Parliaments in Security Policy

[Translate to Englisch:]

In democracies, the power to de­ploy the military abroad generally lies with the government. Parliament does not always have a say, and only in a minority of states are its compe­tences as strong as those of the Bundes­tag, which can veto any deployment of the German armed forces. 

Involving parliament in such key decisions can be seen as an im­portant contribution to the democratization of security and defence policy. In the view of many ob­servers, involving parliament makes se­curity policy more democratic, effective and peaceful. This is because parliamenta­ry participation promises trans­parency and open discussion of security policy de­cisions. And a parliamentary right of veto can further re­duce the danger of risky military operations, at least according to theore­tical expectations. 

However, the involve­ment of parliament might also weaken the efficiency of military opera­tions. Parliamentary procedures slow down the de­cision-making process and make it easier for other states to gain insight into de­ployment plans. Moreover, greater public involvement may even lead to premature mili­tary operations before all other means of solving the pro­blem have been ex­hausted if public opinion favors a swift military res­ponse to a situation.

In light of these contra­dictory expectations, the project empirically examines the role of parliaments in security policy. What opportunities for partici­pation do parliaments actually have today, how does their partici­pation affect security policy and how does it affect the de­mocratic discourse of security policy? 

The project examines the role of national parlia­ments in deployment decisions, on the one hand, and trans­national cooperation between parlia­ments across borders, on the other. 

At the be­ginning of the project, the formal participation rights of parliaments were compared across different de­mocracies and explanations for the, at times, consider­able differences among them were de­veloped. The focus then shifted to the question of how the relation­ship between parliament and government in security policy can be conceptualized beyond formal partici­pation rights and how the relation­ship between the executive and the legisla­ture affects policy content and political discourse.

Today, de­cisions on the deployment of the military are usually taken in close international consul­tation. This international integration of se­curity policy makes it more difficult for national parliaments to scrutinize the policy of ‘their’ govern­ment. For their part, they respond with trans­national co-operation, which is subject to its own challenges, however. The pro­ject examines these challenges, focusing on interparliamen­tary cooperation within the EU.

Several publications have been written with these partners in the past:

  • Consortium Reconstituting Democracy in Europe (RECON), led by the ARENA Centre for European Studies, University of Oslo
  • Jean Monnet Network PACO
  • Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wagner, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
  • Dr. Patrick A. Mello, Technical Unviersity Munich

Foto: European Parliament via flickr. CC BY-NC 2.0.

