¶ … GERMANY & COMPOSITION OF GOVERNMENT. The research focus CURRENT ( year ) developments composition government. Preferred Resources: 1)The Economist 2) BBC News .
Development and Composition of German Government
Federalism is a key feature of the political system of Germany and its governance. Federalism dates back in the period after World War II when Germany was under the leadership Prussians. At this time, "Germany" consisted of a patchwork of states. These states formed the "Old Empire" (Altes Reich) with a common institution, the so-called Immerwahrender Reichstag in Regensburg (1663 -- 1806), composed of representatives of the respective territories. Its key features were power-sharing, bargaining and compromise-seeking (Kitschelt and Wolfgang 16).
Following the dissolution of that Empire in 1806, 39 territories formed, under Napoleon's protectorate, the Rheinbund (Rhine-Confederation) which was unwieldy and inefficient. The Vienna Congress in 1815 established, the confederal Deutscher Bund, as successor of the Old Empire and with the Bundesrat (in Frankfurt) as the supreme but weak institution (Kitschelt and Wolfgang 18).
After a revolution in 1848, a constituent assembly (Frankfurter Paulskirche) established an alternative structure (a democratic federation similar to the American model, but again with much weight given to the executives from the participating entities). Owing to the resistance of Austria and Prussia, this model could however, not be realized. Political unification was then achieved under Prussia's leadership in two subsequent steps: in 1867 Otto von Bismarck formed the Norddeutscher Bund, which then developed into the German Empire, with the larger states in southern Germany as additional members (Kitschelt and Wolfgang 22).
The Empire was a Confederation of 25 states of where Prussia stood out as the dominant entity. The states proceeded to possess sizeable internal autonomy forming the a sovereign institution Bundesrat to represent governments of the states. Federalism was exemplified executives dominance and public administrations, through the lack of a single national center and preservation of exceptional features in the participating states.
The Feudal elements in Germany had been weakened following World War I, under the constitution of the Weimar Republic. This was by strengthening the Reichstag as Parliament and the President compromising the states lately known as presidents and Lander. They were represented at the Reich level by the Reichsrat, the second chamber, composed of members of Lander governments (formed by political parties), in line with the executive-bias tradition of German federalism. Although the Reichsrat was weak, bargaining between the administrations of the Reich-government and the governments of the Lander continued to be the prevailing feature of decision making. The Nazi totalitarian regime abolished all remaining federal elements establishing a centralized governance system in the period between (1933 -- 45) (Streeck, Wolfgang and Kathleen 112).
The end of World War II ended came as a result of the unconditional surrender of Germany. This is a time when there was no German authority even at the local level. Responsibility in the country and power was taken over by the Soviet Union, UK, USA, and France took over all responsibilities and powers in the country. An agreement to dissolve Prussia and divide the territory into four zones of occupation was arrived. The decision to dissolve Prussia and divide Germany into supervision territory has an impact on the development of governance of the region (Streeck, Wolfgang and Kathleen 119).
Since 1949 the federal system in the Federal Republic of Germany has explicated towards a pattern of interlocking relationships between the federal and Lander governments due to the following factors:
There have been a number of attempts to reform German federalism. From 1973-76, a special commission (Enquete-Kommission Verfassungsreform) discussed a comprehensive reform of the constitution and half of the federation has exploited the provisions for concurrent (and framework) legislative powers;
The Lander have been compensated for autonomous legislative power loss with increased right to participate in federal legislation through the Bundesrat.
The comprehensive constitutional responsibility of the Lander for applying and administering most laws;
The institution of Joint Tasks (Gemeinschaftsaufgaben) was introduced by a whole set of constitutional amendments in 1969, among them those relating to the financial system;
The provisions of the "financial constitution" according to which the most important revenues are shared between the federation and the Lander and which have, in addition, measures of financial equalization amongst the two levels and between the Lander themselves; and Growing cooperation between the federation and Lander and amongst the Lander themselves, accompanied by shared financial responsibilities.
Proposals made referred to federalism. None of these, however, was taken up and introduced in...
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