Political Institutions and Economic Reforms: Britain and Germany

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the behavior of relevant political and economic actors in the United Kingdom and Germany during the 1980s in the face of major global pressures to adopt more neoliberal economic reforms. Although both countries faced similar and significant pressures, the outcomes differed. Britain made drastic moves toward greater market deregulation, a severe weakening of labor, and other neoliberal reforms. While facing similar pressures, Germany ultimately made much less far-reaching adjustments. I find the variation in political institutions between Britain and Germany served as a constraint on the relevant political and economic actors, and subsequently constrained or furthered reform.