Over the weekend I caught a glimpse of a weekly news-roundup on German television. The program is the Wochenspiegel, aired on the public ARD network, and they were running an item on opposition to Schröder's reform proposals. Opposition runs high on the left wing of his own SPD party, and the labor movement has been vocal in opposing the plans too. So they interviewed one of the SPD members of parliament who might vote against the plans. Unfortunately I can't remember the name of his guy, but one thing he said really struck me. Speaking of his threat to vote against the government, he said that in his 30 years of being a member of parliament for the SPD, he had used his conscience three times. He added something to the effect "so it's not like I do this very often."

And this is completely unremarkable. Not using his conscience is seen as a Right Thing To Do, because party discipline is much more important. Voting against the party line ("using your conscience") is very rare in most parliamentary democracies in Europe. The Party is most important. This is a result of the incentive structures in European politics, where parties are dominant. Proportional representation breaks the direct link between candidate and voter. More importantly, in order to advance your career in politics, you have to curry favor with the party, not the voter. Vote against the party and your future prospects take a nosedive, your career is in doubt. So absolute loyalty to the party line is essential.

This leads us to the absurd situation that a politician is interviewed on national TV and proudly proclaims that he's only used his conscience thrice in thirty years. And nobody thinks it's remarkable.