Das Volkswahlrecht und der Umgang mit parlamentarischer Korruption in Deutschland | Eine wechselvolle Geschichte

The People's Right to Vote and the Handling of Parliamentary Corruption in Germany. A Changeful HistoryThe paper investigates how, as parliamentary structures evolved, the bribery of elected representatives was handled by constitutional and criminal law. On the basis of various historical approaches it is shown that for a long time different legal concepts existed without ever being combined. These circumstances contributed to an inglorious role the bribery of mandate holders took on within the fight against corruption up until the 21st century, a role which can only be fully understood when one traces the developments back to the French Code pénal of 1810. While there was no real progress in criminal law from the mid-19th century on, attempts to take action against bribery in the new parliaments largely took place at the level of constitutional law and its interpretation. At the same time, the question of how to deal with influences on parliamentary activity was closely interwoven with an intensive debate about the granting of diets to members of the Reichstag