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Federalism in Germany
Germany has a strong tradition of regional government dating back to
the founding of the German Empire in 1871. Since unification in 1990,
the Federal Republic has consisted of sixteen Laender: the ten
Laender of the former West Germany, the five new Laender
of the former East Germany, and Berlin. (However, Berlin and the
eastern Land of Brandenburg are slated to merge in either 1999
or 2002.) The Land governments are based on a parliamentary system.
Most Laender have unicameral legislatures, whose members are
elected directly by popular vote. The party or coalition of parties in
control of the legislature chooses a minister president to lead the Land
government. The minister president selects a cabinet to run Land
agencies and carry out the executive functions of the Land government.
Minister presidents are highly visible national figures and often progress
to federal office, either the chancellorship or a position in the federal
cabinet.
The Basic Law divides authority between the federal government and the
Laender, with the general principle governing relations articulated
in Article 30: "The exercise of governmental powers and the discharge
of governmental functions shall be incumbent on the Laender insofar
as this Basic Law does not otherwise prescribe or permit." Thus, the federal
government can exercise authority only in those areas specified in the
Basic Law. The federal government is assigned a greater legislative role
and the Land governments a greater administrative role. The fact
that more civil servants are employed by Land governments than
by federal and local governments combined illustrates the central administrative
function of the Laender.
The Basic Law divides the federal government's legislative responsibilities
into exclusive powers (Articles 71 and 73), concurrent powers (Articles
72, 74, and 74a), and framework powers (Article 75). The exclusive legislative
jurisdiction of the federal government extends to defense, foreign affairs,
immigration, transportation, communications, and currency standards. The
federal and Land governments share concurrent powers in several
areas, including civil law, refugee and expellee matters, public welfare,
land management, consumer protection, public health, and the collection
of vital statistics (data on births, deaths, and marriages). In the areas
of mass media, nature conservation, regional planning, and public service
regulations, framework legislation limits the federal government's role
to offering general policy guidelines, which the Laender then
act upon by means of detailed legislation. The areas of shared responsibility
for the Laender and the federal government were enlarged by an
amendment to the Basic Law in 1969 (Articles 91a and 91b), which calls
for joint action in areas of broad social concern such as higher education,
regional economic development, and agricultural reform.
All policy areas not assigned to federal jurisdiction are within the
legislative purview of the Laender. These areas include education,
law enforcement, regulation of radio and television, church affairs, and
cultural activities. The Laender retain significant powers of
taxation. Most federal taxes are collected by Land officials.
The Land governments also exercise power at the national level
through the Bundesrat, which is made up of representatives appointed by
the Land governments. In this way, the Laender affect
the federal legislative process. Half of the members of the Federal Convention,
which elects a federal president, are Land officials, and the
Land governments also take part in the selection of judges for
the federal courts.
- The
Chancellor
- The President
- Legislature
- Constitution
- Federalism
- Bundestag
- Bundesrat
- Electoral System
- Political Parties
- Extraparty Political
Forces
- Geography (lands and
capitals, climate)
- Society (population, religion,
marriage, urbanization, social structure, immigration)
- Education (elementary,
junior, senior, vocational, higher)
- Economy (the Economic
Miracle, financial system, Bundesbank, business culture)
- Politics (government,
the Chancellor, the President, parties, Bundestag)
- Mass Media (newspapers,
radio and TV)
- Armed Forces (army,
navy, air forces, police)
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