Germany Flashcards
case and democratization
not unified until the 1870s
established democracy, not old
1918 Weimarrepublic not sufficiently stable for pressures of the time
no gradual transition into democracy like the UK
north = protestant
south = catholic
culture and nation
Prussia = key player unification, not visible on the map anymore
Bavaria = distict identity
before unification: common culture and language -> unification wasn’t that much of a stretch
- also Germans outside of Germany (minorities in France and Belgium -> WW2 irredentism)
not well protected geographically -> lot of confl, especially with historical enemy France
biggest export country EU, doesn’t have much natural resources (except in the Rhine area)
historical developments
first: local kingdoms, princedoms, … states were authoritarian and absolute
were unified in the Holy Roman Empire, but fell apart again
kings, princes etc. alligned with Prussia for protection (Prussia resisted Napoleon)
1834: Zollverein (customs union)
1871: Unification, foundation of Second Reich (asymmetric federalism with Prussia most power)
-> Bismarck (iron chancellor) key player
1871-1918 = authoritarian, militarist monarchy
Bismarck: realpolitik = emphasized practical and pragmatic politics over ideological considerations
Bismarck not much involved in colonial conquest (saw it as possible disruptior), but Kaiser pushed forward
- famous for organizing the Berlin conference, the scramble for africa (1884-85)
colonies: Tanzania, Cameron, Togo, Namibia (still in the news: Namibia genocide: wanted territory, got driven into the desert to die)
WW1 = bc territorial aggression bc lack natural resources
Weimarrepublic + war
Weimar Republic 1919-1933
- first experience with democracy
- polarized parliamentarianism (see French 3 and 4 Republics) bc no electoral threshold -> fragmentation
- economic depression (treaty of Versailles + US depression)
- few convinced democrats
1924 elections based on church-state cleavage (around education): catholic party in the south, socialist parties in the north
1933 collapse of democracy: NSDAP enabling act (ruling by decree), req support from other parties = they miscalculated (thought it was better to work with him to prevent him getting bigger and stronger) + they were threatened
nazi regime = authoritarian, personalistic + strong organization
- system of terror, single-party state without democracy
east and west Germany
1949-1990
West = Federal Republic of Germany (BRD)
- American, British and French zones
- Basic Law (grundgesetz) in 1949 = protection individual and minority rights = constitutional engineering: to prevent repetition history
*didn’t start as constitution bc BRD not seen as permanent - establishes parliamentary democracy
East = German Democratic Republic (DDR)
- Soviet zone
- one-party state led by SED
- totalitarian wit strong state police (stazi)
1990 = Reunification
- Gorbachev glasnost and perestroika spiralled out of control
picknick in hungary = intent of mitigating borders, DDR agreed -> people could go on vacation etc.
nov 1989 fall of the Berlin wall
oct 3 1990 German Unity Day
DDR merged into BRD political system
pace reunification was debated (bc major eco and cultural diff), but politically infeasible to do it slowly
cleavages - religion and class
catholic (south) vs protestant (north)
*now they are united in one party
- East Berlin not much religion: was forbidden at some point -> not much religios cleavage
industrialization -> class cleavage - SPD (labor) vs FDP (industrial)
strong labor unions
typical: Bavarian Catholic supports the Christian Social Union + Ruhr steelworker votes for the Social Democrats
new cleavages
regional = east germany vs west germany
- eco unificaion didn’t really work: east germany les prosperous -> AfD bigger
transnational
- migration: mostly to west Germany, still east Germany feels threatened: losers of globalization
- the perception of being left behind (bc globalization) more important than migration
a ‘militant’ democracy
= democracy is able to defend itself from hostile actors from within the system:
1949 Basic law = beasures to defend the liberal democratic order
-> parts of the basic law can’t be changed (ewigkeitsklausel = eternity clause)
- individual rights + federalism
liberal notion of democracy: if necessary protect the system against the popular majority
powerful constitutional court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) that can/has banned/outlawed political parties
constitutional provision = hard threshold: 2/3 majority
- makes it more diff than in UK (simple majority) and France (majority both Senat and Assemblee Nationale)
parliamentary system
PR -> multiparty + coalition gov.
