Particularly, these issues relate to the financial area and constant try of fiscal equalization, political parties and political behavior, unemployment, immigration policies and social security. German analysts and sociologists appreciate these as being the direct effect of the above-mentioned territorial division and constantly search for methods and intervention strategies.
To begin with, one must say that these issues are subject of long and numerous discussions, political posturing and legislation and, In particular cases, the debate regarding them was brought to the authorities and the court's attention and also, became subjects of constitutional amendments.
Next, one should explain the nature and causes of these issues in detail.
The first important consequence of Germany's division and also, an obvious sign that it still remains affected by this reflects in the area of political parties and political behavior. In the occidental and eastern side of the country, these are significantly marked by differences. For example, in east, there is a constant and even growing support for the former communists, while in the other case, this support almost totally lacks.
In financial terms, Germany has long tried to achieve an approximately equal fiscal level among the whole territory of the country. This remains a challenging task, despite of the great amount of money that has been transferred from one side to another.
On the other hand, Germany faces not only problems related to historical events as the division and further unification, but also new issues which regard more recent and politically external events. Together with the inclusion of new central and eastern European members in the European Union, Germany confronted itself with new debates regarding unemployment and immigration and had to find a balance between the European policy and the one of their own (Gunlicks, Arthur B. (2003). German Public Policy and Federalism: Current Debates on Political, Legal, and Social Issues, pages 1-3). While UE grants liberty of movement among countries for all its members, for all good and services, this became contradictory to Germany's own benefits, as this affected the rate of unemployment for German citizens...
The way in which history affects current reality makes the analysis of Germany's problems very approachable, due to the visibility of facts.
In order to find suitable intervention strategies, specialized institutions have been organized, not only on the territory of the country, but also outdoors. Such an organization is present in the United States, and activates under the name of "The American Institute for Contemporary German Studies" (AICGS). Its activity regards following the transformation of Germany's political and constitutional environment since 1990. Analyzing the case of Germany is useful not only in providing an extremely interesting review of the last decade, but it is also important for specialists, as they can use this information in order to anticipate the further period in the state's existence and eventually try to prevent new problems or at least, to learn how to face them.
Lately, a new method of providing useful social issues research is the involvement of students in this activity through composition. When reaching the age of college, young people are strongly involved in the life of their community by paying taxes, having the right to vote or even being workers.( Gunlicks, Arthur B. (2003). German Public Policy and Federalism: Current Debates on Political, Legal, and Social Issues, page xvi) Also, they belong to more than one group or community at the same time and can provide a clear and fresh view of the issues they face and the ways of solving problem they see as being appropriate. Although this can not be considered a critical and scientific approach of how to deal with different issues, it may be a good and useful source for those who thoroughly look for suitable intervention strategies.
Bibliography:
1. Gunlicks, Arthur B. (2003). German Public Policy and Federalism: Current Debates on Political, Legal, and Social Issues. Berghahn Books.
2. Collins, Paul S. (2001). Community Writing: Researching Social Issues through Composition. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
