Institutional Linkages and Policy Networks in the Federal System of West Germany Gerhard Lehmbruch University of Konstanz West German federalism can be understood as a system of interlocking, but distinct and autonomous, "policy networks." Sectoral policy networks are integrated into overarching net- works. The traditionalpluri-centrism of state and societal institutions is contrasted with an in- tegrated (but not centralized) economic policy network oriented toward national homogeneity. With the decline of Keynesian macroeconomic policy, however, regional policy networks are being upgraded. At the same time, the political party system and the politicization of ad- ministrative agencies have led to the development of an overarching network in which bargain- ing and accommodation have precedence over hierarchical centralization. West Germany's federalism looks paradoxical. It combines considerable social and cultural homogeneity with persistent institutional cleavages and a plurality of political and economic centers. Regional economic disparities are much less important than in other larger Western European countries. Traditional cleavages, such as religion, have lost much of their former salience. Uniformity of the legal framework and of standards of welfare are widely shared political goals. In this, the Federal Republic resembles the cen- tralized nation-states of Western Europe rather than the United States, Canada, or Switzerland. However, homogeneity is not promoted by a strong centralizing force. Instead, political power and social influence are regional- ly dispersed. Among the rival economic and cultural centers, such as Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, or Stuttgart, none can claim a dominant metropolitan {hauptstddtische) role—not to mention Bonn, which has not been able to introduce much metropolitan flair into its politico- bureaucratic monoculture. These apparent paradoxes can be understood as distinctive features of a complex network-like structure of German federalism. It grew out of a long and intricate process of institution-building which has few parallels in other federal systems. FEDERALISM AS A "NETWORK" In traditional legal-institutional studies of German federalism, the relation- ships between actors and their changes over time were often summed up in such concepts as "centralization." An important issue was whether "cen- Publius: The Journal of Federalism 19 (Fall 1989) 221 at UB Tuebingen on September 21, 2011 publius.oxfordjournals.org Downloaded from