Short-lived Parliamentarisation in 19th-century Germany: Parliamentary Government in the Frankfurt Assembly of 1848/1849

2019 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 603-626
Author(s):  
Ulrich Sieberer ◽  
Michael Herrmann
Keyword(s):  
Hindsight Bias ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
Roll Call ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
National Parliament ◽  
Parliamentary Government ◽  
Parliamentary System ◽  
Qualitative Evidence ◽  
Historical Processes ◽  
Behavioural Patterns

Abstract The article shows that Germany established a short-lived but fully operative parliamentary system of government in its first democratically elected national parliament in 1848—some 70 years earlier than usually assumed. Qualitative evidence shows that the cabinet was responsible to the assembly and that parliamentary majorities forced cabinets to resign. Roll-call analysis reveals behavioural patterns that are typical for parliamentary government such as high party unity, cohesive voting by the governing coalition and substantially higher success rates for cabinet parties. These findings challenge claims of a ‘German exceptionalism’ and demonstrate the danger of hindsight bias in reading historical processes of parliamentarisation backwards. Instead, they suggest that successful parliamentarisation critically depends on the balance of power between democratic and autocratic forces and the degree to which old elites can be integrated in the new democratic order.

Independents in Irish party democracy

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liam Weeks
Keyword(s):  
Political Culture ◽  
Political System ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Primary Case ◽  
National Parliament ◽  
Industrial Democracies ◽  
Political Impact ◽  
Almost All

While in almost all competitive political systems parties are omnipotent at elections, in Ireland independents (non-party MPs) remain significant players. At the Irish general election in 2016, independents won 23 of the 157 contested seats, proportionally the highest level of elected independent representation in the national parliament of any established democracy since 1950, and more than the combined total in all other industrial democracies. Not only have independents in Ireland persisted, but they have also had a significant political impact. Regularly holding the balance of power as kingmakers in hung parliaments where no party or coalition has an overall majority, independents have been able to use this position to extract policy influence. The purpose of the book is to examine and explain this persistence of the independent phenomenon in a stable party democracy. With Ireland as the primary case, but also using comparative data, it assesses how and why independents can endure in a democracy that is one of the oldest surviving in Europe and has historically had one of the most stable party systems. The central premise is that it is due to the permissiveness of the Irish political system, in terms of a conducive political culture and institutions, electoral record and key relevance, which all combine to facilitate independents’ emergence.

Curzon and Indian Reform

1993 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 719-740 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin J. Moore
Keyword(s):  
Key Words ◽  
British Empire ◽  
Parliamentary Government ◽  
Parliamentary System ◽  
Responsible Government ◽  
Gradual Development ◽  
The Many ◽  
Indian Reform ◽  
Governing Institutions ◽  
The Way

Lord Curzon was the imperial gatekeeper who opened the way to parliamentary government in India by composing Edwin Montagu's declaration of 20 August 1917. He defined British policy as ‘the increasing association of Indians in every branch of the administration and the gradual development of self-governing institutions, with a view to the progressive realization of responsible government in India as an integral part of the British Empire’. Curzon himself acknowledged his authorship in an endorsement on his own printed copy of the declaration. On the eve of the War Cabinet's agreement to the declaration he included his proposed key words in a letter to Montagu, a document strangely overlooked in all of the many accounts of the matter. The only Cabinet departure from Curzon's key words was the substitution of ‘progressive’ for ‘fuller’. Montagu questioned the latter term and Curzon proposed the former. There was nothing impromptu about the drafting. For months variations on it had been floated in correspondence between the authorities in India and London. The use and meaning of ‘self-government’ had been widely canvassed. It is generally understood that ‘responsible government’ went beyond ‘self-government’, for in constitutional parlance it must mean a parliamentary system (with a responsible executive), whereas ‘self-government’ might be achievable in non-Westminster forms. The justification for dyarchy, the essence of the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms, lay in its apparent satisfaction of the declaration's espousal of the principle of responsiblity.

scholarly journals Seapower, geostrategic relations, and islandness: The World War II Destroyers for Bases deal

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Flint
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
Media Representations ◽  
Military Bases ◽  
The Bahamas ◽  
British Guiana ◽  
Historical Processes ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Military

