The imperfect union : constitutional structures of German unification / Peter E. Quint.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Quint, Peter E.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Constitutional law--Germany (West).

Constitutional law.

Constitutional law--Germany (East).

German reunification question (1949-1990).

Germany--History--Unification, 1990.

Germany.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (494 p.)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, c1997.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In the mid-summer of 1989 the German Democratic Republic-- known as the GDR or East Germany--was an autocratic state led by an entrenched Communist Party. A loyal member of the Warsaw Pact, it was a counterpart of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), which it confronted with a mixture of hostility and grudging accommodation across the divide created by the Cold War. Over the following year and a half, dramatic changes occurred in the political system of East Germany and culminated in the GDR's "accession" to the Federal Republic itself. Yet the end of Germany's division evoked its own new and very bitter constitutional problems. The Imperfect Union discusses these issues and shows that they are at the core of a great event of political, economic, and social history. Part I analyzes the constitutional history of eastern Germany from 1945 through the constitutional changes of 1989-1990 and beyond to the constitutions of the re-created east German states. Part II analyzes the Unification Treaty and the numerous problems arising from it: the fate of expropriated property on unification; the unification of the disparate eastern and western abortion regimes; the transformation of East German institutions, such as the civil service, the universities, and the judiciary; prosecution of former GDR leaders and officials; the "rehabilitation" and compensation of GDR victims; and the issues raised by the fateful legacy of the files of the East German secret police. Part III examines the external aspects of unification.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

PREFACE

CHAPTER 1. Introduction

PART I. From Revolution to Accession: Constitutional Change in Eastern Germany

CHAPTER 2. The Background of German Unification

CHAPTER 3. Political Revolution in the GDR, 1989-1990

CHAPTER 4. Constitutional Reform in the GDR, 1989-1990: Historical Background and the Round Table Draft

CHAPTER 5. Constitutional Reform in the GDR, 1989-1990: Amending the Constitution

CHAPTER 6. Methods of Unification under the Basic Law

CHAPTER 7. The State Treaty: Currency and Economic Union

CHAPTER 8. The Final Months of the Volkskammer: Constitutional Problems of Accession and the First All-German Election

CHAPTER 9. Reconstitution of the Eastern Länder

PART II. The Unification Treaty and Beyond

CHAPTER 10. The Unification Treaty and Amendment of the Basic Law

CHAPTER 11. The Fate of "Socialist Property": Restitution, Compensation, and the Work of the Treuhand

CHAPTER 12. The Unification of Abortion Law

CHAPTER 13. The Transformation of Eastern Institutions: The Civil Service, the Universities, and the Justice System

CHAPTER 14. Undoing the Past: Prosecution of GDR Leaders and Officials

CHAPTER 15. Undoing the Past: "Rehabilitation" and Compensation

CHAPTER 16. Confronting the Past: The Stasi Files

PART III. The External Constitution

CHAPTER 17. The European Context of Unification and the Reserved Rights of the World War II Allies

CHAPTER 18. The Oder-Neiße Line and the Map of Central Europe

CHAPTER 19. NATO and the Pact System

CHAPTER 20. The Two Plus Four Treaty and the Legal Status of Germany

CHAPTER 21. Sequels and Consequences of the Two Plus Four Treaty: Germany and the Structure of Central Europe

CHAPTER 22. United Germany and the Western Security System: The Future Role of German Armed Forces

CHAPTER 23. The Unification of Germany and the Unification of Europe: European Community and European Union

CHAPTER 24. Conclusion

NOTES

GLOSSARY OF FREQUENTLY USED TERMS

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [469]-473) and index.

ISBN:

9786612501586

9781400806386

1400806380

9781282501584

1282501585

9781400822164

1400822165

9781400813063

1400813069

OCLC:

179105288