ZParl Zeitschrift für Parlamentsfragen

After 14 years in opposition, Labour is back in power . A governing party in conflict with itself, big and unresolved economic problems, and a Scottish National Party that managed to steer itself in a political cul-de-sac made change possible . The...

The article describes and explains the challenges that Israeli democracy has experienced since 2019 when the constitutional crisis joined other crises the country has to cope with . Israel with its current extreme right-wing government has religious...

The UK’s departure from the EU caused significant challenges in terms of legal continuity, and specifically how to retain EU law after Brexit to avoid a “cliff edge” scenario . Once Brexit was completed, the focus shifted to reforming or...

The development of case law on parliamentary law at state level since 2018 has essentially been shaped by the widespread entry of the AfD into the state parliaments . While the party’s communication style led to an increase in calls to order, the...

In recent years, the European Parliament has regularly positioned itself as a staunch defender of the European Union’s fundamental values . It has repeatedly denounced grievances in member states as well as inaction by the Union’s other bodies ....

The “dignity” of Parliament is an undefined legal concept, the application of which must, on the one hand, leave room for the freedom of the political mandate of Members of Parliament under Article 38 (1) sentence 2 of the Basic Law and take...

The most striking result of the parliamentary elections in South Africa of May 29, 2024 was that, for the first time since the introduction of democratic elections in 1994, the ANC had lost its majority . As a liberation movement against white...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...