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The political system of the FRG: The parliamentary democracy

2021-01-20T10:13:50.311Z


The Federal Republic of Germany is a parliamentary democracy. The Federal Republic of Germany is a parliamentary democracy. Federalism as a principle The legislature and its actors The federal government as executive - The headquarters of the federal government, the Reichstag building, is located on the Platz der Republik in Berlin. - At the beginning of the 20th century, it was anything but predictable that the political system of the Federal Republic of


The Federal Republic of Germany is a parliamentary democracy.

  • Federalism

    as a

    principle

  • The

    legislature

    and its

    actors

  • The

    federal government

    as

    executive

- The headquarters of the federal government, the Reichstag building, is located on the Platz der Republik in Berlin.

-

At the beginning of the 20th century, it was anything but predictable

that the

political system of the Federal Republic of Germany would

one day be called a success story.

After the end of the constitutional monarchy and the First World War, the country was

politically and socially badly damaged

by the crises of the

Weimar Republic

and the resulting dictatorship of the

National Socialists

after 1945

.

Crucial and elementary for the political landscape in Germany to this day is the

Basic Law, which

has been

in

force

since

1949

, and which defines the main features of the political order.

The following

summary

gives an overview of the foundations and state organs of the

FRG

.

The political system and parliamentary democracy

The

Federal Republic of Germany

is a

parliamentary democracy

.

To put it simply, this means that the parliament elected by the people, the

German Bundestag

, decides on politics in Germany.

The idea of ​​democracy that governing should be governed by the will of the governed is represented in Germany by the representation of the political will of the majority by the members of the

federal

government.

The MPs act as representatives of the citizens, which is to ensure that “all power comes from the people”.

The political system since the establishment of the FRG

In the first half of the 20th century, Germany went through regime change after regime.

After the end of

World War II

in 1945, a new beginning was to be created.

The

founding of the Federal Republic of

Germany

drew

its conclusions

from the negative events of the recent past

.

The foundation of the

Basic Law

, the

liberal-democratic order of

the Federal Republic of Germany, is on the one hand the consideration of

basic and human rights

, on the other hand the fundamental

constitutional principles

:

  • democracy

  • Separation of powers

  • federalism

  • Social and rule of law

The essence of the

Basic Law

cannot be changed.

This is determined by the

eternity clause

in Article 79 of the Basic Law.

The above-mentioned principles must not be affected even if the constitution is changed.

The unchangeable articles include Art. 1 GG: “Human dignity is inviolable (…)” and Art. 20 GG, which contains the structural principles of republic, democracy, federal state, constitutional state and welfare state.

The two articles are mutually dependent.

The

rule of law

stipulated in Art. 20

,

which binds all state power to the law, is supplemented by Art. 1 to include the binding of the law to a system of values.

The linked

diagram contains

a

summary of

the constitution of the FRG.

The political system and federalism as a tradition

The definition of

federalism

as a federal

structural principle

goes back to the history of German statehood before the time of National Socialism.

The countries of the

Allied occupation zones

, which merged to form the

Federal Republic of Germany

in 1949

, were for the most part not historically evolved entities.

In accordance with the boundaries of the occupation zones, new countries were created in 1949.

The areas that arose in the Soviet occupation zone were re-established with the fall of the Berlin Wall and accession to the FRG and the scope of the

Basic Law

in

1990

.

A core element of federalism is the so-called

subsidiarity principle

.

This gives the municipalities the right to

self-government

.

A next higher state authority such as the district, the state or the federal government only intervenes regulatively if certain tasks at the lower hierarchical level cannot be mastered.

If possible, problem solving should take place regionally and by decision-makers on site.

The political system - the legislative power

Based on the principle of the

separation of powers

anchored in the Basic Law,

state power in the political system in Germany is divided into different powers and state organs: the

legislature

(legislative), the

executive

(executing) and the

judiciary

(

judiciary

).

Through the

principle of the separation of powers

, the individual powers control each other, state power is limited and abuse is to be prevented.

The center of the

parliamentary system of

the

FRG

is the

parliament

, the

Bundestag

.

Its members are the only ones who are directly elected by the people and thus legitimized.