The Destroyers for Bases deal was signed on March 27, 1941, and transferred fifty aging US destroyers to Great Britain in exchange for 99-year leases of bases on the British controlled islands of Newfoundland, Bermuda, Trinidad, Jamaica, Antigua, St. Lucia, the Bahamas, and one in British Guiana. The deal highlights how US strategic planners came to see the value of the islands because of their relationality. Three forms of relationality are discussed: the land/sea dialectic; spatial connectivity; and the changing geopolitical balance of power. Relationality is a factor in four strategic calculations: other islands; other continents; other oceans; and the conjuncture of long-term historical processes of hegemonic decline and rise. The relationality of the islands is understood through the lens of seapower as both input (the military bases) and output (the projection of force). Media representations of the deal are discussed to illustrate how islandness was implicit in the narration of the islands as being of strategic benefit to the US. The conclusions drawn emphasize the need to see strategic and military actors as agents who are aware of and construct island relationality; and the need for islands to be included as one of the inputs of seapower.

scholarly journals The changing electoral landscape of Spain (2015-2019)

2021 ◽  
pp. 19-30
Author(s):  
A. A. Kurakina-Damir
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
Reference Points ◽  
The Political ◽  
Government Formation ◽  
New Members ◽  
National Parliament ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
The Past

In the middle of the second decade of the 21st century there has begun a process of reorganization of Spanish electoral landscape. The Congress of Deputies (lower, and the key chamber of the Spanish Parliament) in its 2019 iteration is not much like the Congress of 2000-2011. The list of parties does not include Unión, Progreso y Democracia (UРyD) and Izquierda Unida (IU), which were predicted to grow significantly due to the decline in competitiveness of the leading parties, and were replaced by new members – Podemos, Ciudadanos, Más País, Teruel Existe. The Catalan parties, being the representatives of the most politically intense region of Spain, were also significantly altered and consequently strengthened their positions. A number of autonomous regions changed their ‘party affiliations’, and an atmosphere of uncertainty reigned in sparsely populated provinces. The author discusses main reference points for the political process of the country which significantly changed the balance of power, as well as the difficulties that political actors faced in the process of reaching or not reaching sought compromises. Over the past 4 years voters have been forced to return to polling stations twice to elect the national Parliament. Evidently, the Cabinet must urgently reform the system of government formation in order to avoid similar problems in the future.

Parlamente in der Pandemie: Anlass für Verfassungspessimismus?

2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 895-912
Author(s):  
Jens Kersten ◽  
Stephan Rixen
Keyword(s):  
Parliamentary Government ◽  
Parliamentary System ◽  
Infection Protection Act ◽  
Governmental Functions

The pandemic has not led to a crisis of the parliamentary system of government . The Bun­destag in particular has upheld its governmental functions during the Corona crisis . But it could be more open to practice “virtual parliamentarism” . Parliamentary government via the interplay of the Infection Protection Act and statutory ordinances has also shown to be suitable for solving the pandemic; and with regard to the constitutional separation of pow­ers: Especially in a crisis, the executive is only as independent as parliament allows it to be .

IV. The Civil List in Eighteenth-Century British Politics: Parliamentary Supremacy versus the Independence of the Crown

1966 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 318-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. A. Reitan
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
Executive Power ◽  
British Politics ◽  
Parliamentary Government ◽  
Constitutional Evolution ◽  
Parliamentary Supremacy ◽  
The Right ◽  
George Iii

In the constitutional evolution of eighteenth-century Britain a major problem was the resolution of the tensions which arose between the executive powers vested in the Crown and the legislative supremacy of Parliament. Although the seventeenth-century conflicts of Crown and Parliament had settled the question of ultimate supremacy in favour of Parliament, eighteenth-century politics, by common consent, were confined to the level where a balance of power could be seen to operate, in which king, Lords, and Commons exercised agreed functions and powers and where the ultimate weapon—parliamentary supremacy—need not be used. The independence of the Crown—however it may have operated in practice—was a cardinal doctrine of the ‘mixed and balanced’ constitution. Although this doctrine was usually invoked to support the right of the king to choose his own ministers, it gave an important constitutional role to the Civil List, for by supplying the Crown with a financial provision not subject to parliamentary control the Civil List served the pur-pose of supporting the independence and the ‘influence’ of the Crown. The uncontrolled expenditure of the Civil List, with its large number of attractive places, pensions, and other benefits, was an important part of that ‘influence’ which some considered necessary for the effective exercise of executive power and which others decried as a threat to the independence of Parliament. The disputes and jealousies created by the Civil List developed in the reigns of George I and George II and came to a climax in the reign of George III. The result was an alteration of the constitutional foundation of the Civil List which further weakened the doctrine of the independence of the Crown and which marked an important step in the evolution of parliamentary government.

scholarly journals Momentary versus Retrospective Sexual Consent Perceptions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malachi Willis ◽  
Kristen N. Jozkowski
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Behavior ◽  
Sexual Behaviors ◽  
Hindsight Bias ◽  
Sexual Consent ◽  
The Other ◽  
Fictional Characters ◽  
Anal Sex ◽  
Qualitative Evidence ◽  
Retrospective Perceptions ◽  
Type Of Behavior

