Work in Germany: September 2009

How does the Voting System in Germany work ?
Can you explain the Voting System in Germany ?
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Candidates may be nominated by any party which has (i) had at least five representatives in the Bundestag or a state (Land) parliament throughout the time since the last election of such parliament or (ii) given formal notice that it intends to take part in the election and been officially recognised as a party by the Federal Electoral Committee. Nominations of constituency candidates must be personally signed in writing by at least 200 persons eligible to vote. If a new party wishes to register a state list of candidates, the signature of one per thousand persons of such state eligible to vote in the last Bundestagelection is required, subject to a maximum requirement of 2000 such signatures. The candidates on constituency and state lists differ from state to state. Each constituency elects one representative to the Bundestag on a first-past-the-post basis. Each voter has two votes: one for the election of the constituency representative, and a second based on the state list of candidates. In the event of a tied vote, the chief electoral officer draws a lot. Under an amendment to the Federal Election Act of 8 March 1985, the d/Hondt electoral system was replaced by the Hareâ€‘Niemeyer system. Under the latter, the total number of seats in the Bundestag is multiplied by the number of votes cast for each party and the resulting number is divided by the total number of votes cast for all the parties elected to the Bundestag; seats are then allocated to each party on the basis of the resulting whole number. Any remaining seats are then allocated in the order of the highest fractions. From the resulting number of seats for each party the number of constituency seats won by it is then subtracted. The remaining number of seats is then filled by each party from its state list according to the numerical order of candidates on that list (disregarding any candidates who have been elected as constituency representatives). If a party does not have enough candidates on its state list to fill the number of seats to which it is entitled, these seats remain vacant. All constituency seats won by a party are retained by that party even if the number of these is greater than the total number to which it is entitled under the First Chamber of the German Parliament proportional system ("extra-proportional seats"); in this case, the total number of seats in the Bundestag isincreased accordingly. In order to vote in an election, it is necessary to be registered in an electoral register or in possession of a voting certificate. For the purpose of your participation in the election to the Bundestag, the relevant constituency would be the one in which you have resided uninterruptedly for at least three months since your departure. The voting slips are uniform. The members of the Bundestag (the German Parliament) are representatives of the whole German people elected in general, direct, free, equal and secret elections. They shall not be bound by any instructions, only by their conscience (Article 38 of the Basic Law, the German constitution). The German electoral system attempts to combine majority and proportional representation, it is called a system of personalized proportional representation. This system is generally adhered to in elections on the national as well as, with minor regional variations, on the state (provincial) level. This system has the advantage of producing legislative assemblies that reflect the whole spectrum of electoral views much more accurately than the "winner-takes-all" effect of majority suffrage. At the same time, it may also result in situations where it is more difficult to form a government majority than under the single-member constituency system in Great Britain, for instance. Each voter has two votes, the first vote (Erststimme) is given directly to one of the candidates in their respective constituency. The successful candidate is elected on a plurality basis. One half (328 ) of all seats in the Bundestag is thus filled by representatives directly chosen. The second vote (Zweitstimme), however, can only be given to the state list of candidates (Landesliste) drawn up by the parties in the 16 federal states (Bundeslaender). The remaining 328 seats in the Bundestag are then distributed among the parties in proportion to the number of second votes cast for their respective lists. In order to counteract the inherent danger of proportional representation to produce a large number of small parties without allowing clear-cut majorities, a party must win at least 5% of all second votes or carry three electoral districts to enter the Bundestag. The 16 federal states (BundeslÃ¤nder) elect their own legislative bodies, usually called "Landtag" or, in case of the city states, "BÃ¼rgerschaft" (Bremen and Hamburg) or "Abgeordnetenhaus" (Berlin) under very similar electoral rules. The electoral system Germany is a federal republic and a parliamentary democracy. As such it is based on the sovereignty of the people. Article 20 of the Basic Law stipulates that all public authority emanates from the people. The people exercise their constitutional authority in general elections. Referenda on the federal level are only provided for in the case of modifying state boundaries. The responsibility of public authority is entrusted to the legislature, the executive and the judiciary (separation of powers). Bundestag The parliament of Germany - called the Bundestag - is located in the capital city Berlin, where it moved in the summer of 1999 from its former home in Bonn.The Bundestag is elected by the people every four years. It may only be dissolved by the Federal President under exceptional circumstances. The Bundestag elects the Federal Chancellor who then forms the government. Together with the Bundesrat (Federal Council), which represents the federal states (BundeslÃ¤nder), the Bundestag enacts the laws of the nation. The current President of the Bundestag is Wolfgang Thierse. The President of the Bundestag has a similar function to the Leader