Federalism in Germany and the USA regarding their response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2020 in the subject Politics - Political Systems - Germany, grade: 1,3, Fairleigh Dickinson University, College at Florham, language: English, abstract: What are the main differences between the federalist model of Germany and the dual federalism of the USA? How do the federalism designs in the US compared to Germany affect their ability to respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic? This paper is intended to show the status of the German federal states in the Federal Council model and the position of the American states in the Senate model. The author examines which role the member states play in the two very different concepts and shows how individual state interests can be perceived at the federal level.

Federalism is a widely used form of government. In addition to Germany and the United States, for example, Canada, Argentina and Nigeria are also federally organized. All states have in common to be territorially divided into individual member states. However, there are clear differences in the number, size and competencies of these states, in addition to the degree of federalism.