Regieren nach oder getrieben von Umfrageergebnissen? Wie Bundes- und Landtagsabgeordnete die mediale Umfrageberichterstattung wahrnehmen

This study analyzes how German political actors at the federal and state levels perceive the opportunities and risks of political poll reporting . A quantitative online survey of Members of the Bundestag and all German state parliaments shows that their perceptions are ambiva­lent: Although they all express great or very great interest in opinion polls, they have ambivalent views on how useful opinion research is for their political activities . With regard to the perceived benefit of poll reporting, the commissioning of opinion polls, and the desired frequency of media poll reporting, differences between the members of parliament surveyed are evident . When analyzing the internal and external use of the results of opinion polls our findings suggest that they are primarily used to strategically plan election cam­paigns and to identify popular topics . A large majority of members of parliament agree on the possible effects of poll reporting on voters . They view these effects predominantly criti­cally and are in favor of legal restrictions on publishing election polls .

Abstiegserfahrungen in der Kommune und der Aufstieg Unabhängiger Wählergemeinschaften. Neue Befunde aus einem Mehrebenen-Kommunalwahlpanel

In Germany, Independent Local Lists (UWG) have become an integral part of local politics in recent decades . Despite their growing political importance, the reasons for their electoral rise have hardly been researched . Recent studies argue that Independent Local Lists pursue anti-party positions, which makes them attractive to voters who are dissatisfied with the party system . Assuming that a decline of confidence in established parties corresponds with the experience of local deprivation, this contribution uses a multi-level panel data set to investigate how socio-economic (emigration, aging, declining tax revenue) and political­cultural (turnout, fragmentation) deprivation processes affect the electoral success of Inde­pendent Local Lists . The empirical findings suggest that Independent Local Lists are more successful in municipalities where voter turnout has fallen and political fragmentation has increased .

Ein zunehmend bunter Freistaat: Die Analyse der bayerischen Kommunalwahlen im März 2020 unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der kreisfreien Städte

Despite their crucial role for democratic decision-making, local elections receive little atten­tion from political science research . To overcome this shortcoming, the article analyses the Bavarian local elections of 2020 . Although the CSU remains the strongest party in the Free State, the Green Party was able to make considerable gains, especially in larger cities . How­ever, the Greens could not gain any grounds in mayoral elections, whereas CSU and SPD competed for the win . In most of the cases, the Social Democrats won the posts in city halls . In addition to detailing election results, this article addresses the ballot lists, the com­position of local councils, and coalition building at the local level . Overall, this contribu­tion provides a comprehensive account of the elections, which are characterized by their unique ballot system and, thus, have a special role in the political system of Germany .

Das Zeitalter der Künstlichen Intelligenz als Herausforderung für die Parlamente

The digital transformation is permanently changing the government, administration, and society . This process is being intensified by the much-discussed technologies of artificial intelligence, and poses a variety of challenges for parliaments and indirectly for parliamen­tary studies . Their different dimensions have not been discussed comprehensively so far, although the technological developments affect all parliamentary functions and their prem­ises . This article systematizes and structures the various effects of the age of artificial intel­ligence on parliamentary democracy . Namely, the conditions of democratic representation change, the innovation-friendly regulation of digital technologies becomes a parliamentary task, parliamentary control has to be adjusted to the use of algorithms and artificial intelli­gence in government and administration, and possibly, the epistemological and organiza­tional structures of parliamentary work might have to be adapted . This provides starting points for future detailed analyses to adequately capture these processes of change and to accompany them from different disciplinary perspectives .

Minimalinvasiv oder wirksam? Debattenbeitrag zur Novellierung des Bundeswahlrechts vom Oktober 2020

Despite the 2020 reform of Germany’s national parliament voting law, the debate about a robust voting system has not ended . Träger and Jacobs have convincingly shown that Naun­dorf’s suggestion to introduce a parallel voting system creates more problems than it solves, and thus more far-reaching approaches have to be considered . One way to stop the Bunde­stag from growing is to reject the two vote-system . Comparable to the system of Thuringia’s local elections, with open lists and three votes per voter, both the standard size of the Bun­destag can be safely adhered to and at the same time a personalized proportional represen­tation can be maintained . Among other advantages, the voters would have greater influence on the personalized composition of the Bundestag . In particular, reservations on the part of the political parties could stand in the way of such a sustainable solution to the ongoing problems with the German electoral system .

Parlamente in der Pandemie: Erste Erkenntnisse aus einem international vergleichenden Forschungsvorhaben

During the pandemic, parliaments around the globe suffered a “double shock”: They had to adjust to the challenges of the infectious disease and uphold or (re-)establish their roles with regard to the executive . A closer investigation of 27 parliaments in different political systems gives a first in-depth comparative account for their initial reactions to the crisis . It is based on information from an ongoing collaboration of experts on parliaments and builds on a model of historical institutionalism . In some countries significant measures were taken, including restricting participation in parliamentary proceedings and moving some of them online . Committees served as a field of experimentation for digitalizing par­liaments . While only in a few countries legislative activities were strongly dominated by the pandemic, in most countries continuity across policy areas prevailed . More variety can be seen in institutional changes for parliamentary oversight . Communication activities intensi­fied with the pandemic, particularly from parliamentary leadership . These first results indi­cate that parliaments and established parliamentary democracies, in particular, were able to perform their functions despite unprecedented challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandem­ic .