© Verlag Österreich ICL Journal | Vol 7 | 2/2013 | Book Reviews 267 Werner Heun, The Constitution of Germany: A contextual analysis, Hart Pub- lishing, 2011, ISBN 978-1841138688, 241 pp. Michaela Hailbronner Werner Heun’s 2011 book ‘The Constitution of Germany: A contextual analysis’ forms part of a series ‘Constitutional Systems of the World’, consisting so far of 15 volumes on different countries, with more forthcoming. The series aims to provide ‘accessible intro- ductions to the constitutional systems of the world (…) both a road map for the novice and, at the same time, a deeper understanding of the key historical, political, and legal events which have shaped the constitutional landscape of each country’. 1 No doubt, a propitious enterprise in the German context: Since German legal dis- course traditionally focuses on doctrinal scholarship designed to improve the functioning of the system, both political context and deeper cultural analysis are often neglected. A short contextual analysis of the Court therefore promises to fll a gap in both the German and English literature on the German Constitution. (Kommers and Millers’ now-classic ‘Constitutional Jurisprudence’ offers a good introduction to the topic, but it is lengthy.) The German Court’s rise to its current position of authority also offers rich material for such a book. We might learn, for example, about the Court’s cautious frst steps and its initial controversies with the Adenauer administration over the question of German rear- mament and the Court’s self-authorization in its Statusdenkschrift. 2 Case studies of the Court’s early landmarks, such the now-famous Lüth decision with its importance as a symbol for engaging with the recent Nazi past, make for potentially fascinating reading. 3 Heun’s book offers a decent short introduction to German constitutional law for any outsider, and it will certainly be helpful as a basis for further reading, but it only scratch- es the surface when it comes to context or presenting a bigger picture. The author offers a good way in to some of the peculiarities of German constitutional law with its particular tradition and idea of the state and a brief overview of the historical evolution of consti- tutionalism in Germany up until the debates of the German framers about the Basic Law. Generally, however, he presents a summary of standard textbook accounts of constitu- tional law, accompanied by some political background – useful for an outsider, but most- ly well-known to anyone reasonably acquainted with the German political system. After a short discussion of questions of legitimacy, the author digs deep into consti- tutional doctrine, frst setting out the basic principles of the Basic Law such as democ- racy and the idea of the Rechtsstaat. The next chapter on federalism, one of the book’s highlights, emphasizes the cooperative and executive nature of the German federal sys- tem as opposed to the more competitive US model. Since party political lines often dominate the relationship between federation and states, this frequently leads to political 1 See the publishers’ online statement; < http://www.hartpub.co.uk/books/series.asp?sc= constitutiona l+ systems+ of+ the+ world&st= constitutional+ systems+ of+ the+ world> accessed 14 March 2013. 2 Statusbericht, handed over to the German federal government on 26 June 1952 (1957) 6 JöR 144. 3 See Thomas Henne, ‘Erich Lüth vs. Veit Harlan – Sechs Göttinger Beiträge zum Lüth-Urteil des Bun- desverfassungsgerichts von 1958’ in Eva Schumann (ed), Kontinuitäten und Zäsuren. Rechtswissen- schaft und Justiz im ‘Dritten Reich’ und in der Nachkriegszeit (Wallenstein 2008) 213ff. For more de- tails on the political context surrounding the Lüth case see Thomas Henne and Arne Riedlinger (eds), Das Lüth-Urteil aus (rechts-)historischer Sicht. Die Konfikte um Veit Harlan und die Grundrechtsjudi- katur des Bundesverfassungsgerichts (BWV 2005). Brought to you by | Lund University Libraries Authenticated Download Date | 12/2/19 3:10 AM