Bettina Petersohn

Measuring Success of Constitutional Reforms: Evidence from Territorial Reforms in Eight Western Democracies

Studies of constitutional reforms so far have equated formal ratification with a successful reform. The paper goes beyond this narrow focus by adding substantive success as a second dimension based on two indicators: degree of agenda fulfilment and degree to which the reform contributes to solve the constitutional problem. Analysing territorial reforms in unitary or federal states, we distinguish two types of problems—group and efficiency problems. The comparative analysis of formal and substantive success demonstrates that first, reforms can be at least partly successful in terms of substance, although they may have failed formally; second, fulfilling the reform agenda seems to be a necessary but not a sufficient condition for solving the constitutional problem at stake; third, cases with group problems score higher on both indicators, thus being more successful than cases with efficiency problems. Furthermore, the characteristics of the two most successful cases suggest that opportunities for participation, open dialogue and consensus building play an important role in explaining the results.

Between Autonomy and Interdependence: The Challenges of Shared Rule after the Scottish Referendum

Drawing on the distinction between self-rule and shared rule in multilevel states, this article argues that shared rule has been the neglected element of the UK devolution settlement. The ability of the devolved administrations to participate in, and influence, national decision making through shared rule mechanisms is very limited. The article argues that the lack of shared rule is especially problematic in light of the increasing complexity of the Scottish devolution settlement in the wake of the Scotland Act 2012 and the Smith commission report. Smith, in particular, seems set to increase both the power of the Scottish Parliament and its dependence on UK policy decisions in the areas of tax, welfare and the economy. Creating a more robust intergovernmental system which could manage these new interdependencies will be a significant challenge, and yet, without such a system, the new settlement will be difficult to sustain.

The 2012 Landtag Election in Saarland: The End of a Coalition Experiment

On 25 March 2012, early elections were held in Saarland after the minister-president had called the end of the coalition on Epiphany in January this year. After 788 days in government, the experiment with the so-called Jamaica coalition was over. The announcement was accompanied by an invitation for coalition talks directed at the Social Democrats to form a grand coalition and a stable government. This election report focuses on the special circumstances of Länder elections in Saarland, the failure of its recent coalition experiment and the potential trend of grand coalitions in other Länder or at the federal level.

Ziele, Formen und Prozessstrukturen des Verfassungswandels in Mehrebenensystemen

Die vielfaltigen Prozesse supra- bzw. transnationaler Regimeintegration und die mit ihr verbundene Reorganisation von Staatlichkeit stellen Theorie und Praxis von Verfassung und Verfassungswandel vor tiefgreifende Herausforderungen, welche die Parameter demokratischer Verfassungspolitik grundlegend und nachhaltig verandern. Bekanntlich war der „Verfassungsstaat der Neuzeit“ (Friedrich 1953) der europaisch gepragten Welt eng mit der Entwicklung des Nationalstaates verknupft, zugleich aber auch gefangen im „methodologischen Nationalismus“ (Beck/Grande 2004). Die Dialektik von Globalisierung und Regionalisierung einerseits und Denationalisierung andererseits beschleunigt indessen die Transformation nationalstaatlicher Souveranitat und fordert die Aufhebung der Reduktion des Verfassungsbegriffs auf die Funktionen des Verfassungsstaates der „ersten Moderne“ wie die Abkehr von einem allzu engen Verfassungsverstandnis. Aus politikwissenschaftlicher Sicht verlangt dies – wenn kein neues, so doch – ein verandertes Konzept von Verfassung und Verfassungswandel und damit die Anpassung des analytischen Instrumentariums an die veranderte Wirklichkeit.