Continued Division through Obstructionist Institutionalism: Fid-Bau Portal

Continued Division through Obstructionist Institutionalism

Herrschel, Tassilo / Newman, Peter

In this article, we examine Berlin as a city-region and the nature of the relationships between the city and its neighbouring local and regional governments. Berlin is an administrative island surrounded by the Land government of Brandenburg, a situation made more complicated by Berlin's dual status as a local and a Land government. We examine the failure of cooperation between Berlin and Brandenburg over the first decade or so after reunification.

In the first part of the article, we give some background to the particular challenges facing the Berlin city-region and outline institutional arrangements. Next, we track the weaknesses in the co-operation between Land governments and between local governments. At these two scales, we distinguish two sets of problems. Firstly, there is the constitutional and political separation of the Land governments and the constitutionally autonomous local authorities (Kommunen) surrounding the Land of Berlin. Secondly, both Lands and local governments face considerable financial pressure. The financial costs of rebuilding a capital city, the phasing out of federal subsidies from the Cold War era, and the collapse of the regional economy following reunification concentrated the attention of political leaders at Land and local levels on their immediate economic interests.