ZfP Zeitschrift für Politik

While the election of African heads of state takes centre stage in political research, only scant attention is paid to legislative elections. However, the latter are no negligible sideshow. Even though parliamentary assemblies face considerable...

For some time now, right-wing extremism in (German) security authorities has not only occupied the authorities themselves, but also social science research. However, little attention has been paid to the extremist actors themselves, such as their...

The history of Germany’s coming to terms with the National Socialist past after 1945 unfolded in different phases and at different levels. Initially, the focus was driven by the victorious powers' interest in the origins of the "Third Reich" and...

The stability of democracy depends on political conflicts being resolved peacefully, regulated and solution-oriented. In Germany too, it is increasingly threatened today by illiberal and authoritarian tendencies. The demand-side causes for this lie...

Picking up on relevant findings of the German party research, this article analyses all Austrian state elections since 1945 with regard to the electoral successes of parties that were or are not represented in the federal parliament...

Persons in penal institutions have a »right to a self-determined death«. Yet if access to assisted suicide is not currently practiced in penal institutions – as shown in published court decisions – this is an interference with the fundamental...

This paper deals with political judgements in the context of political education. It chooses its starting point in the broadly accepted difference of »Sachurteil« and »Werturteil«. The »Sachurteil« with its descriptive statements (about what...

In a key text in 1969, Arnold Gehlen criticized a »hypermorality« that was becoming noticeable in the Federal Republic. This essay considers Gehlen's considerations against the background of developments in historical scholarship over the past 50...

During the Corona crisis, science and morality formed a rare alliance to manage uncertainty. Clear, objective facts were expected from science, while moral communication aimed to promote social cohesion. However, both systems of meaning reach their...

Jürgen Habermas has pointed out the eruptions of public and private spheres, which as »semi-publics« endanger the character of democratic will-forming processes. Following Habermas' considerations, the constitutive character of the public sphere...

Sustainability is a widespread concept which is used in numerous disciplines. From a legal perspective, however, it remains a vague concept. This contribution develops a procedural approach to sustainability. It relies on the international climate...

Liberal democracies depend on a functioning political public sphere. In recent years, however, alarming developments have become apparent in many societies. These tendencies, with reference to the German public sphere, are critically analyzed in...

In Britain since 1945, as a rule, only one of two parties, the Conservatives or the Labour Party, governed. They won absolute majorities in general elections, often even by a landslide. This pattern of electoral successes sets Britain aside from the...

Based on a few examples of the moralization of politics, the concept of political action is first explained and the most important operative means of politics are presented. Then, in a longer-term view of Western developments, the discovery of the...

At the latest since the refugee crisis of 2015, flight and displacement, migration and immigration have become a challenge for the Western world that still awaits management beyond anything that could be described as crisis management of...

In Germany, political moralism has increased in the most diverse fields of politics. Identity politics is a typical example of this. This political moralism has more disadvantages than advantages. However, those who are skeptical about it should not...

Although the activities of political parties have for some time extended to the level of the European Union, the institutionalisation of forms of party organisation beyond the nation state has remained manageable. It is the national parties and...

The paper gives an outline of techniques of moralizing in present public communication. It argues that nowadays public moralizing has functions that differ completely from those of moral norms in traditional societies. Public moralizing tends to...

This article examines the symbolic-performative dimensions and social functions of public fear communication during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. The central hypothesis is: During the Corona crisis, public fear communication enabled the...

Parties without federal political presence have long played a minor role in party and election research, notwithstanding the influence they can exert on a state level due to government participation and opposition leadership. The several typologies...

The Catalan conflict attracted broad international attention with the unilateral referendum and the declaration of independence of 2017. After offering some key historical and comparative constitutional background, the present article outlines ten...