Zeitschrift für Parlamentsfragen contains articles on political issues dealing with representation and legitimation of the political system. The articles provide a broad overview of the functioning of national and regional parliaments as well as a forum for comparative analysis of international parliaments. One stress is on the parliamentary development of different countries. Indices are provided in every issue which makes the ZParl an outstanding reference book for institutional and comparative political studies. Website: www.zparl.nomos.de
Thise essay examines fast-track legislation in the parliamentary practice of the Federal Republic of Germany from a legal perspective with an empirically historical approach . Fast- track legislation is characterized by an acceleration of all...
In 2023 the German Bundestag set up a Citizens’ Assembly on food politics . The institu- tional design was consistent with suggestions made by proponents of deliberative democ- racy like James Fishkin or Peter Dienel . This included the selection...
The legislative process of assent laws at the federal level in Germany reveals a constitutional dilemma . The parties represented in the federal government and in the federal opposition sometimes use the Bundesrat to distinguish themselves...
Electoral thresholds in the context of parliamentary elections are an instrument to prevent a fragmentation of parliaments and facilitate the formation of a coalition government . However, the thresholds also introduce distortions and modify the...
In state elections in Bremen and Hamburg and local elections in Lower Saxony, voters have the opportunity to vote directly for one or more candidates or to confirm the order of the lists proposed by the parties . The ratio of votes cast for the...
Analysing local elections and local party competition is rarely the focus of political science research . In the few cases where this does happen, it is primarily the large cities or mayoral elections that are at the centre of scholars’ research...
Corresponding to the party systems at the German federal and state level the local party systems in the German municipalities have become increasingly fragmented . Local politics is strongly influenced by the size of the self-administrating...
Women currently make up 30 percent of German party members . Among new members, this proportion is only slightly higher at one third . Consequently, there are still barriers to women‘s participation in party politics in Germany . This article...
The German party system has changed profoundly in recent decades . This has implications for the functioning of democratic institutions . The effects are almost entirely negative: gov- ernment formation has become more difficult, the opposition has...
In April 2024, a scenario analysis on the resilience of the Thuringian constitutional and legal system was presented in the Thuringian state parliament with a view to the possible participation of an authoritarian populist party in government after...