Preview

Role of Parliament in Germany

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1560 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Role of Parliament in Germany
BUNDESTAG:
This article is about the current parliament of Germany. For the governing body of the Germany. Confederation from 1815 to 1866, see Bundesversammlung (German Confederation).
Confederation from 1815 to 1866, see Bundesversammlung (German Confederation).
The Bundestag (Federal Diet; pronounced [ˈbʊndəstaːk]) is a legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag was established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier Reichstag. It meets in the Reichstag Building in Berlin. Norbert Lammert is the current President of the Bundestag. With the new constitution of 1949, the Bundestag was established as the new (West) German parliament. Because West Berlin was not officially under the jurisdiction of the Constitution and because of the Cold War, the Bundestag met in Bonn in several different buildings, including (provisionally) a former water works facility. In addition, owing to the city's legal status, citizens of West Berlin were unable to vote in elections to the Bundestag, and were instead represented by 20 non-voting delegates, indirectly elected by the city's House of Representatives.

The Bundeshaus in Bonn is the former Parliament Building of Germany. The sessions of the German Bundestag were held there from 1949 until its move to Berlin in 1999. Today it houses the International Congress Centre Bundeshaus Bonn and in the north areas the branch office of the Bundesrat (upper house). The southern areas became part of German offices for the United Nations in 2008.

The former Reichstag building housed a history exhibition (Fragen an die deutsche Geschichte) and served occasionally as a conference center. The Reichstag building was also occasionally used as a venue for sittings of the Bundestag and its committees and the Bundesversammlung, the body which elects the German Federal

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Germany was a parliamentary democracy based on the constitution that Germany was run by. The Bundesrat being part of the constitution consisted of 58 members who were elected by the state assemblies, the Bundesrat had the power in theory to the law making process and by this having this possibly the right to alter the constitution. The Bundesrat had the power to veto legislation against a bill, therefore being able to stop such laws that would not be in favour of Germany. As well as this, the Bundesrat and the Reichstag had joint legislative power. The Reichstag was elected members represented by constituencies and were all male over the age of twenty five. One of the most significant points in favour of Germany being a democracy is that Bismark introduced universal male suffrage elections in 1871. This is clearly an example of a parliamentary democracy because it allowed people of all classes to vote; meaning that every layer of society had the opportunity to be represented. However importantly over the Bundesrat the Reichstag was significantly in power of the financial affairs and the banking system of Germany and perhaps most importantly the control the Reichstag had over the defence budget which was vital federal government expenditure. It had grown from being 100 million marks in 1890 to rapidly increasing to 2,405 million marks by 1913. Although the Kaiser did have the right to dissolve the Reichstag they still could hold elections after this. Furthermore the constitution was based on parliamentary democracy to an extent because members were elected into their positions. They held the power of money that…

    • 1155 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 1949, the French, British, and American zones merged and formed the Federal Republic of Germany, or West Berlin. Whereas, the Soviet East Berlin became the German Democratic Republic…

    • 1785 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the period 1900-1914, Germany’s political landscape witnessed extraordinary changes in which typical features associated with a parliamentary democracy- such as significant and influential pressure group activity and universal suffrage- were present. It can however be argued that this period also represented a time in which the German Reichstag did not truly represent the population due to old and corrupt voting system for Prussia which saw votes unfairly given and the role of all the chancellors- in particular Von Bulow- during this time, which saw unelected officials yielding greater influence than that of the Reichstag. Germany was a parliamentary democracy due to the many contrasting features of the political system. Germany may have had many features where a “parliamentary democracy” can be boasted, but there are also just as many contrasting points which expose the system as being corrupt and broken.…

    • 1085 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    After World War II, Germany was divided into four zones between France, Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union. Although Germany’s capital city of Berlin was located entirely within the Soviet controlled section of Germany, it was also divided between the four nations. France, Great Britain, and the United states controlled the western half of the city, later uniting their individual zones in order to form a West German State, while the Soviet Union controlled the eastern half. Berlin became politically advantageous and extremely important to the Soviet Union and East…

    • 1556 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In "The Rocking Horse Winner", Lawrence uses the whispering house and the rocking horse to show how greed gets you nowhere.…

    • 1413 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The German Democratic Republic was formed from what once was the Soviet Zone of Germany. After the tensions of the cold war became too hostile for all participants Germany was divided into East Germany and West Germany and were renamed the GDR for the East and the FRG for the West. The GDR was formed in October 1949 and was governed by the SED, a political party made up of the Communist Party and the Socialist Party. Wilhelm Pieck was appointed president, Otto Grotewohl Prime Minister and Walter Ulbricht became the First Secretary, a role which was more superior when it came to decision making. This new socialist state was a part of the Eastern Bloc and it soon became the most successful state within it. The USSR had a very big influence on East Germanys policies and there economy, due to the communal beliefs in socialist and communist ideas. In addition, I believe that the USSR did control the GDR as East Germanys markets and resources were managed for the benefit of the Soviet Union, not for the benefit of the Citizens of the GDR.…

