Germany's institutional anatomy, its norms, and the spirits that animate it can only be properly understood if one takes into account such factors as its economic power and central position within Europe. This volume traces the difficult passage of German society to modernity, offering new perspectives on the "German question", largely characterized by the absence of key ideological underpinnings of democracy in the early modern period and a constitutional exceptionalism on the eve of the 20th century.

Christopher S. Allen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Georgia. Patricia Davis is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Government at the University of Notre Dame. Karen Donfried is a Specialist in European Affairs in the Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division of the Congressional Research Service. Thomas Ertman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Government at Harvard University. Philip S. Gorski is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Carolyn Hofig received her doctorate from the Department of History of the University of California, Santa Cruz. Michael G. Huelshoff is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of New Orleans. Carl Lankowski is the Research Director at the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies in Washington, D.C. Beth Simone Noveck is Director of International Programs of the Yale Law School Information Society Project and practices information technologies and media law at Duane, Morris and Heckscher LLP. Simon Reich is a Professor in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs and the Department of Political Science, University of Pittsburgh. Jeremiah M. Riemer is currently a freelance translator in Washington, and has taught at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, Boston University, and Oberlin College. Stephen J. Silvia is an Associate Professor at the School of International Service, American University, Washington, D.C.