of the House of Commons in the UK. Although most parliamentary bills are introduced by the Federal Government, some are initiated from the floor of the Bundestag itself. The Bundestag debates fundamental political issues and focusses public attention on them. Article 38 of the Basic Law says that members of the Bundestag shall not be bound by instructions, only by their conscience. Nomination of candidates Candidates running for constituency seats in the Bundestag are nominated in a secret ballot by party members or their delegates (section 22 of the Federal Electoral Law). This right of party members to nominate candidates is of decisive importance. Candidates for state lists are nominated by the state representatives' assemblies of the respective political party as prescribed by the Federal Electoral Law. However, the most common practice is for this function to be carried out by the state delegates' assemblies or the party conferences. They, too, would be overburdened if they were to compile the lists themselves. In practice, therefore, they decide on lists prepared by the state executives or special commissions, representing a compromise between the preferences of senior party organs, the parliamentary groups, the local councils and the associations connected with and supporting the party. It is possible to virtually guarantee election to a candidate by giving him/her a place well up on the party list if his/her chances of winning a constituency seat directly are uncertain. This often happens with federal ministers or other politicians of special importance to their parties, whose political positions are "guaranteed" (abgesichert) by their respective positions on the list. Persons not affiliated with any party may only run as individuals for direct election in a constituency; they cannot submit state lists. Such independent candidates must have the support of at least 200 voters in their district personally signing their nomination. When an MP (or in German: MdB for "Mitglied des Bundestags") leaves the Bundestag, for example because he renounces his seat or dies, the next candidate on the state list of the party for which he was elected to the Bundestag takes his place. This applies to members elected via the state list. However according to a recent decision of the German Constitutional Court, directly elected members, who renounce their seats, can no longer be replaced by candidates from the state list, if the party has won extra seats (Ãœberhangmandate); the party therefore loses the seat. In Germany, there is thus no need for by-elections, as practiced in Great Britain in between federal elections. The parliamentary support base of a federal government elected for a four-year term can erode (or increase) through changes of allegiance ("defections") only. The Federal Electoral Law provides for a postponement of an election in the case that this election could not be held in a riding, e.g. when a candidate dies after the acceptance of his nomination, but before the election takes place (section 43 of the Federal Law). Election of MdBs The German electoral system attempts to combine direct constituency and proportional representation; it is called additional member system. This system is generally adhered to in elections on the national as well as, with minor variations, on the state (regional) level. It has the advantage of producing legislative assemblies that reflect the actual proportion of the expressed electorate's will much more accurately than the majoritarian, or first-past-the-post, system with its effect of "winner-takes-all". At the same time, the German electoral system provides for direct constituency representation. However, it may also result in situations where it is more difficult to form a (stable) government majority than under the single-member constituency system in Great Britain, for instance. The electoral system in Germany is governed on a national level by the Federal Electoral Law enacted on 7 May 1956, as subsequently amended. MdBs are returned to parliament by a dual procedure. One half of the Bundestag membership is elected by direct vote in the constituencies (first-past-the-post) and the other half indirectly by a proportional method via the state lists drawn up by the parties in each state (proportional representation). The elections take place in a total of 299 constituencies. A normal Bundestag has a total of 598 seats. Currently, however, it has 603 members due to Ãœberhangmandate. In elections on the federal level, i.e. elections to the Bundestag, German citizens have two votes: The first vote (Erststimme) is cast for one of the candidates in the respective constituency. The successful candidate is directly elected on a plurality basis (first-past-the-post). Half the seats (299) in the Bundestag are thus filled by constituency representatives. The second vote (Zweitstimme), however, can only be given to the state list of candidates (Landesliste) drawn up by the parties in the 16 federal states (BundeslÃ¤nder). The second votes cast for the state lists are decisive since the seats are distributed among the parties in proportion to the number of votes given for their list in accordance with the so-called Niemeyer method of calculation. The number of constituency seats obtained by the parties is then deducted from the number of list seats established by the Niemeyer method and the remainder given to the candidates in the order in which they appear on their respective lists. Candidates returned to parliament on a constituency seat are no longer considered list candidates. The final Bundestag reflects the actual proportion of votes cast with the Zweitstimme . If a party wins more constituencies in one state than it would be entitled to according to the results of the Zweitstimme, it may retain this seat which is then added onto the total number of Bundestag seats (Ãœberhangmandate). Right to vote and right to stand for office Every German citizen aged 18 or over who has lived or been a permanent resident in Germany for at least 3 months prior to the elections is entitled to vote. The Federal Electoral Law was amended in 1985 to allow Germans living abroad to participate