Bundestag

“ If in any clearly defined and contiguous residential and economic area located in two or more Länder and having at least one million inhabitants one tenth of those entitled to vote in Bundestag elections petition for the inclusion of that area in a single Land, a federal law shall specify within two years whether the change shall be made in accordance with paragraph (2) of this Article or that an advisory referendum shall be held in the affected Länder. ”

“ Elections for seats in the Bundestag were most recently held in 2005; they were considered free and fair. Political parties operate without restriction or outside interference unless they are deemed a threat to the federal constitution. ”

“ Bundestag - last held on 18 September 2005 (next to be held no later than autumn 2009) ; note - there are no elections for the Bundesrat; composition is determined by the composition of the state-level governments; the composition of the Bundesrat has the potential to change any time one of the 16 states holds an election election results: Bundestag - percent of vote by party - CDU/CSU 35.2%, SPD 34.3%, FDP 9.8%, Left 8.7%, Greens 8.1%, other 3.9% ”

“ At no time may a Member be subjected to court proceedings or disciplinary action or otherwise called to account outside the Bundestag for a vote cast or for any speech or debate in the Bundestag or in any of its committees. ”

“ A majority in a referendum or in an advisory referendum shall consist of a majority of the votes cast, provided that it amounts to at least one quarter of those entitled to vote in Bundestag elections. ”

“ What authority it will be able to exercise in the future will depend on the quality of its work and on the personalities by which the states will be represented. The Cabinet of the Reich, like all the members of the Reichsrat, is authorized to propose measures in the Reichsrat. The plenary sessions of the latter, in contrast to those of the Bundesrat, are theoretically public; its committee meetings are not. Decisions are made by a simple majority of those voting. ”

“ The parliamentary system assumes, by the side of the Parliament elected by the people, a titular chief of state with executive power who, himself not responsible politically but assisted by ministers who are responsible, co-operates with Parliament in the different functions of the state. Basing itself, therefore, on the principle of parliamentary government, the German Constitution places at the head of the Reich a President whose situation corresponds generally to that of all the chiefs of state in parliamentary countries. ”

“ This approval given, the Cabinet is obliged to submit the text to the Reichstag after stating its own attitude on it. [126] The Assembly then either accepts the bill, thus satisfying the people; or it changes or rejects it; in which case a referendum is then resorted to, in which the people decides as the final resource.
(2) A second hypothesis is that in which a conflict between its people and its representatives, or a part of its representatives, occurs as in the case we have already described, where a third of the members of the Reichstag demand that the promulgation of a law be deferred. ”

“ Another consequence is, that not only the Ministries are not homogeneous, which is the necessary consequence of the fact that no party has a majority in the Reichstag, but also they are heterogeneous in a fixed and invariable manner. To constitute a Cabinet there must be observed a triple rule. First, Ministers must be taken from the various political parties that enter the Cabinet; those individuals who are not [180] members of the Reichstag being chosen from among the members of the party represented in the National Assembly. ”

“ In the constitution of the new empire two legislative bodies were provided for, the Bundesrath or Federal Council, whose members are annually appointed by the respective state governments, and the Reichstag or Representative body, whose members are elected by universal suffrage for a period of three years, an annual session being required. Germany, therefore, in its present organization, is practically a federal union of states, each with its own powers of internal government, and with a common legislature approximating to our Senate and House of Representatives. ”

“ Every State must have a republican constitution. The representatives of the People must be elected by the universal, equal, direct and secret suffrage of all German citizens, both men and women, according to the principles of proportional representation. The State Cabinet shall require the confidence of the representatives of the People. ”

“ It provided for the election of a National President, to serve until his successor could be elected at a general election, and for the appointment of a Minister-President and various ministers of state. The constitution created a so-called Committee of State, to be named by the various state governments and to occupy the position of a Second Chamber, and empowered the assembly to enact "such national laws as are urgently necessary," particularly revenue and appropriation measures. ”

“ The powers vested in the President of the Reich by the Constitution are in general analogous to those possessed by every chief of state in a parliamentary country. Just as the Reichstag exercises in addition to its purely legislative powers a control over the Cabinet and its administration, just so, if the principles of the parliamentary system are to be applied, the President must be invested, in addition to his strictly executive authority, with powers that permit him to co-operate in legislative work and to exercise a control over the Reichstag itself. ”

“ It is indeed no easy matter to find under what conditions the will of a people can most directly express itself in the official machinery of politics. Many Germans, for instance, entertain the notion that no government is truly democratic except the cabinet be in all matters dependent on a majority in parliament; and they are astonished to learn that in democratic America Congress has no influence on the election of the highest officials; that the President, in fact, may surround himself with a cabinet quite antagonistic to the political complexion of Congress. ”

“ The People's Chamber shall be the supreme organ of the formation of the will of the State. It shall have the task of legislating, controlling the government and administration, adopting the state budget, electing the Prime Minister, confirming the government program, and ratifying international treaties. It shall perform all the functions and exercise all the powers of the Federation, unless they are expressly reserved by this Constitution to other organs. (2) The opposition is a necessary component of parliamentary democracy. ”