The Influence of Public Discourse on the Berlin 'Mietendeckel'. A Discourse Network Analysis

Seminar paper from the year 2022 in the subject Politics - Miscellaneous, grade: 1,7, LMU Munich (Geschwister-Scholl-Institut für Politikwissenschaft), course: Advanced Module: Public Policy und Public Administration, language: English, abstract: This paper examines the political discourse surrounding the 'Berliner Mietendeckel'. The rent cap, which was supposed to freeze rents in Berlin for five years, was passed by the left-wing Red-Red-Green Senate in January 2020 and overturned by the Federal Constitutional Court just four months after it came into effect. How did the controversial law pass despite opposition from local opposition parties, the real estate and construction industries, and the federal government? And to what extent did the media discourse subsequently condition the final court's decision to return to the previous status quo? These questions will be pursued by systematically extracting actors and statements from articles published in the Süddeutsche Zeitung and examining networks using the Discourse Network Analyzer program. On the theoretical basis of the Advocacy Coalition Framework, it is found that the pro-law coalition did not have the necessary superiority in the political discourse to be able to maintain a long-term policy change. While the small but effective network of local political supporters was able to push the law through the Senate, the opposition coalition was overall more broadly aligned and internally better connected. It can be argued that increasing nationwide media attention to the Berlin rent cap increasingly shifted discursive relations in favor of the law's opponents, ultimately resulting in a return to the status quo before the law. The finding also underscores the importance of institutional veto players in preventing policy change on social policy issues.