in Bundestag elections. Germans residing in a member state of the Council of Europe have the right to vote irrespective of the length of time they have lived abroad. Germans living in other countries may vote for a period of 10 years after leaving Germany. In both cases they must have resided at least three continuous months in Germany before leaving the country. Every person who, on the day of the election, is 18 years or older and has been a German citizen for at least 12 months, may stand for election. National (federal) elections are usually held every four years. Special elections for a new Bundestag can be called if the regular elections have not resulted in a parliamentary majority for any party or a coalition of parties sufficient to elect a chancellor, or if a chancellor in office loses a vote of confidence in parliament and asks the Federal President to dissolve the Bundestag (see article 68, 63 and 39 of the Basic Law). The five-per-cent clause The proportional representation system, applied in full, is considered fair because it produces a parliament which reflects the full spectrum of opinions among the electorate. But apart from the 1957 elections when CDU/CSU gained an absolute majority in the Bundestag, no single party has ever obtained an absolute majority of its own. Landslide victories of a single party absent (other than under the single-member constituency system in Great Britain), forming coalitions has therefore become the norm on the federal level in Germany. In order to limit the danger of fragmentation produced by the proportional representation system, the 5% threshold was introduced. The Federal Electoral Law stipulates that, in distributing seats from the state lists, only those parties are to be taken into account which poll at least 5% of the second votes in the entire country. This 5% clause does not apply to parties - which have won at least three constituency seats, or - which represent a national minority (only at state level). In comparison with the Reichstag (1919-1933) and the early period of the Bundestag, the present 5% clause is the main reason for the clear limitation and reduction of the number of parties represented in the Bundestag. Twelve parties were represented in the first Bundestag (1949), but by 1961 there were only four left (CDU, CSU, SPD, FDP). Since 1983, the Greens (now BÃ¼ndnis 90/Die GrÃ¼nen) have also been represented in the Bundestag, and, since 1990, the PDS, the renamed former east German communist party SED. Bearing this historic evolution in mind, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled that small, not yet established parties from the new states, likewise, should be given a better chance in the Bundestag elections of 2nd December 1990 in the first general elections after German unification. To this end, the 5% clause was applied to the two former German states separately at the time. As a result, PDS and "BÃ¼ndnis 90" won seats in the Bundestag, although they scored less than 5% on a nation -wide basis. Since the 1994 elections, however, all parties are subject to the same general regulations outlined in the electoral law. Elections in the federal states (BundeslÃ¤nder) The 16 federal states (BundeslÃ¤nder) elect their own legislative bodies. Usually they are called "Landtag" or, in the case of city states, "BÃ¼rgerschaft" (Bremen and Hamburg) or "Abgeordnetenhaus" (Berlin). The electoral rules are very similar to the federal ones. Bundesrat The Bundesrat (Upper Federal Chamber) represents the 16 federal states (BundeslÃ¤nder) and participates in the legislation and administration at the federal level. In contrast to the senatorial system of federal states like the United States of America or Switzerland, the Bundesrat is not composed of directly elected representatives, but of members of the state governments or their representatives. Taking into account the vastly differing population size, each state has at least three, but not more than six votes, which can only be cast as a bloc. The Bundesrat has 69 votes. Laws passed by the Bundestag require the formal approval of the Bundesrat when interests of the states are concerned. Since the 1960s, the number of federal laws requiring Bundesrat approval has markedly increased. In other cases the Bundesrat has a right of objection, which can be overruled by the Bundestag. Voting in the Bundesrat is always regarded as particularly interesting if the parties forming the majority in the Bundestag differ from those forming the Bundesrat majority, although there is no automatic party-line voting in Bundesrat decisions. The votes of each state must be cast en bloc (i.e. they must all be either "yes", "no", or "abstention"). It is not possible for votes to be cast individually. Every individual state government must reach an agreement on the issue at hand before voting takes place in the Bundesrat. One member of a state delegation, the "vote caster", casts all of his state's votes. Indeed, the other representatives of his state need not even be present at the meeting. Should a state government not find agreement over its voting behaviour, the vote shall be cast as "abstention". In voting, the members of the Bundesrat are bound by the decisions taken by their state governments. It is not the position of the individual member of the Bundesrat, but rather that of the individual state that is expressed in the Bundesrat. Thus, Bundesrat members do not have a free mandate. On the other hand, they are not subject to an imperative mandate, since they do not carry out instructions or act on behalf of third parties. Instead, as members of a state government, they are themselves involved in determining how the state will vote in the Bundesrat. see http://www.bundesrat.de/Site/Inhalt/DE/2_20Bundesrat/2.1_20Struktur_20und_20Aufgaben/2.1.5_20Gesetzgebungsverfahren/NI/Gesetzgebungsverfahren,templateId=renderBildGross.html The Bundesversammlung The Bundesversammlung (Federal Convention) consists of members of the Bundestag and an equal number of members chosen by the state parliaments. Its only purpose is to elect the Federal President for a new five-year term. The current Federal President, Horst