ZParl Zeitschrift für Parlamentsfragen

Around 1970, the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 in numerous countries in the western world. However, previous studies dedicated to the voting age were limited to a national framework of analysis and neglected international developments. Using...

Donald Trump not only won a convincing victory in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, but also managed to attract a large number of voters outside the Republican core electorate. The article discusses this development with a special focus on...

Lawmaking requires specific skills that must be learned and taught – no one is born a policy maker and legal drafter. The state acts in central areas through lawmaking, and every technical flaw causes enormous socio-economic costs. In order to...

This article examines the effects of the new electoral law for the 2025 federal election, in particular the problem of “uncovered constituencies”. The new second-vote coverage procedure means that direct candidates only receive a mandate if...

The combined local elections in Thuringia on May 26 and June 9, 2024 were seen as a precursor to the state elections on September 1, 2024. After the AfD won its first county executive (Landrat) post and emerged as the strongest party in the state...

The final phase of the election campaign was dominated by the struggle between the SPD and the AfD to become the largest party. The polarization and mobilization resulted in the historically highest turnout of 72,9 percent. The SPD won the election...

The eighth state election in the Saxon Free State – 35 years after the peaceful revolution – was particularly eagerly awaited because of the following question: Will the AfD, which clearly became the strongest party in the state in both the 2021...