Introduction

It is interesting to note that Katzenstein's original work on the semisovereign state did not include environmental policy as one of its specific domains for analysis (Katzenstein 1987). To a certain extent this is a curious omission, given that it was precisely at that point in the late 1980s that Germany's reputation as an ‘environmental leader’ (Weale 1992a, 1992b) was at its highest and that, in this policy domain at least, the German semisovereign state's capability to manage change appeared the most pronounced. Indeed, compared with other large European states, Germany in the 1980s was highly responsive to both the real environmental challenges associated with complex industrial societies and the higher levels of public unease about the trajectory of such societies, as manifested by the discourse of the ‘new politics’ and the emergence of Green parties (Lees 2000a, 2000b). As noted in chapter 1, some of those states, such as the United Kingdom, were characterised by unitary structures. Thus, the fact that the semisovereign Federal Republic outperformed states that were assumed to possess superior steering capacities was in itself worthy of note.

In defence of the original decision to omit environmental policy, however, one might also point out that it is when one is in the midst of change that it is hardest to define its overall parameters, trajectory and long-term consequences. Almost two decades later we are better placed to enjoy the benefit of hindsight and to take the long view.