ZParl Zeitschrift für Parlamentsfragen

For elections to the European Parliament in Germany, an electoral system is used that entails four major disadvantages: (1) there is no mechanism to ensure a regionally balanced distribution of representatives; (2) closed party lists prevent a close...

Parliamentary democracy is in crisis, and society’s trust in democratic institutions and their representatives is dwindling. While plebiscites are considered a risky option for alleviating these problems in times of right-wing populism, interest...

How the Bundestag works depends largely on the skills and abilities of its members. The expertise of MPs is determined in particular by their previous professional experience. Building on earlier studies, changes in the parliamentary composition can...

At the center of this mixed methods study is the research question, how the parliamentary communication on gender equality issues has deteriorated since the Alternative for Germany (AfD) has entered the German Bundestag. The analysis is based on a...

In German politics for a long time, issues of lobbying regulation were put on the political agenda only in some periods and with varying subjects. Only at the beginning of the 2000s the isolated rules were recognized by political actors as a...

This article extends previous data collections on interest articulation in the committees of the German Bundestag. The analysis shows a further increase in the relevance of expert participation, without a corresponding expansion in the number of...

So far, the literature on descriptive youth representation in parliaments has mostly focused on the national and occasionally in federal states on the subnational level. We broaden this focus by analyzing the local level that often serves as an...

Public officials play a particularly important role in the work of parliamentary committees of inquiry. Thanks to their official knowledge, they can explain contexts to members of parliament that cannot be gleaned from reading files alone. In...

In the direct election of the mayor of Ludwigshafen in 2025, the candidate of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party was not allowed to stand for election because of doubts about his loyalty to the constitution. The AfD criticized this as “a...

This article examines the limits of government information and expression activities in the context of parliamentary debates. It explores the extent to which members of the government are subject to a duty of political neutrality when speaking in...

The German Bundestag is caught in an endless cycle of tortuous amendments of its electoral system. Past attempts were restricted by retaining the traditional ballot design. Without this restriction new options become feasible. The article outlines a...

With its ruling of December 10, 2024, on signature quorums, the Second Senate of the Federal Constitutional Court abandoned the principle that strict constitutional control is necessary when parliamentary majorities act on their own behalf. Instead,...

Parliamentary party groups (PPGs) are crucial actors within the German Bundestag. As such, they fundamentally contributed to both the stability and the performance of Germany’s representative democracy after its new formation in 1949. Building on...

With the Act on the Federal Police Commissioner at the German Bundestag (Police Commissioner Act – PolBeauftrG) of February 28, 2024 (BGBl. 2024 I Nr. 72), the Bundestag created a new instrument for monitoring the federal government, but also the...

The representative election statistics in Germany, which have existed since the 1953 federal election (with the exception of the 1994 and 1998 federal elections), are unique worldwide. They document voter turnout by ten age groups and voting...

Parliamentary inquiry committees in the German Bundestag have extensive powers. Their purpose is to investigate and scrutinize state conduct. Their members can question witnesses just as in criminal proceedings, but without the judicial independence...

The new electoral law passed in 2023 was primarily intended to prevent dramatic increases in the size of the Bundestag, as had occurred in 2017 and 2021 due to overhang and compensation mandates. Thanks to the newly introduced mechanism of second...

Parliamentary party groups (PPG) are the central actors in Germany’s political system, yet their mode of operation is often misunderstood. To adequately assess PPG’s role, the entire legislative process must be considered and an enlightened...

This article examines the role of parliamentary party groups (PPGs) of the German Bundestag in the jurisdiction of the Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG). Although the Basic Law mentions PPGs only marginally, the court qualifies them as necessary...

The parliamentary party group (PPG) and the political party are regularly perceived by the public as a single entity; the success and failure of one is also attributed to the other. The aim of both is to gain public trust and approval for their own...

“Interactive representation” refers to an ongoing interaction between representatives and those they represent, where a reliable balance of responsiveness and leadership sustains widespread belief in the legitimacy of a system of government....