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Date:          Tue, 22 Dec 1998 17:16:06 -0500
From:          AICGS <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:       AICGS Electronic Newsletter: After the 1998 Elections I
To:            AICGS Mailing List <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-to:      The American Institute for Comtemporary German Studies 
               <[log in to unmask]> 
Priority:      normal

AICGS is proud to announce a new feature on our website! 
"Germany After the 1998 Federal Election" 
(http://www.jhu.edu/~aicgsdoc/aicgs/After_the_1998_Election/) is a 
series of articles focusing on the emerging policies of the new 
German government. Written by policy experts, the articles focus 
on specific issues in the fields of economic policy, social policy, 
foreign policy and political culture. Following are excerpts of the 
articles covering social policy. Please follow the links to our 
website for the full text of these and other articles in this series. 


Prospects for German Health Policy After the Change of 
Government by Ulrike Schneider

"A comprehensive plan for health care reform has been announced 
but has still to be delivered by the new government. Although the 
new majority in both houses of the German parliament is very 
comfortable, the power of the government to undertake a profound 
restructuring of the German health care system is limited. The new 
government's cost containment effort features limits on providers. 
Most market instruments to increase provider competition and to 
control frivolous demand, which were introduced by the Kohl 
administration in 1997 (e.g. co-insurance elements) will be 
repealed. Critics reject the new approach as a return to 
interventionist policy, while others praise its focus on health care 
needs, affordability and equity. The current status of affairs, with 
predominantly short-run patching of health care programs and the 
recourse to traditional regulative instruments adds weight to the 
hypothesis that there is no quick-fix solution to health care reform."
-Read more at 
http://www.jhu.edu/~aicgsdoc/aicgs/After_the_1998_Election/schne
ider.htm
 

The Red-Green Coalition and Pension Reform by Jutta Gatter & 
Isabela Mares

"The recent pension reform proposals lack strong economic 
foundations and under-emphasize the political obstacles in the way 
of their implementation. A number of potentially fruitful avenues of 
reform--such as an improvement in the legal framework governing 
occupational pensions, preferential tax treatment for private 
savings, etc.--are currently being ignored. It remains highly unlikely 
that the current proposals of reform will restore public trust and the 
financial soundness of the German statutory old-age insurance 
system."
-Read more at 
http://www.jhu.edu/~aicgsdoc/aicgs/After_the_1998_Election/gatter-
mares.htm


What the SPD-Green Coalition means for German Women by 
Joyce Marie Mushaben

" The 1998 election signals women's attainment of critical mass 
within the Bundestag, 30.3 percent (up from 27 percent), the point 
at which (feminist scholars contend) their ability to effect changes 
in the dominant political culture will become self-sustaining. Expect 
to see greater sensitivity to gender balance as pertains to future 
appointments, as well as ongoing support for positive action 
measures and anti-discrimination laws. Also expect to witness 
more harmonious "East-West" relations and greater issue 
congruence between women in the Cabinet and their constituents, 
especially in the young Bundeslaender. The hardest choices facing 
the new Coalition are tied to welfare reform. Since most Cabinet 
women were personally associated with New Social Movements of 
the 1970s/80s, eco-pax (ecological-disarmament) concerns will 
loom large in both the domestic and foreign policy agendas. In 
summary, the 1998 elections suggest, at long last, ohne Frauen ist 
kein Staat zu machen!"
-Read more at 
http://www.jhu.edu/~aicgsdoc/aicgs/After_the_1998_Election/mush
aben.htm


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