@article{2015:patrick:die_hambur,
title = {Die Hamburger Bürgerschaftswahl vom 15. Februar 2015: Rot-Grün für Olympia und für die Referendumsfestigkeit der hanseatischen Feierabenddemokratie},
year = {2015},
note = {After having governed successfully for four years and being led by
widely respected Mayor Olaf Scholz, the SPD was the clear favorite
when going into the election of the Hamburg state parliament on
February 15, 2015. There was no doubt that the Social Democrats would
continue to be the governing party. The only question was whether they
would need a coalition partner. In the end, the SPD narrowly fell
short of the absolute majority and formed a coalition with the Greens,
whose aim in the election campaign was to become a partner in an
SPD-led government. The new red-green coalition pledged to steer the
course of the SPD’s most important and successful governing
projects. It also promised to foster a pragmatic, down-to-earth
governing style like the previous government. To the Socialdemocratic
theme of “good governance”, the Greens added their desire for a
better citizen participation. Hamburg’s application for the Olympic
Games 2024 will be decided in a legislative referendum. This new
procedure of direct democracy was introduced into the Hamburg state
constitution by the new coalition with the approval of the opposing
Christian Democrats. Overall, the legislative referendum is intended
to strengthen the Hanseatic “afterwork democracy”
(“Feierabenddemokratie”) with its expanded rights of citizen
participation in procedures of direct democracy. [ZParl, vol. 46
(2015), no. 3, pp. 518 – 538]},
journal = {ZParl Zeitschrift für Parlamentsfragen},
pages = {518--538},
author = {Patrick and Horst},
volume = {46},
number = {3}
}