Electoral Law Contribution to the course from the perspective of constitutional theory and comparison of laws |
30.12.2022 |
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Semester 1, 2022/23 (IUP); Thursday, 01.09., 08.09., 15.09. and 10.11.2022, 14:00 - 15:30, and 17.11.2022, 16:00 - 17:30, room B.3.6 |
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Final note
After the end of the course this website has been finished. It will stay available for the purpose of deepening and repetition. Thank you for your interest and commitment. You are always welcome to contact me for any comments or questions. With best wishes for your future studies, yours Prof. Dr. Thomas Schmitz
Course Contribution Description
At the Faculty of Law of Universitas Gadjah Mada the courses are shared by several lecturers. This website informs about the contents of my lectures in September and November 2022. They complement those of my colleague Andi Sandi Antonius Tabusassa Tonralipu from the perspective of constitutional theory and comparison of laws with a special focus on constitutional backgrounds, general principles of electoral law and political party funding in German law and the topical issue of gender parity in parliamentarian representation.
The complicated electoral system for the federal elections in Germany, which combines proportional representation with a system where votes are cast for a candidate and often needs to be readjusted, cannot serve as a source of inspiration for the development of electoral law in Indonesia and therefore will only be presented on demand.
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Special material 1 (On political parties and their funding in Germany) (see also article, p. 86 ff.) |
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Special material 2 (How to write a course paper) (from the course Legal Writing) |
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Special material 3 (Approaches to promote gender parity in parliamentary representation in Germany and France) |
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Slides presented in
the lectures (®
aids for illustration) |
Contents (summary/details)
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§ 1 The principle of democracy as a fundamental value and constitutional principle and the role of the electoral law in a democratic constitutional state |
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§ 2 Principles of electoral law in a democratic state - the example of Germany |
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§ 3 Special focus: Political parties and their funding - the example of Germany |
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§ 4 Special focus: Approaches to promote gender parity in parliamentary representation in Germany and France |
Bibliography (selection for this course contribution)
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Herron, Erik S.; Pekkanen, Robert J.; Shugart, Matthew S. (editors): The Oxford Handbook of Electoral Systems, 2018 |
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Lauvaux, Philippe; Massot, Jean: La loi électorale en Europe, 2018 (on electoral law in Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and France) |
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Reilly, Benjamin: Electoral Systems and Party Systems in East Asia, Journal of East Asian Studies 7 (2007), p. 185 ff. |
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Schultz, David: Electoral Law and Democratic Theory, 2016 (on the democratic principles and values underlying electoral law in the USA) |
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Foreign sources of law (English translations): Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany of 1949 (see art. 20(1, 2), 21, 28(1), 38, 41 and 93(1)), German Federal Elections Act, German Law on the Scrutiny of Elections, German Political Parties Act (not up-to-date translation of 2009); see also the National Electoral Laws Database (GLOBALCIT) |
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International standards for elections: Publication Office of the European Union (editor), Compendium of International Standards for Elections, 4th edition 2016; IDEA (editor), International Electoral Standards. Guidelines for reviewing the legal framework of elections, 2002; Venice Commission (editor): European Standards of Electoral Law in Contemporary Constitutionalism, Document CDL-STD(2004)039, 2004 |
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concerning § 1 II: Robert A. Dahl and others, Democracy, in: Encyclopedia Britannica, last updated 2022 (see in particular the part The Theory Of Democracy. Democratic ideas from Pericles to Rawls); Aristoteles, Politeia, 350 BC; Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Du contrat social ou Principles du droit politique, 1762 (French/Engl.) |
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concerning § 1 III: Center for Civic Education (U.S.), Constitutional Democracy: An Outline of Essential Elements (short systematic overview); Richard Bellamy, Constitutional Democracy, in: Michael T. Gibbons (editor), The Encyclopedia of Political Thought, 2015 (on theoretical backgrounds) |
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concerning § 1 III 2: art. 22 Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (right of Union citizens residing in other EU member states to vote and stand as a candidate at municipal European Parliament elections); see also the Council of Europe's Convention on the Participation of Foreigners in Public Life at Local Level, which, however, has been ratified by 9 states only |
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concerning § 1 III 5: Kofi Annan, Religion, Pluralism and Democracy, 2016 (speech); Global Centre for Pluralism (Canada) |
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concerning § 1 III 6: John Naughton, Social media is an existential threat to our idea of democracy, The Guardian 23.12.2018; Anamitra Deb; Stacy Donohue; Tom Glaisyer, Is Social Media a Threat to Democracy?, Global Investigative Journalist Network, 31.10.2017 |
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concerning § 1 IV 3: Populism as a threat to democracy: Tom Ginsburg; Aziz Huq, Constitutional Democracy or Constitution Contra Democracy?, 2018; William A. Galston, The Populist Challenge to Liberal Democracy, Journal of Democracy 29 (2018), no. 2, p. 5 ff. |
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concerning § 1 VI: Party Law in Modern Europe (comprehensive research website of the University of Leiden); OSCE/ODIHR; Venice Commission, Guidelines on Political Party Regulation, Document CDL-AD(2010)024, 2010 |
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concerning § 1 VII: Beimenbetov Serik, A comparative analysis of 'Defensive Democracy': a cross-national assessment of formal-legal defensiveness in 8 advanced European democracies, doctoral thesis University of Exeter 2014 |
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concerning § 2: Information on the principles of electoral law in Germany (Bundeswahlleiter) and Austria (Austrian Parliament) |
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concerning § 2 II: Incompatible with the democratic principle of direct elections: the highly controversial institution of the electoral college in the USA (articles in Wikipedia, Encyclopedia Britannica, Procon) |
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concerning § 2 V: Greg Taylor, The constitutionality of election thresholds in Germany, I*CON 15 (2017), no. 3, p. 734 ff. |
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concerning § 3: Thomas Schmitz, Political Parties and their Funding in Germany, Juridiskā zinātne 12 (2019), p. 86 ff.; Nette Nöstlinger; Cornelius Hirsch, Political party funding in Germany explained, politico 29.07.2021; Law Library of Congress (editor), Campaign Finance: Germany, last updated 2015 |
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concerning § 3 III, V: Deutsche Welle (editor), DW exclusive: How German companies donate secret money to political parties, 2017 |
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concerning § 3 IV: German Bundestag (editor), State funding of political parties in Germany, last revised 2012 |
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concerning § 4: European Parliament, Directorate-General for Internal Policies (editor): Electoral Gender Quota Systems and their Implementation in Europe, updated version 2013; OECD, Achieving balanced representation of women and men in parliaments/legislatures at all levels (part o the Tookit for Mainstreaming and Implementing Gender Equality) |