    • 1190 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    heyo potao

    • 1486 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Discuss and analyze the political and economic reasons for the failure of parliamentary democracy in Germany after the First World War.…

    • 1486 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many problems began for Germany when World War II began, but by the end of the war Germany was a disaster waiting to happen. After WWII was over Germany found itself split between France, the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union, each country controlling a part. Berlin, which was surrounded by the Soviet Union, was also divided into four sections. The Soviet Union was in control of half of Germany, and it happened to be the East half of the Germany. The Soviet Union made East Berlin the capital of East Germany. The other three counties were each in control of a small part of what was to be West Germany. These three countries decided that they would come together to form one country out of their three sections. Those three sections formed West Germany.…

    • 986 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The city of Nuremberg in the German state of Bavaria was the selected location for the trials because its Palace of Justice was undamaged by the war and included a large prison area. By it being the site of annual Nazi propaganda rallies, holding the trials there marked the symbolic end of Hitler's government, the Third…

    • 1273 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bismarck and Metternich

    • 1023 Words
    • 5 Pages

    2. The Congress created the German Confederation, replacing the dissolved Holy Roman Empire. It also was composed of thirty-nine states under the leadership of Austria. Austria sought to prevent any step towards a constitution in as many of the independent states as possible.…

    • 1023 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The East Berlin also called the East Germany made up the largest part of the Soviet Union. This was a state that existed between the periods of 1949 to 1990. This was the country that was located in the eastern bloc after the First World War. The East Berlin was highly controlled by the Soviet Union. This was a highly communist state that administered the region of Germany which had so many Soviet forces. Being a communist country, they had highly embraced the Soviet rule and as a result, it was referred to as the satellite of the Soviet Union. Due to the communist system that existed in East Berlin, there were very many problems experienced by the people. The most dominant once was the economic problems. Everything in the economy was controlled by the central government including the prices of goods and services. Instead of letting the market forces to control the prices of commodities, the government controlled the prices.…

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essay On Berlin Wall

    • 750 Words
    • 3 Pages

    On August 12th 1961, Berliners awoke to the sight of barbed wire that divided Germany's capital city. Turmoil and confusion was widespread until Walter Ulbricht, head of the…

    • 750 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It’s 1931, and Germany is in a massive post World War I depression. The unemployment rate is at 70% and millions of Germans are jobless. People have lost hope and faith in their country, and Germany in itself is starting to lose respect worldwide. A glimmer of hope came when Berlin was chosen as the host city for the 1936 summer Olympics. This was two years prior to the appointment of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor, and Germany was still under the rule of President Hindenburg.…

    • 1187 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    AP Euro

    • 526 Words
    • 3 Pages

    My interest in traveling to and participating in a study tour of Germany stems most currently from my fervent study and passionate teaching of Advanced Placement (AP) European History; yet the genesis of this interest began decades earlier. In the 1950s my mother grew up in Munich as an Army brat while my grandfather was a full Colonel of the United States Army stationed at U.S. Army Garrison Munich after World War II. The images of my mother ice skating on frozen ponds and my grandfather's collection of beer steins and paintings of German pastoral scenes made me curious about this place half way around the globe. As a teen I traveled to Frankfurt with my father and toured the city on our way to Greece, the land of my ancestors. In Frankfurt am Main I witnessed the striking architecture and impressive industry of the city. In my childhood I sang in choirs and played on the piano the works of the great German composers Beethoven, Brahms and Mozart. Today my cousin who is a U.S. Army Lt. Colonel and his wife are currently stationed in Stuttgart soon to move to Vilseck in the Bavarian region of Germany.…

    • 526 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Woman's Suffrage

    • 976 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Now days when you turn eighteen in the United States. you can vote in the election but that was not always true for woman. Before 1920 woman were not allowed to vote only men could. It all began in 1848, at the first woman’s rights convention in New York, and didn’t end until 1920 when the 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote, was finally ratified and became a law on August 26, 1920. Many brave woman and organizations fought for the right to be considered equal to men. Organizations such as NWSA, founded by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and AWSA, founded by Lucy Stone and Henry Blackwell. These people, as well as many others, took a stand so that woman could have the rights that they do today, the right to vote. Woman’s suffrage was one of the most influential things in history because it allowed men and woman to be treated as equals, and without it, America would not be where it is today.…

    • 976 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics