ABSTRACT
At least since the mid-1990s, various political debates have been held in the Federal Republic of Germany about issues relating to children – particularly their needs, their value for society and the type of political decision that is appropriate to them. The central debates which took place in these years have been analysed and evaluated as part of a project which is reported on in this chapter. The content and course of the discussion have been reconstructed on the basis of official transcripts of parliamentary debates, reporting in daily and weekly newspapers and interviews with politicians.1
