Voting Behaviour in the 19th German Bundestag and Beyond: Between the Daily Business of Unity and a Special Vote of Conscience

ABSTRACT

The literature on the voting behaviour of members of parliament (MPs) has two prominent strands: the study of dissenting voting behaviour in whipped votes and of voting behaviour in votes of conscience. This article examines both aspects for the 19th German Bundestag (2017–2021). First, we assess the determinants of dissenting voting behaviour in all whipped votes in this term and compare them to the three previous terms of Angela Merkel’s chancellorship. Logistic multi-level regressions show that mostly political factors account for lower (offices, electoral security) or higher (parliamentary experience, GDR socialisation) defection rates. Second, we assess the determinants of voting behaviour on the organ donation reform in 2020. Theoretically, we identify a value conflict between self-determination and collective health interests that substantially differs from earlier free votes. Logistic regression analyses reflect this conflict: Besides individual religious denomination and union or party membership, it is especially constituency characteristics such as the share of Catholics that affect voting behaviour. Consequently, voting on free votes is affected by both political and personal characteristics of the MP. Overall, we show that MPs are exposed to various and, depending on what the vote is on, different influences that have to be reconciled.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 We computed McKelvey&Zavoina Pseudo-R² values using the Stata ado by Langer (2021).

2 Earlier attempts to change the conditions when a braindead person becomes an organ donor date back to the 1970s, the 1990s and the early 2010s (FAZ 2019; Wainwright and Hanser 2014).

3 The AfD parliamentary group initiated an own motion which aimed at the foundation of a new institution to coordinate the donation process. However, after the successful vote on the opt-in option, this motion was not put to the vote anymore.

4 Surprisingly, a list of 37 issues of morality policy collected by Tatalovitch and Wendell (2018) does not contain organ donation.

5 The debate mirrors the one in 2012 which Wainwright and Hanser (2014, 142) describe as a ‘principled ethical discussion about state power, personal freedom, altruism and social solidarity’.

6 Nonetheless, our results are robust when excluding abstentions from the analysis.

7 We have run additional model specifications for various combinations of the reported correlating variables (see appendices 8–9).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Philipp Mai

Philipp Mai is a researcher and lecturer at the University of Kaiserslautern and the University of Heidelberg. His research interests include legislative behaviour and German politics. His articles were published in the journals Legislative Studies Quarterly and Party Politics.

Moritz Link

Moritz Link is a graduate student in political science and research assistant at the Institute of Political Science at the University of Bamberg, Germany. His research interests include German politics, voting behaviour and MPs’ legislative behaviour.

Fabian Engler

Fabian Engler is a postdoctoral researcher and lecturer at the Institute of Political Science, Heidelberg University, Germany. His research interests include comparative political economy, political parties and MPs’ legislative behaviour. He has published in journals such as the British Journal of Industrial Relations, British Journal of Political Science, European Journal of Political Research, Journal of European Public Policy, Parliamentary Affairs and Policy Studies Journal.