Resumen de Learning from the outside: parliament's response to public meetings in Germany and the Netherlands, 1870–1914

Anne Heyer, Anne Petterson

• In this article, we study the changing position of parliamentregarding public meetings in Germany and the Netherlandsbetween 1870 and 1914. In the second half of the nineteenthcentury, parliaments in both countries were confronted with thechallenge of how to justify their position, and whether and howto integrate the claims and longings of new groups into politicaldecision-making. Public meetings offered a unique place to get intouch with voters and get direct knowledge of the constituents’needs and wishes. Based on the minutes of the Reichstag andTweede Kamer, we argue that public meetings were increasinglyconceived as a legitimate source of public opinion. Althoughparliamentary traditions and legal frameworks were different inGermany and the Netherlands, we demonstrate that there areinteresting parallels in argumentation. In both countries, thequestion of freedom of expression, access to the meeting halland an orderly style of debate were central. Public opinion wasno longer considered the intellectual affair of an elite and taking‘the voice of the people’ seriously could now also providelegitimacy to parliamentary politics