About
Government & Politics
Germany is a parliamentary democracy with 16 federal states (Länder) and proportional representation that frequently leads to coalition government. There are five major political parties at the national level: the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party the CSU, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), the environmentalist Greens, the pro-market Free Democrats (FDP), and the hard socialist Left party, which was formed from the ashes of the East German Communist Party.
A party must receive at least 5% of the vote to be represented in parliament, which sits in the renovated Reichstag. The party receiving the largest percentage of the vote is asked to form a government. If it doesn’t have an absolute majority it starts coalition negotiations with potential allies. Currently, the federal government is a so-called grand coalition of the CDU/CSU and the SPD. Led by chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) since November 2005, this broad right-left administration is considered less than ideal by almost everyone, as traditional political opponents are forced to make compromises to govern.
Although Merkel has proven adept at negotiating foreign policy issues and forging agreements with her EU counterparts, her results domestically have been, at best, mixed. Half way through her first term, many German political observers have accused her of abandoning the ambitious reform plans that she spoke of during the election campaign.
Federal parliamentary elections for the lower house, the Bundestag, take place every four years, with the next ones scheduled for 2009. The currently legislature has 613 MPs drawn from across the country. Germany’s states elect their regional parliaments for a similar term. However, the state and federal polls do not necessarily always coincide.
The upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat, represents the 16 states at the federal level on any issues affecting state competencies, such as education and taxation.
Each state is represented by its premier (Ministerpräsident) and a deputy, usually from the state government’s junior coalition partner. Germany’s largely ceremonial president – Horst Köhler since 2004 – is head of state and is elected by a combined assembly from the Bundestag and Bundesrat for a term of five years that can be renewed once.
A party must receive at least 5% of the vote to be represented in parliament, which sits in the renovated Reichstag. The party receiving the largest percentage of the vote is asked to form a government. If it doesn’t have an absolute majority it starts coalition negotiations with potential allies. Currently, the federal government is a so-called grand coalition of the CDU/CSU and the SPD. Led by chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) since November 2005, this broad right-left administration is considered less than ideal by almost everyone, as traditional political opponents are forced to make compromises to govern.
Although Merkel has proven adept at negotiating foreign policy issues and forging agreements with her EU counterparts, her results domestically have been, at best, mixed. Half way through her first term, many German political observers have accused her of abandoning the ambitious reform plans that she spoke of during the election campaign.
Federal parliamentary elections for the lower house, the Bundestag, take place every four years, with the next ones scheduled for 2009. The currently legislature has 613 MPs drawn from across the country. Germany’s states elect their regional parliaments for a similar term. However, the state and federal polls do not necessarily always coincide.
The upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat, represents the 16 states at the federal level on any issues affecting state competencies, such as education and taxation.
Each state is represented by its premier (Ministerpräsident) and a deputy, usually from the state government’s junior coalition partner. Germany’s largely ceremonial president – Horst Köhler since 2004 – is head of state and is elected by a combined assembly from the Bundestag and Bundesrat for a term of five years that can be renewed once.
