Fritz W. Scharpf

Fritz Wilhelm Scharpf ( born February 12, 1935 in Schwäbisch Hall ) is a German legal and political scientist and longtime director of the Cologne Max Planck Institute for Social Research.

Life

After his training Scharpf studied from 1954 to 1959 Law and Political Science at the Universities of Tübingen and Freiburg. In the years 1955 and 1956, he held a Fulbright scholarship to study political science at Yale University. In 1959, he presented at the University of Freiburg from his first State Examination in Law and Political Science. From 1959 to 1964 he made ​​his internship there; interrupted by a study at Yale Law School 1960/61, where he graduated with a Master of Laws. 1964, followed by his second state law examination as well as his Doctorate in Law. Arnold Bergstraesser and Horst Ehmke at the University of Freiburg.

From 1964 to 1966 Scharpf worked as an Assistant Professor of Law at Yale Law School; 1965 also as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Law School of the University of Chicago. 1966-1968 he was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft at the University of Freiburg. He was Professor of Political Science at the University of Konstanz in 1968 to build an interdisciplinary social science degree program here. Scharpf was a member of the project group governmental and administrative reform, which should, among others, develop proposals for a reorganization of the federal government, including a reorganization of the divisions of the Federal Ministries. From 1973 to 1984 Scharpf was director of the International Institute for Management and Administration at the Science Center Berlin, where he from 1984 to 1986 and held a research professorship. In 1986, he was then director of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies in Cologne. This office he held until his retirement in 2003. In the meantime, he held visiting professorships and research in Stanford, USA (1987 ), Florence (1995 and 1999) and Paris ( 2001).

Scharpf were awarded honorary degrees and awards. He is nonresident honorary member of the British Academy and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2000 he was awarded the Johan Skytte Prize for Political Science at the Swedish University of Uppsala was the first European explorers. Scharpf has also been honored for his exemplary commitment in scientific dialogue with the policy with the Schader Prize of 2002. 2003 the award of an honorary doctorate from the Humboldt University in Berlin. In 2004, the Federal Cross of Merit and the Bielefeld Academic Award were awarded in memory of Niklas Luhmann him. This award was presented simultaneously to Renate Mayntz.

On 28 June 2007 Scharpf Award Kiel for his life's work with the Science Award of the Donors' Association for German Science.

From Scharpf style concepts include political integration, coordination negative and positive coordination.

Research and Works

During his many years of research to Scharpf sat several research areas, which can be divided into seven core aspects. In addition to his comparative studies on the political economy of welfare states to the political economy of inflation and unemployment in Western Europe and the crisis politics of social democratic countries in the 70s, he devoted himself to the German federalism, the political integration between federal, state and local governments, the European integration and organization problems and decision-making processes in the ministry administration. He also presented research on the extent to which game theory is applicable in empirical social science research.

One of his most important publications is the two-volume work of Welfare and Work in the Open Economy ( with Vivien Schmidt), which was published in 2000 by Oxford University Press. This Scharpf presents the results of his empirical project " National employment and social systems under the conditions of economic internationalization ," which focuses on the extent to which it succeeds highly developed welfare states adapt to the challenges of economic globalization. In this comparative study the successes and failures in the employment and social policy of twelve industrial countries were (including Germany, France, Great Britain and Switzerland) examined during the last three decades. This Scharpf found that the low rate of employment in the service areas of education, health, household and leisure that can be offered and consumed locally, Germany's deficit is simply.

His research focus of the political economy of welfare states dedicated Scharpf also in his essay The Viability of Advanced Welfare States in the International Economy: Vulnerabilities and Options from the year 2000 this Scharpf pays special attention to the external adjustment pressure acting on welfare states.. In his opinion, is the external pressure to conform, is exposed to the welfare state, strong. The liberalization of financial markets and the markets for goods and services, both capital and companies have become more mobile. This meant for the welfare states that they were forced to lower their taxes and reduce social standards, so as to prevent the relocation of companies abroad. A worsening of the international pressure on national welfare states is caused by the encroachment of European agreements, such as the European competition law in the area of welfare services. Through the monetary and economic union formed by the Stability and Growth Pact requires each participating country, a borrowing of a maximum of 3% of gross domestic product, the Member States are also limited in their financial freedom in the financing of the welfare state.

His 1999 published book Governing in Europe: effective or democratic? ( Oxford Press ) deals with an error analysis of European politics. Scharpf represents prior approaches for more effective and more democratic policies within the EU. In the center of this case highlights the lack of legitimacy and problem-solving ability of European rule structures. Scharpf makes the case that Europe is still far from a politically reliable, collective identity. The emergence of the single market and monetary union were indeed to be regarded as successes, but in the decisions that are related to the employment, social or educational policy not yet possible to majority decisions. The EU citizens could not identify with the European Union and would only develop a collective identity before the supranational institutions, national governments could relieve the effect.

In its publication policy integration: theory and empirical research of cooperative federalism in Germany (1976), Scharpf shows how pronounced is the interdependence of policy levels in German federalism. This Scharpf characterizes his political science technical term policy entanglement: The term stands for a political system in which all major political decisions can be made only in the composite of the various system levels. Public duties can usually not be perceived independently separated from the Central and member states but are executable only by working together. This leads to negotiations between the actors involved. In terms of a multi-level interconnection, there is a cooperation between federal and state governments, countries and between EU, national, regional and local authorities. The strong interdependence affects the capacity of the FRG, as lengthy negotiation processes are necessary. An escape from the " policy decision trap " according to Scharpf is very difficult. The attempts of the unbundling or restructuring countries are so far always failed.

In the network options of federalism in Germany and Europe ( 1994) is an anthology of diverse essays Scharpf has published in recent years on the subject of German and European federalism. Scharpf Communication suggests possible solutions for reform of federalism on both levels and attempts to explain the observed deficits in Germany and at European level. His central thesis runs this also amounts to the " policy decision trap ".

Publications (selection )

• Welfare and Work in the Open Economy, Oxford University Press ( 2000)
• The Viability of Advances Welfare states in the International Economy: Vulnerabilities and Options, Journal of European Public Policy 7 (2 ) (2000 )
• Governing in Europe: effective or democratic, Oxford Press (1999 )
• Games Real Actors Play. Actor- Centered Institutionalism in Policy Research, Westview Press (1997)
• Options of federalism in Germany and Europe, Campus (1994 )
• Social Democratic policy crisis in Europe, Campus (1987 )
• Policy integration: theory and empiricism of cooperative federalism of the Federal Republic ( Zs with Reissert / beak ), Librarian (1976 )
• Theory of democracy between utopia and adaptation, Constance (1970 )
• Planning as a political process. Essays on the theory of planning democracy, Frankfurt 1973. ISBN 3-518-06382-0