Parliamentary Interest Mediation

The first module under the direction of Prof. Dr. Rainer Eising analyses the presence of interest groups in the public hearings of the permanent committees of the German parliament (Bundestag) including their position papers and statements related to bills and motions.

The consultation of organized interest can enhance the legitimacy and the efficiency of legislation. Interest groups aggregate the many and complex individual interests and provide decision makers with information about the citizens’ views and preferences. Furthermore, groups can provide legislators with important technical information and expert knowledge that is needed when developing legislation.

In this module we examine the presence and influence of interest groups in the public hearings of the committees of the Bundestag. We capture the policy areas analysed in this project by studying the hearings of the committees on Labour and Social Affairs, Environment, Economic Affairs, and Internal Affairs for the entire period of investigation. In addition, we analyse the public hearings of all parliamentary committees for one year of each legislative term during this period. Our study provides evidence about:


  1. the evolution of parliamentary interest mediation over time;

  2. the presence and the influence of different types of interest groups in the public hearings;

  3. the impact of institutional practices in the different committees of the Bundestag on interest mediation;

  4. the relevance of party-political majorities on the presence and influence of interest groups.


Altogether, this module is meant to give an overview of and explain the political mobilisation of interest groups and experts during the legislative process in the German parliament.

Rainer Eising GC 04/146 32-25172   Head of Module
Florian Spohr GC 04/149 32-25417   Research Associate