ZParl Zeitschrift für Parlamentsfragen

Although electoral participation has decreased especially in the group of young adults in recent years, online participation may lead to more political engagement of young people. By asking for their activities in conventional and unconventional...

If the German electoral system would have been designed in a planning-related manner, it could have taken on several forms - but it most certainly would not look the way it currently looks. Despite the seeming lack of creativity and drive concerning...

Mosler, Hannes B.: Banning the United Progressive Party in the Republic of Korea. The South Korean constitutional court decided in 2014 to ban the minor leftist United Progressive Party (UPP) and to deprive its five lawmakers of their seats in the...

Modern societies are characterized by an increasing acceleration in all areas of life . The political system is under pressure to adapt to this, especially since decision-making in demo- cratic systems is perceived as taking too long . The question...

Once established, in most democracies electoral systems remain fundamentally unaltered . Therefore, countries that executed such change are of particular interest . Italy, Japan and New Zealand rejected their existing electoral laws and established...

Committees of Inquiry are powerful instruments of legislative oversight and hold the potential to generate extensive public attention . One can argue that an issue needs to be sali- ent before legislators consider establishing a Committee of Inquiry...

The Finnish election from 19th April 2015 caused a change in government and a distinct centre-right coalition in the Nordic country of great coalitions . For the first time, the right wing populist Finns-Party is a part of government . In reaction...

Five years have passed since the introduction of the subsidiarity test in the Lisbon Treaty . Hence, an evaluation of this instrument to enhance the position of national parliaments in European political decision-making is due . Looking back,...

Whereas second chambers in most Westminster-Systems tend to be subject of reform or abolition efforts, the Australian Senate managed to defend its outstanding strong position within Australia’s system of government . Australian exceptionalism of...

The article provides an in-depth case study of the genesis of the first parliamentary standing orders of the German Bundestag in 1951 . Descriptively, there is a strong continuity when comparing the standing orders of the Reichstag’s internal...

Roll call votes provide crucial data for the study of parliamentary behaviour . A novel data- set on all recorded votes in the Bundestag between 1949 and 2013 combines information on MPs’ individual voting behaviour with contextual information on...

Publicity of parliamentary sessions is a basic principle of parliamentary democracy and enables the People to “control” parliament . However, a dictate of general transparency of par- liamentary work does not follow from this . The principle of...

The “heute show” (broadcast on ZDF, a public-service television broadcaster) is a satirical news show that has gained great attention within the political public sphere of Germany over the last couple of years . The show reaches a broad public...

The elections of the Canadian House of Commons 2015 surprised by an electoral victory of the once dominant Liberal Party of Canada which had been marginalized in the 2011 general election . The earthquake victory of the Liberals who were able to...

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...

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...

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...