In the German Bundestag there are various parties that roughly represent a

political spectrum

from

left

to

center

to

right

.

The members of a party form a parliamentary group in parliament.

The tasks of the Bundestag are:

  • Government

    control

  • Election of the

    Federal Chancellor

  • legislation

  • Election of judges at the Federal Constitutional Court

  • Participation in the election of the

    Federal President

The political system - the federal election

The members of the Bundestag are

elected directly by the people

every four years

.

The voting must take place in a

general, direct, free, equal and secret

ballot

.

This means that every citizen in the

FRG

with German citizenship and a minimum age of 18 years can cast their vote.

The election is immediate as the MPs are directly elected by the population.

The voters can decide for themselves which candidate they vote for and each vote is weighted equally.

Votes are cast in secret to ensure a free decision.

The

Bundestag election

takes place according to the

personalized proportional representation

.

One part of the MPs is elected from the

electoral lists of

the respective parties.

Depending on how many votes a party has received, the number of MPs that get a seat in the Bundestag results.

The other part is determined by the

constituencies

.

Each federal state is divided into constituencies, in which usually only one candidate can be elected.

The MP with the most votes is allowed to enter Parliament.

There is a so-called “

five percent hurdle

” in

elections to the German Bundestag

.

According to this, a party has to

get

at least

5% of the second votes

nationwide

, otherwise it will not get a seat in parliament.

This regulation is intended to

prevent

the Parliament

from being

too

fragmented

.

The political system - the Federal Council

The

Federal Council

is also known as a

federal constitutional

body.

He represents the interests of the federal states and ensures that these are safeguarded.

The Federal Council is made up of members of the state governments.

On the one hand, these are the

prime ministers

, and on the other, the

specialist ministers

.

In the city-states of Hamburg, Bremen and Berlin, the counterparts are the

Lord Mayors

and

Senators

.

The number of seats in the Federal Council is decided according to the population of the

federal states

.

The tasks of the Federal Council are:

  • Legislation (in cooperation with the Federal Council)

  • Review and improvement of existing laws

  • Control of the federal government's draft laws

The

Bundesrat

is its duties jointly responsible for the policy of the federal government.

The Federal Council has a

right of veto in the

legislative process

.

This enables him to return draft laws to the Bundestag for revision and amendment.

The members of the Bundestag and the same number of members of the 16 state parliaments also meet for the

Federal Assembly

every five years

.

The only task of the Federal Assembly is to elect the

Federal President

.

This is done in a secret ballot without debate for a term of five years with the option of re-election.

The political system - the head of state of the FRG

The

Federal President

is the formal

head of state of

the Federal Republic of Germany.

In this function he has mainly

representative tasks

in the political system of the FRG

.

The tasks of the Federal President include:

  • formal review, drafting and promulgation of laws

  • representation of the FRG under international law

  • Signing international treaties

  • Appointment and dismissal of federal officials and federal judges

  • Chancellor proposal to Parliament

  • Appointment and dismissal of chancellors and federal ministers

Although the Federal President mostly

performs

representative tasks

, he still has a

legal and constitutional control function

.

By examining draft laws for constitutional conformity, albeit only formal, the Federal President controls the Federal Council and the Bundestag.

The political system - head of government

The

Federal Chancellor

is then responsible for the

ultimate

formation of the Federal Government

.

The basic principles of the federal government are laid down in the Basic Law.

Through the

chancellor principle

, the Federal

Chancellor

determines the direction of politics and is responsible for it.

The

departmental principle

allows the

federal

ministers

to

manage their

ministries

independently and on their own responsibility

.

The

collegial principle

stipulates that the Federal Government decides in the event of differences of opinion between ministers.

The Basic Law assigns the Federal Chancellor a strong role in the political structure.

  • Policy competence

    of government policy

  • Proposal of candidates for ministerial offices

  • Formation of the

    Federal Cabinet

  • Management of government affairs

  • In the

    event of a defense

    : authority and command over the

    armed forces

Detailed and further information as well as

teaching material

about the political system of the FRG can be ordered from the Federal Agency for Civic Education as a

book

or

magazine,

sometimes free of charge. 

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-01-20

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