IParl project "Comparative Parliamentary Representation Network"

As part of the international research project "Comparative Parliamentary Representation Network" (COMPARE), IParl is investigating how members of parliament understand and exercise representation.

Fundamentals: Representation - understood in the sense of Ernst Fraenkel as the right and duty to make binding decisions for the community - is the core task of democratic parliaments. At the same time, it emphasises the central role that a parliament plays as a legitimising authority in the political system. This timeless research topic is particularly important in view of the many national and global challenges that parliamentarians and society as a whole are currently facing.

The study: As part of the COMPARE research project, the Institute for Parliamentarism Research is investigating how parliamentary representation functions and succeeds. It is about the perspective of members of parliament from different countries on their roles and functions; we want to find out how they understand and practise representation.

In the medium term, around a dozen colleagues from Europe will analyse their respective parliaments with identical questions in order to obtain a solid basis for comparison (in addition to Germany, the pioneer group includes Spain, Poland, Portugal, Israel, Hungary and Norway). The IParl has started the pilot project in 2024. Our surveys will then be repeated for each new Bundestag that convenes, and each time a current aspect of parliamentarianism in the respective country will be included. The planned study is thus designed as a long-term project and is intended to enable both synchronous and diachronic international comparisons.

The key questions of the study are:

• How do members of parliament from different countries perceive parliamentary representation?
• In what specific ways do they exercise representation?
• How do MPs take the interests and needs of the population into account?
• What relationships do parliamentarians have with associations, companies and interest groups?
• How do members of parliament communicate with citizens?

 
Implementation: In Germany, around 75 members of the 20th Bundestag will be interviewed using guided interviews (around 20 minutes, face-to-face or alternatively via video conference).

If you have any questions or comments, please contact the project managers at IParl Dr Danny Schindler, Alexander Kühne or Christian Ignorek.