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Political theorists tend to dismiss the concept of constitutional patriotism for two main reasons. On the one hand, constitutional patriotism — understood as a post- national, universalist form of democratic political allegiance — is rejected on account of its abstract quality. On the otherhand, it is argued that constitutional patriotism, while apprearing universalist, is in fact particular through and through. According to this genealogical critique, it is held that constitutional patriotism might have been appropriate in the context when it originated — namely West Germany, a half-nation with a deeply compromised sense of nationality on account of the Nazi past — but it is not universally applicable. This article reconstructs the origins of constitutional patriotism arguing that both the 'protective' and state- centred patriotism of Dolf Sternberger, and the 'purifying' patriotism of Jurgen Habermas — focused mainly on the public sphere — can indeed be understood as relying on 'supplements of particularily'. However, there are also normative connections between universalist constitutional morality and militant democracy on the one hand, and universalist constitutionalist morality and an imperative to remember on the other. Thus, the genealogical critique by itself is insufficient to invalidate the idea of constitutional patriotism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the peculiar nature of the political thought of the leading activists of the German '68. It first discusses—and then partially dismisses—a number of common interpretations of the 'events', not least because previous accounts have paid insufficient attention to the actual political thought of the protagonists of '68. Three strands of '68 theorizing (and their limits) are then analysed: the legal road to socialism proposed by the 'Marburg school' of Wolfgang Abendroth, the anti-parliamentarianism of Johannes Agnoli and the anti-authoritarian guerilla strategy against 'integral étatism' put forward by Rudi Dutschke and Hans-Jürgen Krahl. Political thought in turn has to be understood as necessarily interacting with the 'events' of '68. When the main theories were unable to locate a new revolutionary subject and to solve the much-debated question of how to organize the movement, '68 intellectuals put their faith in events, occasions and direct action to reshape theory. In the end, this strategy yielded further (terrorist) 'events', a large left-wing counter-milieu largely free from theory and a persistent group ideology of personal convictions, also largely divorced from theorizing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on constitutional patriotism during the Bonn Republic, which refers to a form of political belonging centered on democratic principles and the achievements of the West German constitution. The German citizenship law was amended ten years after unification in 1990. Integration focused on the notion that immigrants must assimilate to the German "Leitkultur," coined by German political scientist Bassam Tibi in 1997.

The article presents information on the economic situation of Germany in the 21st century with special attention to the effect of the European financial crisis and the role of the European Union. Other topics mentioned in this article include welfare states, the German exports, and the German economic policy.