Landeswahlrecht

In German politics, elections occur constantly. When voters are not being called upon to elect a new Bundestag, the next election at federal state level is just around the corner. Despite some commonalities, each federal state parliament is elected within a different legal framework. In both the public’s perception and electoral studies, however, those differences are not always duly taken into account. Therefore, this volume describes the electoral laws of the states in 16 specific chapters following a short introduction on their theoretical and historical foundations as well as on the requirements of the federal constitution. It provides a reliable basis for comparing the German electoral systems with one another. The electoral laws of the states do not appear as mere imitations of the federal system, but as autonomous legislative entities with their own structural decisions and emphases. The volume deals, in particular, with controversial reform projects, such as the reduction of the voting age and so-called affirmative action Legislation.

With contributions by
Prof. Dr. Tristan Barczak, LL.M.; Dr. Henner Gött, LL.M.; Lukas Christoph Gundling, M.A.; Dorothea Heilmann; Dr. Patrick Hilbert; Laura Jung, MJur, Maître en droit; Benjamin Jungkind; Dr. Roman Kaiser; Dr. Manuel Kollmann, Dr. Stefan Lenz, Dr. Stefan Martini; Michael Meier; Dr. Fabian Michl, LL.M.; Nadja Reimold; Christina Schulz, LL.M.; Dr. Thomas Spitzlei; Victor Struzina