Volume 46 (2015), Edition 4

In the run up to the German federal election of 2013, forecasts about who would win attracted considerable attention. Leaving casual punditry aside, the more serious forecasts were predominantly based on opinion polls. Polls offer a good snapshot in...

a considerable impact on voters (and in turn on election results). However, research in this field should analyze the necessary conditions for poll effects in more detail in order to understand these postulated impacts. Opinion polls can only affect...

In order to establish whether published polls influenced the voters’ decision-making processes in the run up to the German parliamentary election 2013 the cognitive effects on the development of voters’ expectations regarding election results...

In order to investigate how five possible coalitions were evaluated by the mass media and how citizens formed their coalition expectations a content analysis and a telephone survey were conducted during the campaigning of the 2013 German national...

Pre-election polls in the run up to the 2013 general election saw the liberal party FDP consistently over five percent. At the end of election night, however, the party failed to surpass the five-percent electoral threshold and consequently – for...

A free profession of survey research – just as a free press – serves as a corrective to a democratic government. A free survey research poses a threat to authoritarian regimes. That is why most authoritarian regimes try to gain control over...

Reacting to the Eurozone crisis the German Bundestag has changed its role in European policy. Indeed, this crisis served as a catalyst for the Bundestag to use its participation powers both more extensively and more effectively. Legal gaps that...

The question whether it is institutional rules or political-cultural features that explain fluctuations in parliaments is examined for the sub-national level in Switzerland for all 26 cantonal legislatures between 1960 and 2012. The findings clearly...

At two recent occasions the State Parliament of Baden-Wurttemberg used the instrument of time-limited committees of enquiry. After analyzing the lawfulness of such time-limitations the conclusion is reached that they are legal. Installing...

In fundamental aspects the management of the third Grand Coalition does not differ from the conflict handling in other coalitions. The importance of coalition agreements as an instrument of conflict reduction has grown, although it tends to decrease...

Coalition governments are often a normal condition in the political life of democracies. Thus, in Germany some combinations – like the “black-yellow”, the “red-green” or also the “grand” coalition – are very common. With new parties...