Gesetzgebung auf Honorarbasis – Politik, Ministerialverwaltung und das Problem externer Beteiligung an Rechtsetzungsprozessen

Abstract

It has been accepted for a long time that ministries use external support during the lawmaking process. When the Ministry of Economics delegated the drafting of an entire bill to a private law firm, concerns about governmental capacity and an intransparent route of access for special interests have been raised. The empirical analysis of delegated law drafting and temporary employment of experts, seconded from business firms and interest groups to ministries, shows that both phenomena remain small in scale and therefore of limited impact. By looking at the reasons why there is a "law drafting by contract" at all, it is revealed that not all German ministries are sufficiently staffed with qualified personnel to deal with more complex and innovative subjects of legislation. Given the high expectations which are addressed at government sovereignty during the lawmaking process, this appears as an unresolved problem of policy-making in the German political system.