The informing function of parliaments

• Applicant: Privatdozent Dr. Patrick Hilbert
• Subject Area: Public Law
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 496814954

In the habilitation thesis I examine parliaments as information actors. The core theses are: Parliaments fulfil a specific informing function. The informing function is an original parliamentary function that complements the established parliamentary functions. Furthermore, the informing function of Parliaments has an added democratic value, although the information activity itself does not generate democratic legitimacy. The information activity of parliaments has not yet been scrutinised. Of course, Parliaments are considered to have a ‘communication function’. But herewith is only meant that the debates are public and that parliaments should adhere to the opaque concept of responsiveness. This does not adequately reflect the information activity of parliaments, which is much more extensive: Parliaments generate and gather information to a considerable extent and make the information readily available to the public. I have systematized the information activities of parliaments in democratic systems based on a comparative view of different parliaments (German Bundestag, U.S. Congress, Swiss Federal Assembly, European Parliament, House of Commons) with a claim to general validity. In addition, the thesis sheds light on the legal design of the informing function and shows the advantages as well as the dangers of parliamentary information activity. Furthermore, the thesis unfolds the democratic significance of the informing function: The publication of parliamentary documents on the Internet creates a pluralistic supply of information that is easily accessible to the people. This safeguards a prerequisite of democracy – and that is why the informing function is even more valuable in times of targeted disinformation. Against the background of these general findings, I take a closer look at the European Parliament (EP). It is shown that and how the European Parliament fulfils its informing function. For this purpose, I examine and systematize the legal framework in detail. While the EP's information activities are similar to those of the parliaments in the Member States, the democratic significance of the EP and its informing function must be seen in a more differentiated way, because the EU is an intertwined system of (multi-level) democracy. The democratic status of the EP in this system is elaborated as well as the potential of the informing function in the multi-level democracy. The informing function cannot save democracy, neither in the nation state nor in the EU. It does, however, safeguard important preconditions of democracy. Against this background, the conclusion of the study is that the informing function should be added to the list of parliamentary functions, and that this addition is a good thing, too.

• DFG Programme: Publication Grants