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Abstract. The regionalization of public policy is one of the most remarkable transformations European states have undergone since the 1970s. Through an examination of this particular development, the article explores theories of interregional competition in two very different cases: education policy in France, a decentralized unitary state where regional governments are entrusted with limited policy competences in this field, and Germany, a federal state where regions have exclusive responsibility over secondary education. The paper shows that, in both cases, interregional competition lends itself neither to a race to the bottom nor a race to the top, but rather to a race to the middle. Regional governments aim, in fact, to demonstrate that they adopt similar policies to other regions so as to avoid being blamed by both the electorate and the central state. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

It took more than a dozen years after the Armistice of 11 November 1918 for football matches between France and Germany to be resumed. Four matches were organised between 1931 and 1937 at a time when France’s response to the rise of German military ambitions was mainly to support pacifism. The last match, planned for 1939, was cancelled. Against a background of economic crisis and growing tensions between the two nations, these sporting events were widely reported in the press. The four specialist newspapers analysed in this paper – Football, Match, Le Miroir des Sports and L’Auto – reflected France’s anxiety as well as her political attitudes. From the French point of view, these matches (concerning the most popular sport of both countries) mirrored a growing belief in Germany’s superiority while disseminating stereotypes of both the ‘German’ and the ‘Frenchman’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]