Members

Project Lead

Dirk Peters

Dirk Peters

Publications

  • Actor, network, symbol: The Inter-Parliamentary Conference on CFSP/CSDP
    | 2019
    Peters, Dirk (2019): Actor, network, symbol: The Inter-Parliamentary Conference on CFSP/CSDP, in: Raube,Kolja/Müftüler-Baç, Meltem/Wouters, Jan (eds), Parliamentary Cooperation and Diplomacy in EU External Relations. An Essential Companion, Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, 158–173.
    Publication
  • Parliaments in Security Policy
    | 2018
    Mello, Patrick A.; Peters, Dirk (2018): Parliaments in Security Policy. Involvement, Politicisation, and Influence.
    Publication
  • Parliaments in Security Policy: Involvement, Politicisation, and Influence
    | 2018
    Mello, Patrick A.; Peters, Dirk (2018): Parliaments in Security Policy: Involvement, Politicisation, and Influence, British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 20: 1, 3–18. DOI: 10.1177/1369148117745684
  • Actor, Network, Symbol: The Interparliamentary Conference on CFSP/CSDP
    | 2017
    Peters, Dirk (2017): Actor, Network, Symbol: The Interparliamentary Conference on CFSP/CSDP. PACO Working Paper No. 3.
    Publication
  • EU-Sicherheitspolitik und Brexit:
    | 2017
    Peters, Dirk (2017): EU-Sicherheitspolitik und Brexit:. Das „hung parliament“ als Chance, PRIF Blog.
    Publication
  • Parlamente in der Friedens- und Sicherheitspolitik: Parlamentarische Kontrolle von Streitkräfteeinsätzen im Licht der Forschung
    | 2017
    Peters, Dirk; Mello, Patrick A. (2017): Parlamente in der Friedens- und Sicherheitspolitik: Parlamentarische Kontrolle von Streitkräfteeinsätzen im Licht der Forschung, S+F: Sicherheit und Frieden, 35: 2, 53–59. DOI: 10.5771/0175-274X-2017-2-53
  • Parliamentary Control of CSDP
    | 2014
    Peters, Dirk; Wagner, Wolfgang; Glahn, Cosima (2014): Parliamentary Control of CSDP. The Case of the EU's Fight Against Piracy off the Somali Coast, European Security, 23: 4. DOI: 10.1080/09662839.2014.896341
  • Executive Privilege or Parliamentary Proviso?
    | 2013
    Peters, Dirk; Wagner, Wolfgang (2013): Executive Privilege or Parliamentary Proviso?. Exploring the Sources of Parliamentary War Powers, Armed Forces & Society. DOI: 10.1177/0095327X12472878
  • Parliaments at the Water's Edge
    | 2013
    Peters, Dirk; Wagner, Wolfgang; Glahn, Cosima (2013): Parliaments at the Water's Edge. The EU's Naval Mission Atlanta, in: Crum, Ben/Fossum, John Erik (eds), Practices of Inter-Parliamentary Coordination in International Politics. The European Union and Beyond, Colchester: ECPR Press, 105–123.
  • Zwischen Effizienz und Legitimität
    | 2012
    Peters, Dirk; Wagner, Wolfgang (2012): Zwischen Effizienz und Legitimität. Parlamentarische Kontrolle von Militäreinsätzen im weltweiten Vergleich, Friedens-Warte, 87:2–3, 69–87.
  • Between Military Effciency and Democratic Legitimacy
    | 2011
    Peters, Dirk; Wagner, Wolfgang (2011): Between Military Effciency and Democratic Legitimacy. Mapping Parliamentary War Powers in Contemporary Democracies, 1989-2004, Parliamentary Affairs, 64, 175–192.
  • Parlamentarische Kontrolle von Militäreinsätzen in westlichen Demokratien
    | 2011
    Peters, Dirk; Wagner, Wolfgang (2011): Parlamentarische Kontrolle von Militäreinsätzen in westlichen Demokratien. Forschung DSF No. 28, Osnabrück: Deutsche Stiftung Friedensforschung.
  • Parliamentary Control of Military Missions: The Case of the EU NAVFOR Atalanta
    | 2011
    Peters, Dirk; Wagner, Wolfgang; Glahn, Cosima (2011): Parliamentary Control of Military Missions: The Case of the EU NAVFOR Atalanta.
    Publication
  • Parliaments and European Security Policy
    | 2010
    Peters, Dirk; Wagner, Wolfgang; Deitelhoff, Nicole (2010): Parliaments and European Security Policy. Mapping the parliamentary field, European Integration online Papers (EIoP), 14: 1.
    Publication
  • External Threat and Democratic Institutions
    | 2010
    Peters, Dirk; Wagner, Wolfgang (2010): External Threat and Democratic Institutions. The Parliamentary Control of Military Missions.
    Publication
  • Parlamentsvorbehalt oder Exekutivprivileg?
    | 2010
    Wagner, Wolfgang; Peters, Dirk (2010): Parlamentsvorbehalt oder Exekutivprivileg?. Ursachen unterschiedlicher Entscheidungsverfahren beim Einsatz von Streitkräften, Zeitschrift für Internationale Beziehungen, 17: 2, 203–234.
  • Parliamentary War Powers Around the World, 1989-2004
    | 2010
    Wagner, Wolfgang; Peters, Dirk; Glahn, Cosima (2010): Parliamentary War Powers Around the World, 1989-2004. A New Data Set, Geneva Center for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) Occasional Paper 22, Genf.
    Publication
  • Parliaments and European security policy
    | 2008
    Peters, Dirk; Wagner, Wolfgang; Deitelhoff, Nicole (2008): Parliaments and European security policy. Mapping the Parliamentary Field, in: Peters, Dirk/Wagner,Wolfgang/Deitelhoff,Nicole (eds), The Parliamentary Control of European Security Policy, RECON Report No.6, Oslo: ARENA - Centre for European Studies, 3–27.