Testing State Leaders in a Pandemic: The Rise of Andrew Cuomo and Markus Söder
“Never let a crisis go to waste.” So think many politicians when opportunities emerge to amplify their reputations. The truth is that crises do help politicians and voters to separate …
Weighing European Integration against Democracy? The German Constitutional Court’s Decision on ECB Operations
The German Constitutional Court may have dealt a major blow to European integration when it recently ruled that the federal government and the German parliament had violated the rights of …
Episode 24: German Politics in the Coronavirus Era
Germany and the United States are both grappling with what policies to enact—and for how long—to combat the coronavirus pandemic, and the choices made by political leaders will have political …
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Episode 23: Health Minister Jens Spahn on the Coronavirus
The globe is gripped by the coronavirus pandemic. Germany appears to many to be a success story of sorts: over 150,000 infections, but a low death rate. Widespread testing. A …
Learning Lessons from German Healthcare: How Universal Coverage Can Save Lives in a Pandemic
As the COVID-19 pandemic ravages countries around the world, its effects are proving somewhat indiscriminate: both long-time workers and new hires have lost jobs across a wide variety of industries. …
Fight the COVID-19 Pandemic with Innovative Democratic Surveillance
Governments around the world are increasingly embracing the idea of digital contact tracing to detect infections and facilitate quarantine in the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially skeptical of …
Quo Vadis CDU: Left, Middle, or Right?
When Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (AKK,) the CDU party leader and presumed successor to Angela Merkel as chancellor, announced her resignation from her role as CDU party chairwoman on February 8, 2020, speculation about …
The Unexpected Environmental Consequences of the Coronavirus Pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic is killing tens of thousands of people across the world and gravely disrupting life almost everywhere. Much of China has been shut down since January, European countries …
Lost in Translation: The Meaning of Sanctuary for Immigrants in the U.S. and Germany
The American concept of “sanctuary cities” for asylum seekers is foreign—and somewhat incomprehensible—to Germans. In the United States, “sanctuary jurisdictions” are relatively few, and they are established to protect immigrants …
Lost in Translation: The Meaning of Sanctuary for Immigrants in the U.S. and Germany
Issue Brief 61 The American concept of “sanctuary cities” for asylum seekers is foreign—and somewhat incomprehensible—to Germans. In the United States, “sanctuary jurisdictions” are relatively few, and they are established …
Merkel Addresses German Public on Coronavirus: Will Her Efforts to Steel Domestic Solidarity Pave the Way for Ambitious German Actions?
Chancellor Merkel spoke directly to the German public in prime time on March 18, the first time she has delivered such an emergency address during her fourteen-plus years as chancellor. …
Europe Is Careening toward a Crisis of Its Own Making: Immigration, Coronavirus, and the End of European Values
On February 14, France announced the first coronavirus death in Europe. By the end of the month, cases had spread throughout Europe and spiked in Italy. On March 9, Italian …
