Political Parties and Public Policy in the German Länder

ED TURNER is Lecturer in Politics at Aston University, UK. He has held various teaching positions at Oxford University, UK.

'Ed Turner's excellent study is richly informative, theoretically stimulating and highly original. It examines the much-neglected issue of party competition at the regional level in Germany, and offers insights both for scholars of German politics and of comparative politics more generally. And it is an essential corrective to the excessively national-level focus of most contemporary studies of Europe's most powerful country. Packed with excellent detail from its case-studies, this is a must-read for anyone with a serious interest in the nature of political conflict and policy debate in contemporary Germany.' - Lord Wood of Anfield, Fellow and Tutor in Politics, Magdalen College, Oxford, UK 'Turner's book breaks new ground in linking the debates on how federalism and partisan politics influence public policy. His thoroughly researched and powerfully argued analysis of the influence of parties on public policy in the German Lander makes an important contribution to our understanding of German politics.' - R. Daniel Kelemen, Jean Monnet Chair and Associate Professor of Political Science, Rutgers University, USA 'This important book analyses public policy on the sub-national level and asks for partisan influence. In doing so, Turner not only provides new insights about education, family and labour market policy, but he also opens up an area of comparative analysis all too often neglected outside the United States. Most of all, of course, scholars of German politics will profit from this carefully designed study.' - Andreas Busch, Professor of Comparative Politics and Political Economy, Georg August University, Gottingen, Germany 'There have been many books written on political parties and their impact on policy outcomes, but few have taken an approach that is as innovative as this one. Ed Turner's book is a timely contribution to the debate on when, and under what conditions, parties can impact on public policy. Turner's analysis of sub-national politics in Germany is insightful and empirically rich and his conclusions will be of interest to scholars not just of German politics, but to anyone who has ever asked themselves whether parties genuinely make a difference.' - Dan Hough, Reader in Politics, University of Sussex, UK

• Introduction: Partisan influence upon Public Policy in Decentralised Polities Do Parties Matter in the German Länder? Education, Family and Childcare, and Labour Market Policies at a Land level The Case of Hesse, 1999-2003 The Saarland, 1999-2004 Saxony Anhalt, 2002-2006 Conclusion Appendix 1: Bibliography Appendix 2: List of Interviews Appendix 3: Commonly Used German Terms and Abbreviations