AbstractPerceiving potential indicators of a person’s willingness is an integral component of sexual consent. Preliminary qualitative evidence using vignettes suggested that consent perceptions can change over the course of a sexual scenario. In the present study, we extended previous research by directly comparing momentary and retrospective sexual consent perceptions using a quantitative study design. Employing a staggered vignette protocol, we examined participants’ (n = 962; 72.0% female) momentary perceptions of fictional characters’ sexual consent and compared them with participants’ retrospective perceptions of the characters’ consent. We hypothesized that participants would demonstrate a hindsight bias in that they would retrospectively indicate they thought the fictional characters were first willing to engage in sexual behavior earlier than when they did momentarily. We found that differences in participants’ momentary versus retrospective perceptions of characters’ sexual consent varied by the type of behavior. As we expected, participants demonstrated a hindsight bias for making out. Contrary to our hypothesis, participants were hesitant to retrospectively report that the characters were willing to engage in the other sexual behaviors (e.g., oral, vaginal, anal sex) at a point earlier than their momentary perceptions. That momentary and retrospective sexual consent perceptions significantly differ corroborates previous recommendations that sexual consent be conceptualized as an ongoing process.

Parliamentary Government or One Party Dictatorship? The Case of Sri Lanka

1982 ◽  
Vol 38 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 267-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
W.A. Wiswa WarNapala
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Political System ◽  
Party System ◽  
Political Power ◽  
The Political ◽  
Parliamentary Government ◽  
Parliamentary System ◽  
Westminster Model ◽  
Electoral Change

The comparative parliamentary stability which Sri Lanka has been experiencing in the last three decades has been attributed to the strength of the country's political system. Some observers refer to “the survival of something close to a two-party parliamentary system, where the two major political parties, more often in association with the fragmented Left and the disintegrating commimalist forces, compete for political power.”1 The electoral changes in the period 1956–77 explain the existence of a two party system unique in character; it was this phenomenon which assisted in the working of a comparatively stable political system in the island. Despite the divergent ideologies which the political parties professed, they perhaps were committed to the orthodox characteristics of the Westminster model. Marxists were even more adamant than their political enemies in insisting on the observance of the rules, procedures and conventions of the parliamentary game of politics.2 The 1977 electoral change and the subsequent political developments brought about a decline in the system of parliamentary government in Sri Lanka. The dim of this essay is to substantiate this view.

Commerce and the European Commonwealth in 1800

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isaac Nakhimovsky
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Theoretical Investigation ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
Global Trade ◽  
Economic Competition ◽  
Perpetual Peace ◽  
Reform Strategy ◽  
Historical Processes ◽  
Legal Character ◽  
Historical Model

This chapter shows how Fichte's response to Kant's essay Perpetual Peace culminated in The Closed Commercial State. Kant's essay defined the legal character of a peaceful international community. It also identified the historical processes favoring the emergence of an increasingly legalized and demilitarized European states system. The Closed Commercial State elaborated Kant's historical model into an account of the rise of global trade and its impact on state formation. Fichte concluded that the pacification of Europe envisioned by Kant was predicated on a resolution to the conflicts unleashed by heightened economic competition, both between and within states. In making this argument, Fichte developed an account of commerce and international relations that was closely aligned with contemporary pro-French and anti-English views of global trade and the European states system. Like Kant's Perpetual Peace, Fichte's Closed Commercial State was a highly abstracted theoretical investigation occasioned by a French diplomatic initiative championed by Sieyès. However, Fichte was much more willing than Kant to work out the details of a reform strategy predicated on Sieyès's efforts to engineer a French-led restructuring of the European balance of power.

On methodology of divisions and classifications of parliamentary systems/ Podziały i typologie systemów parlamentarnych: zagadnienia metodologiczne

2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michał Wallner
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Research ◽  
Political Practice ◽  
Single Model ◽  
Parliamentary Government ◽  
Parliamentary System ◽  
Parliamentary Systems ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Analytical Procedures ◽  
Historical Comparative

AbstractParliamentary system was adopted by the most of the modern democracies. It occurs where the principle of government’s responsibility to parliament is respected. This principle is the basis of parliamentary government and a common feature of the largest group of democratic countries. In comparing these countries, one should also pay attention to the differences between them. They concern both constitutional norms and political practice. This implies that there is no single model of parliamentarism; on the contrary, there are many variations of it. In this situation, there is an objective need to organize a set of parliamentary systems. The paper presents examples of different analytical procedures such as dichotomy, classification and typology. The author concludes that the most useful of these instruments is the typology, and it can arise only on the basis of extensive classification of parliamentary systems. The creation of such a classification would require broad historical-comparative research.

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