KÃ¶hler, was elected on 23 May 2004. Political Parties The German political parties are active in the federal parliament (Bundestag), the state legislature (Landtag/ BÃ¼rgerschaft/ Abgeordnetenhaus) and the district and municipal councils (StadtrÃ¤te and Kreistage). The parties function as collective organisations with the task of aggregating citizens' views and opinions at federal, state and municipal levels, although there are accents within party programs specific to individual states. The following remarks are, in essence, restricted to the political parties at the federal level. Parties represented in the Bundestag Since the first general elections after the War to be held in the whole of Germany (1990) there have been six parties represented in the Bundestag: the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU), the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the Free Democratic Party (FDP), the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) and the group known as Alliance 90/ The Greens. The CDU was founded in 1945 by Konrad Adenauer and others. This new party became one of the major players in German politics. The notion of the social market economy, championed by Ludwig Erhard, became the basis of CDU policies, together with a strong orientation towards European integration and NATO. Four of six post-war chancellors were CDU members (Konrad Adenauer, Ludwig Erhard, Kurt Georg Kiesinger, Helmut Kohl). At present, the CDU's chairwoman is Angela Merkel. The CSU only exists in Bavaria, but influences national politics through its alliance with the CDU. Together, the two parties form one faction in the Bundestag. The CSU has therefore always joined the CDU in forming governing coalitions. It was founded in 1945. Until his death in 1988, Franz Josef StrauÃŸ was the party's flamboyant figurehead. The current CSU leader is Edmund Stoiber. The SPD is Germany's oldest party. It has roots in the General German Workers' Association founded by Ferdinand Lasalle in 1863. Reorganised after 1945 under the leadership of Kurt Schumacher, the SPD entered into a "grand coalition" with the CDU and CSU in 1966. Willy Brandt became post-war Germany's first SPD chancellor in 1969 when the SPD entered into a coalition with the liberal FDP; he was followed by Helmut Schmidt in 1974. Since 1998, Gerhard SchrÃ¶der succeeded the then Chancellor Helmut Kohl, after sixteen years in power. The SPD and the CDU/CSU are the most popular parties ("Volksparteien") in Germany. The FDP is the liberal player in the German party spectrum. The FDP has been in government for most of West Germany's post war history, joining either CDU/CSU or the SPD to form a coalition government. With emphasis on free market economy and civil liberties, the party considers itself as a political corrective in its partnership with the more important "Volksparteien" (people's parties). The Greens (BÃ¼ndnis 90/Die GrÃ¼nen) achieved their first electoral success at the state level in 1977 and won Bundestag representation in 1983. It started off as a grassroots democratic party which has become an established presence in the German political landscape. Merged with the east-German BÃ¼ndnis 90 in 1993, the Greens form part of the ruling government coalition with the SPD since 1998. The PDS is the newest Bundestag party, represented there since 1990. It arose from the former Socialist Unity Party (SED), the Communist state party of the former German Democratic Republic. PDS membership is predominantly eastern German, although the party has been trying to win a greater following in the West. In 2005, the PDS joined forces with the Electoral Alternative for Work and Social Justice (WASG), a group of left-wing SPD defectors, to form the new Linkspartei (Left Party) in order to compete in the upcoming general elections on a stronger nationwide platform. Germany also has many small and fringe parties that are not represented in the Bundestag, although some of them were able to gain access to state or municipal legislative assemblies. Extreme right-wing parties like the Republicans (REP), DVU (German People's Union), and the NPD (National Democratic Party of Germany) are regarded with widespread suspicion and have consistently failed to make political inroads on a national level, lacking sufficient popular support to overcome the 5% threshold. However, in recent state elections in Saxony and Brandenburg extreme right-wing parties have succeeded in entering the Landtage. Finances Major sources of revenue for political parties are membership fees, private donations and reimbursements from public funds for election expenditures. Membership fees and private donations of up to â‚¬ 3,300 per person and â‚¬ 6,600 for couples are tax-deductible. Contributions exceeding â‚¬ 10,000 have to be listed in the parties' published reports, together with the name and address of the donors. There is a general concern that big donors might influence parties for their own purposes. Therefore, following the Parties Financing Act, which came into effect on 1 January 1994 and has subsequently been amended, parties receive from the state â‚¬ 0.70 for each vote cast for their party list in the respective state in European, Bundestag and Landtag (state parliament) elections. Derogating from this, parties receive â‚¬ 0.85 per vote for the first four million valid ballots cast for theirv state list. In addition, for each Euro parties receive in membership fees or lawful donations of up to â‚¬ 3.300, the state reimburses them â‚¬ 0.38. State reimbursements for election expenditures may not exceed the funds raised by the parties themselves in any given year. The maximum annual amount of public funds for all parties together may not total more than â‚¬ 133 million (upper limit). These reimbursements are granted condition to the party polling at least 0,5% of the votes cast in European or Bundestag elections or 1.0% in state elections. During campaigns, public radio and TV stations provide broadcasting times to parties free of charge. They are required to allocate time fairly to all parties and provide opportunities for rebuttals.

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