GERMANY: COORDINATED, BROADLY REPRESENTATIVE BUSINESS CLASS

• Three major peak associations: the Federation of Germany Industry (BDI, most representative, 80-90% of all firms); the Federation of Germany Employers' Association (BDA, coordinates the collective bargaining strategy of employers and deals with social policy questions); the Diet of German Industry and Commerce (DIHT, represents mostly small firms).



• Close industrial-financial ties through the "universal banking system" - banks can own shares in the corporations to which they loan money and they have representatives on the firms' board of directors.