- Weimarrepublic -> bad memory majority and proportionality (France only PR) -> still chose PR, but with threshold (=electoral engineering)
ceremonial president: Bundesprasident
government and chancellor (Bundeskanzler) depend on parliamentary majority
strong bicameral parliament (Bundestag and Bundesrat)
- representing population at large and interests of subnational units (states)
constructive motion of no-confidence (memory of Weimar) = you can vote Chancellor away if you have a good proposal for replacement = to prevent elections every time
(also example of electoral engineering)
president and chancellor
president = head of state
- elected for 5y by special electorate
- proposes chancellor, signs laws
sometimes president doesn’t agree with a party/person/law bc he sees it as unconstitutional -> can refuse to sign - can decide whether to dissolve the legislature and call new elections when there is no majority
- max 2x 5y term
chancellor = head of gov
- elected by parliament
- appoints gov ministers
- coalitions: collective responsibility
Bundestag
- 763 members now, minimum is 598
problem: logistics, staff -> trying to fix it by changing the electoral system - strong parliament, but can’t directly vote chancellor out of office: constructive vote of confidence
- works in committees
- less vocal/debating than e.g. US: but more and more question time and move towards personalism (more and more speeches, getting attention for yourself, not the party)
- more a working parliament: cooperation between parties to put forward policies
Bundesrat
- 69 members
- elections at diff moments in time
- nr seats per state depends on population (unlike in Nigeria and the US)
- delegates vote as a state block: not always easy bc state delegations often are coalitions existing of multiple parties
- get to see/vote all legislation, can be overruled by Bundesrat (except on issues concerning the states)
*it is common to have joint committees to negotiate a compromise when both houses disagree
traditionally pardon sanitaire = boycott AfD: don’t let them in coalition, if this is broken they could enter the bundesrat
judiciary
Constitutional Court = Bundesverfassungsgericht
strong activist court that has banned parties
- 16 judges, 12y term, retirement by 68
- 50% judges decided by Bundesrat, 50% by Bundestag (both with 2/3 majority)
- receives complaints by citizens, state gov. and federal gov.
- abstract review: look if legislation is in agreement with the constitution
active Bundesverfassungsgericht
Constitutional Court can outlaw parties it deems unconstitutional
- e.g. 1952 Socialist Imperial Party = denied holocaust + demanded solution to the jewish problem
- e.g. 1956 Communist Party of Germany (KPD) = aggressive
- e.g. 2024 National Democratic Party / Die Heimat (NPD) = neonazi party, funding was banned
problem: if you outlaw them, are voters gonna see that as democratic? it may only lead to more support
- e.g. Belgium: radical party was outlawed, changed its name and went on
it doesn’t necessarily make the parties go away
elections
Mixed Member Proportional
- endresult mainly proportional, not fully bc threshold
combines elements of SMD and PR
two votes:
- Erststimme (district) -> 299 direct mandates (SMD) = until 2021
- Zweitstimme (national list)-> minimum of 299 compensatory seats to make election results proportional = List PR
- seats allocated in each of the 16 Bundeslander
why? SMD not always proportional -> corrections with the national list
electoral threshold: 5% of national vote (Zweitstimme) or 3 or more direct mandates (until 2021)
- threshold is 5%, 3 direct mandates is the exceptison (so if you don’t have 5%, but do have 3 SMD seats, you do get to keep the seats)
electoral amendment 2023
- 630 seats in total after the 2025 elections
- reduction in the nr of districts
- no surplus and compensatory seats
- not all candidates elected under the first vote will enter the Bundestag if their party won fewer seats under the second vote
smaller parties complained: bc they get no compensation
5% threshold and 3 district seats exception
- plan was to remove the 3 seats exception, small parties complained (bc this is how some of them kept their seats) -> constitutional court ruled that the exception needed to be kept
political parties: FDP
founded in 1949
liberals, representing the class cleavage
role of gov “kingmakers”
the lawyers and dentists party
ideology:
- pro-market, pro-business
- socially progressive
- austerity and smaller bureaucracy
- recent decades: more right-wing liberalism
2013: failed to meet 5% threshold, reappeared in 2017, in coalition 2021
has lot of power in the EU
