on the subject of economic affairs. The recent ratification of the constitution failed because of an economic issue. The EU, then, no longer serves as a peacekeeper for member nations afraid to experience the next world war. Rather, it is beginning to serve as an economic vehicle for its member nations - it brings them all onto the same currency and removes tariffs from their goods. Additionally, all member nations are required to adopt the same set of policies - agricultural, industrial, commercial, etc. This is clearly not a politically motivated requirement; rather, it is a requirement that looks out for the best interest of the whole.

I have been researching for a couple of weeks now about the politics and the way that people (and politicians) behave the way they do. I think I have a pretty decent and broad understanding of the history of the EU, and why it has come to be what it is today. I want to center my research more around the topic of economics - I want to look at stock markets, economic performance data, monetary values, M1+M2, etc. My next topic, then, will be the Euro - how it was conceived and how it has changed the face of the European Economy.