Fritz W. Scharpf (born 12 February 1935 in Schwäbisch Hall) is a German professor and Emeritus Director of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies. His areas of interest include; the organisational problems and decision processes in governments at all levels; the political economy of inflation and unemployment; comparative political economy of the welfare state.^[1]

In 2000, Scharpf was awarded the Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science.

Other awards

• 2008 Honorary doctorate of the European University Institute in Florence, Italy
• 2007 Science Prize of the Stifterverband
• 2007 Lifetime Contribution Award in EU Studies from the European Union Studies Association^[2]
• 2004 Bielefeld Science Award, (with Renate Mayntz)
• 2004 Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
• 2003 Honorary Doctorate, Humboldt University Berlin

Publications

Scharpf is an author of several books and his articles have appeared in numerous journals.^[3][4]

In a 1988 scholarly article, Scharpf, Fritz W. (1988). The Joint-Decision Trap. Lessons From German Federalism and European Integration. Public Administration, Vol. 66, No. 2. pp. 239–78.,^[5] he identified a situation labelled joint decision trap, in which there is a tendency for government decisions to be taken at the lowest common denominator in situations where the decision-makers have the ability to veto the proposals. It is common challenge for federal governments, such as Germany, and the European Union.^[6][7][8]