Engaging the public in the work of parliament has been long practiced. To be in close exchange with the people is indeed a precondition for a successful parliament. In recent years, instruments and processes have been developed, tested and compared that institutionalize engagement. A special issues of the Journal of Legislative Studies looks at thoses…
Are democratic institutions and bureaucracy losing their functionality? This were key topics of a conference held at the Akademie für politische Bildung in Tutzing. Sven T. Siefken gave a talk on informality in politics, analyzing coalition negotiations, expert advisory commissions and coalition management. More about the conference can be found here https://www.apb-tutzing.de/Tagungsprogramme/2023/39-4-23-programm.pdf
The American-German Institute (formerly AICGS) hosted a webinar on the ongoing reform of the electoral law in Germany. Boris Herrmann (Süddeutsche Zeitung) and Sven Siefken discussed the details, background and perspectives with Eric Langenbacher (AGI). More here …
The German Bundestag is welcoming the new group of participants in the International Parliamentary Stipend Program, 96 participants from 42 countries around the globe. Sven T. Siefken held the opening lecture and discussion on politics in the parliamentary democracy. More on the IPS here https://www.bundestag.de/ips
An ongoing cooperation of political scientists and designers is mapping the legislative process, from first ideas to the promulgation of laws. The special focus is on integrating both formal and informal components. Sven T. Siefken presented and discussed findings of this ongoing research project at the brown bag seminar of the University of Applied Administrative…
In March 2023, the Institute for Parliamentary Research held the first IParl Academy for graduate students. As part of the program, Sven T. Siefken discussed with participants what roles parliaments had in crises and how crises are dealt with in parliaments. You can find more about the IParl Academy here https://www.iparl.de/de/forschung/iparl-akademie.html