Open AccessUpper House Reform in Germany: the Commission for the Modernization of the Federal System
Author(s) -
Taylor Greg
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
constitutional forum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1927-4165
pISSN - 0847-3889
DOI - 10.21991/c9p955
Subject(s) - parliament , german , modernization theory , lower house , conviction , political science , competition (biology) , law , commission , public administration , politics , history , ecology , archaeology , biology
As the debate on a possible new second leg- islative chamber proceeds both in the United Kingdom (U.K.) and Canada, it is useful to note recent amendments to the German Con- stitution (Basic Law) affecting the federal up- per house of Parliament (Bundesrat). Despite all the differences among the House of Lords, the Canadian Senate,1 and the Bundesrat, there are some points on which a comparison is use- ful. Moreover, some of the impetus behind the German reforms — a conviction that there had been too much emphasis on cooperative feder- alism and too little on healthy competition — is reminiscent of debates about such matters in other federations in general, and Canada in particular.