The Vote of Confidence Aimed at Dissolving the Parliament

On July 1, 2005, following Chancellor Schroeder's request, the German Parliament held on a vote of confidence for the Chancellor. As expected, less than a majority of the Parliament voted for the vote of confidence, & on July 21, 2005, Chancellor Schroeder dissolved the Parliament & set...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Der Staat 2006-01, Vol.45 (1), p.45-82
Main Author: Herbst, Tobias
Format: Article
Language:ger
Subjects:
Courts
Elections
Federal Republic of Germany
Legislative Bodies
Legislators
Political Parties
Prime Ministers
Voting Behavior
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:On July 1, 2005, following Chancellor Schroeder's request, the German Parliament held on a vote of confidence for the Chancellor. As expected, less than a majority of the Parliament voted for the vote of confidence, & on July 21, 2005, Chancellor Schroeder dissolved the Parliament & set new elections for September 18, 2005. The Constitutional Court has in its recent decisions (August 23, 2005 & August 25, 2005) advised against requests by members of Parliament or political parties to dissolve the Parliament & set new elections. According to the author of this article, these decisions give reason to rethink the problem of dissolution. Each time the Parliament has been dissolved -- in 1972, 1983, & 2005 -- the vote of confidence was expected to fail in order to usher in re-elections. The article describes: 1) the principal admissibility to use a vote of confidence for Parliamentary dissolution; 2) the apparent paradox of the vote of confidence; 3) the Constitutional Court's decisions concerning the vote of confidence; 4) the constitutional controls; & 5) the effects of early elections on "small parties.". References. A. Kallioinen
ISSN:0038-884X