Germany Flashcards
Legislative-Executive System Germany
Parliamentary
Type of Democracy / Authoritarianism Germany
Liberal Democracy
Militant Democracy
Germany Unitary or Federal
Federal
Cooperative Federalsim
Symmetric Federalism
States have jurisdiction in: Education, Law enforcement, Regional planning.
Symmetric Federalism
All the states have the same powers
Cooperative Federalism
Even though the Constitution creates a Powerful State, the State and Central Government often work
together in creating policies
Militant Democracy
If necessary protect the system against the popular majority
Germany Head of State
President (ceremonial), signs laws (without question), proposes chancellor
Germany Head of Government
Chancellor
Elected by parliament
Appoints and fires ministers
Always needs to share power with a head of another party
Coalitions: collective responsibility
Germany Government / Cabinet
Dependent on Parliamentary Majority
Germany Legislature Lower House
Bundestag (Federal Diet)
Represents the people
Shifting number of seats
Working Parliament
Has Joint Commission with upper house to work out differences
Create laws, not debate
Can ask for a motion of no confidence if they want to know if they still have the support of the majority
Germany Legislature Upper House
Bundesrat (Federal Council)
Represents the states
States have seats depending on size (3-6)
Members change constantly
Germany Judiciary
Constitutional Court
Basic Law
Very Powerful
It can outlaw political parties
- Socialist Imperial Party - denied holocaust and demanded solution of the Jewish question
Basic Law
Basic Law (Germany’s current constitution, approved in 1949) includes various measures to ‘defend the
liberal democratic order’.
Parts of Basic Law can never be changed (eternity clause)
Parties enshrined in Basic Law (non-partisan takeover not possible)
Powerful constitutional court that can ban / outlaw Political Parties (done twice in 1952 and
1956) deemed to be extremist
Federal system decentralises power from the central government
Germany Electoral System
MSMD and proportional representation
SMD for geographic reprenentation, PR for proportionality
District and National votes (national is compensatory)
Uberhangmandate
Multi-party system (two and a half party system)
Coalition governments
Uberhangmandate
On the basis of the district vote, some parties win a larger percentage of seats than they should receive
- Uberhangmandate (overhang seats added to parliament
o If party obtains more direct mandates than proportional results indicates
o If party obtains 1 or 2 direct mandates but does not meet 5%
o So more people in parliament than a 100
Codetermination
The system requiring that unions occupy half of all seats on the boards of directors of Germany’s largest
private firms.
Guest Workers
Gastarbeiders
Rise of AfD
Background
Germany the country that received most migrants in the refugee crisis
Thilo Sarrazin: His book ‘Deutschland Schafft Sich Ab’ stirred fears of the migrants
Immigration has increasingly been a divide in German politics
AfD
Founded in 2013 as a single-issue party (in response to the European Debt Crisis), arguing that
power of the EU should be curbed and Germany should limit spending on EU
2015: Lucke quits, Frauke Petry (conservative and nationalist wing of AfD) takes over as leader
Closer links to PEGIDA and other extremist groups
2016 & 2017: Electoral victories
2017: Petry quits, party moves further to the Far Right
SPIEGEL article, 12 September, asks: How should the country deal with a party that is
increasingly large, increasingly extreme and has roots in the middle of the country’s
parliamentary democracy? (AfD is not an anti-democratic party and seeks to ‘defend the german
people and democracy’)
German Reunification
1834 = Customs Union, economic integration between German territories
1871: Unification and Foundation of Second Reich
Otto von Bismarck
Weimar Republic
Germany’s first and unsuccessful experience with democracy. Polarised Parliamentarianism (see: French
3rd and 4th Republics) (Powerful parliament that was extremely ideologically polarised). Economic
depression. Few convinced democrats. Hitler’s party has strong showing in elections. Hindenberg enters
alliance with Hitler.
Ends with Hitler’s Enabling Act (1919 - 1933)
Germany Parties
Centre-Right (CDU/CSU)
Centre-Left (PSD)
Liberal (FDP)
Greens
Far-Left (Die Linke
Far-Right) AfD)
Constructive Motion of No-confidence
When the government loses a no-confidence vote or its majority, the only way to remove the
government is if a new government has already been formed with a parliamentary majority (lesson
learned from Weimar Republic)
Catchall Parties
Parties that attempt to attract voters of all classes and are, therefore, generally centrist in their
platforms (example: CDU/CSU).
Working Parliament
The Bundestag is the typical example of a working parliament
Most of the political action does not happen in the plenary hall, but in smaller committees where
each party is represented
Parliamentary Committees dominant in German system = Consensus-based and Liberal model of
democracy
District and National List
District - Erststimme - Person-Oriented
National List - Zweitstimme - Party-Oriented
Two and a half party system
CDU/CSU + SPD + third party (FDP)
Fragmentation in German party system (Greens, Die Linke, AfD) -> 6 party system
Ausgleichmandate
o To correct for disproportionalities created by überhangmandate
o Extra seats awarded to parties without überhangmandate to make the final result as proportional as possible
