Constitutional Effectiveness

The Case of Germany's Basic Law

Dieter Grimm

• Publisher: Hart Publishing
• Year: 2026
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781509988877
• Topic: Law
• Subtopic: Comparative Law
• Index: Law

This book presents a unique account of the social and political impacts of the German Basic Law on the German Republic from 1949 to the present day.

It considers the way in which the history of the Federal Republic of Germany has been decisively influenced by its Constitution, the Basic Law of 1949, and by the jurisprudence of the Federal Constitutional Court.

The book argues that the historiography of the Federal Republic does little to reflect this influence. The Basic Law is mentioned and so occasionally rulings of the Federal Constitutional Court. But the reader does not get the impression that they were of specific importance in Germany before and after reunification.

Legal scholars, on the other hand, are concerned about the legal consequences of the Basic Law, but do not analyse its impact in the real world. There is, thus, a gap between the two disciplines – one not being familiar with social reality, the other not familiar with the normativity of the law. The history of the effectiveness of the constitution falls into this gap.

In this book, Dieter Grimm, himself a Justice of the Federal Constitutional Court from 1987 to 1999 and an expert on interdisciplinary research in law, history and political science, guides the reader through important developments and events that were determined or influenced by the constitution and its judicial interpretation.

Table of contents

• Preface
• Preliminary Remark on the Selection of Historical Literature for Examination
• Contents
• Table of Cases
• 1. Constitutional History and General History
• 2. Genesis and Content of the Basic Law
• 3. The Beginnings of Constitutional Adjudication
• 4. Constitutional Evolution Through Amendments to the Basic Law
• 5. Moves Towards a Total Revision of the Basic Law
• 6. The Constitutional Question in the Reunification Process
• 7. The Liberalisation of Society as a Question of Fundamental Rights
• 8. Influence of the Constitution on the Media System
• 9. The Social Democratic–Liberal Reforms under Scrutiny
• 10. The Taming of the Party State
• 11. Achieving Gender Equality
• 12. The Basic Law in the Risk Society
• 13. The Constitution in the East−West Approximation Process
• 14. The Federal Republic as a Member State of the European Union
• 15. The Underestimated Constitutionalisation of Politics
• Appendix: The Significance of Law in the History of Society: A Query
• Index