The debt brake in the German constitution as a problem for democratic theory

Abstract

Alongside the principle of human dignity, the debt brake is one of the best-known provisions of the Basic Law. Unlike human dignity, however, there is no undisputed consensus about it, but rather an ongoing debate about its observance, exceptions, amendment, or abolition.
With its aim of binding future parliaments to a debt ban, the debt brake also raises questions of democratic theory. At closer view, it is unclear whom it protects and from what. On closer inspection, it becomes clear that it primarily cements assumptions about the economy and politics that inevitably become obsolete over time. Binding future parliaments on this basis contradicts the principle of democracy, which is protected against constitutional amendments.