Most modern german historians like Johannes Burkhardt or Heinz Duchardt portray the HRE not as an obsolete nation, but as a partly modernized and comparable strongly federalized nation. Compared to other nations of the time, it was not really outdated, but in fact had a pretty efficent legislature, which was cappable to react quick to new crisis. One fact that proves the efficency of this system is the ability of the Reich to fight for nearly 50 years from 1667 onwards against two of the most powerful nations of the time, France and the Ottoman Empire, without being destroyed.
And political theory places the constitution of modern state system and full sovereignity at peace of Westhpalia.