Klausch, Martin

The majority of German state parliaments offer simulation games for adolescents. These events are designed to teach young people about the processes of intra-parliamentary will formation and decision-making. This article presents a survey of the simulation games currently offered by state parliaments. The analysis is structured by content and organizational criteria. All simulation games focus on the legislative function of parliament. Other parliamentary functions are only addressed on the side or not at all. Furthermore, two thirds of the simulation games are designed for school classes. They usually last a maximum of one day and are offered several times a year up to several times a week. In contrast, four parliaments offer simulation games for individuals, which take several days and are carried out much less frequently than the programs for school classes. In addition to the general overview, detailed insights are provided into the event “Youth in Parliament”, which is organized by the parliament of the Hamburg city-state .

Dieses Papier befasst sich mit der Beteiligung der kommunalen Spitzenverbände (KSV) an der Bundesgesetzgebung in der 19. Legislaturperiode des Deutschen Bundestages (2017–2021). Eine Analyse aller 543 in diesem Zeitraum verkündeten Gesetze zeigt, dass eine formelle Beteiligung des Deutschen Städtetags, des Deutschen Landkreistags oder des Deutschen Städte- und Gemeindebunds in nur 62 Prozent aller kommunalrelevanten Gesetzgebungsverfahren dokumentiert ist. In den Bundesministerien ist die Beteiligungsrate verglichen mit den Bundestagsausschüssen insgesamt höher, wobei sowohl zwischen den einzelnen Ressorts als auch zwischen den Ausschüssen auffällige Unterschiede bestehen. Eine genauere Untersuchung des Themenkontexts liefert erste Erklärungsansätze, warum die Verbände in manche Gesetzgebungsverfahren eingebunden werden, während sie in anderen Fällen außen vor bleiben. So ist eine stärkere Beteiligung bei politisch bedeutsamen Vorhaben zu verzeichnen, die der Bundestag bereits in erster Lesung debattiert. Gesetze mit KSV-Beteiligung sind zudem inhaltlich komplexer, was auf eine höhere Nachfrage nach dem für die effektive Politikformulierung benötigten Praxiswissen der KSV hindeutet.

The article provides detailed insights into the pre-parliamentary stage of the legislative process for the county-level territorial restructuring in Brandenburg. In the further development of specific aspects of the draft bill, the state government incorporated many of the demands of the county level representatives and local government umbrella organizations. The aggregated information supply as well as the citizen support of those arguing for similar modifications prove to be important factors for successful influence on policy formulation. On more fundamental issues, however, the state government expressed different positions from those of the county level representatives and local government umbrella organizations. For instance, the objection that territorial reform could only be justified on the basis of a comprehensive transfer of tasks remained a main point of criticism on the part of the municipal level. As a result, the government was unable to forge an alliance for reform, despite a high level of responsiveness to detailed demands. In the end, the countylevel territorial reform failed due to the joint resistance of the fundamental opposition groups and potential allies who fundamentally recognized the need for reform but did not agree with the draft bill as such.