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The German Parliament is called Bundestag and exists of 598 elected representatives. The duration of the election period is four years. The electoral system of Germany is a mixture of majority voting and proportional representation (PR). According to the political scientist Arend Lijphart, the type of the German democratic system fits in the model of a consensus democracy. The Bundestag decides about laws and elects the chancellor. Germany is a federal state divided into 16 states. Every state has its own government and has also the right to pass laws. If state law clashes with federal law, the latter decides. The states are represented by the Bundesrat. Website of the Bundestag: bundestag.de Website of the Bundesrat: bundesrat.de |
The Bundestag: seat of the German parliament in Berlin |
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The German political system includes many parties, who are not all represented in parliament. The reason for this is a 5%-threshold. Below you will find an overview of the parties represented in parliament: Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Website Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) Website The Greens (Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen) Website Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) Website Free Democratic Party (FDP) Website |