Standing Orders of Parties in Parliament (SOPiP)

Standing orders or rules of procedures of parliamentary party groups (PPGs) determine the internal organization of groups of MPs as well as their power relations. In doing so, they also affect the workings of all parliaments in representative democracies. However, in spite of their relevance for intra-group decision-making, they are rarely investigated from a political science view.

To address this research gap, the IParl-project SOPiP examines the PPGs’ constitutional documents in a two-fold comparative perspective. Firstly, we shed light on their development and significance within German parliaments by a longitudinal analysis that uses the transitory Frankfurt Assembly 1848/1849 as a starting point. Secondly, we study them by an international comparative approach that includes different types of political systems (parliamentary, presidential, semi-presidential) as well as different polity levels (national, subnational, European parliament) and different regime types (democratic and non-democratic systems).

Currently, we reach out to various international parliamentary experts in order to set up the greatest possible data set for PPG standing orders. Furthermore, we conduct interviews with the political and administrative leadership of party groups in parliament.

If you are interested in the SOPiP Project or may provide some standing orders or any other suggestions, please contact one of the project managers Dr. Danny Schindler or Oliver Kannenberg.