The German Länder

Introduction: the German states between diversity and unity.- The states: how they became what they are.- The federal government and the states: constitutional foundations and political science explanations.- Representative and direct democracy in the states: Complement or contradiction?.- Parties and party systems in the Länder.- Parliaments, governments and constitutional courts: division of powers in the Länder.- The Länder in the Federation and in Europe.- The Länder and democracy in the German federal state.