Short-lived Parliamentarisation in 19th-century Germany: Parliamentary Government in the Frankfurt Assembly of 1848/1849

Abstract

The article shows that Germany established a short-lived but fully operative parliamentary system of government in its first democratically elected national parliament in 1848—some 70 years earlier than usually assumed. Qualitative evidence shows that the cabinet was responsible to the assembly and that parliamentary majorities forced cabinets to resign. Roll-call analysis reveals behavioural patterns that are typical for parliamentary government such as high party unity, cohesive voting by the governing coalition and substantially higher success rates for cabinet parties. These findings challenge claims of a ‘German exceptionalism’ and demonstrate the danger of hindsight bias in reading historical processes of parliamentarisation backwards. Instead, they suggest that successful parliamentarisation critically depends on the balance of power between democratic and autocratic forces and the degree to which old elites can be integrated in the new democratic order.

Bonding in Pursuit of Policy Goals: How MPs Choose Political Parties in the Legislative State of Nature

“…5). Its internal functioning showed patterns typical for parliamentary systems of government such as high party unity, stable legislative coalitions, and higher legislative success of cabinet parties (Sieberer and Herrmann ). The FA’s fate was ultimately determined by external factors, in particular a shift in power from revolutionary to reactionary forces (Weyland ).…”

“…Following the revolutionary uprising of 1848, more than 650 deputies, elected under universal male suffrage in the 38 German states of the time, convened for the purpose of drafting a constitution for a unified German state. The relative power of the FA vis‐à‐vis the old elites in the various German states was unsettled and varied over time as reformist and restorative forces struggled over predominance (Sieberer and Herrmann ; Weyland ).…”

“…Outside of parliament, the FA installed the cabinet of the PCP whose members were mostly drawn from the FA. From September 1848 onwards (i.e., several months after initial party formation), the cabinet functioned according to the logic of parliamentary government (Botzenhart , 163–92; Sieberer and Herrmann ). Several prominent members of the FA served as ministers, suggesting that these offices were considered attractive.…”