Regarding the essay, the examiner is requiring you to identify the principal features of the German employment relations system; that is the role played by governments, unions and employers, as well as by collective bargaining and works councils. In order to answer the question, you should discuss the extent to which these institutions and processes are changing and whether or not these changes have been retarded or accelerated by the global financial crisis. Therefore, in your essays you should answer the following questions: What are the main features of the German system of employment relations? To what extent have these features changed in the last two decades? What have been the causes of these changes? To what extent is the German system being "transformed" or fundamentally changed? These issues are adequately covered in the textbook and therefore there is no need for you to be overly anxious about the essay. Given that there is ample information on this topic, the main point that will separate essays in terms of marks will be how well students have argued a case in answer to the question. We are prepared to give you wide latitude in how you answer this question, but you must address the changes that have occurred in the German employment relations system in the last two decades. Furthermore, the best papers will consider the future direction of this system of employment relations. Will it continue in its current direction, or do you think that it will return to the type of employment relations system that existed in Germany in the 1960s and 1970s?