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When no single party holds a majority, several parties form a coalition and govern together. They first agree on a joint programme in a coalition agreement. A parliamentary group (Fraktion), by contrast, is the association of one single party's members within parliament.

The three branches of state authority are legislation (legislative), government and administration (executive), and the courts (judiciary). The press is not among them: it is often called the "fourth estate" because it scrutinises power, but it is private and exercises no state authority.

In Germany, the state and religious communities are separate. There is no state church; the state is neutral in matters of belief and treats all religions equally. The separation is cooperative, though: the state collects church tax, for instance, and permits religious instruction in schools.

Germany is not a monarchy. Democracy, the rule of law, and the welfare state, by contrast, are expressly anchored in the Basic Law. Monarchy in Germany ended in 1918 with the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II at the close of the First World War.

Social insurance is funded roughly equally by employees and employers via social contributions (e.g. ~14.6% of gross wages for health insurance): not directly from taxes. A state subsidy from tax revenues covers deficits.

Health insurance is one of the five pillars of statutory social insurance, alongside pension, long-term care, unemployment, and accident insurance. It is compulsory and funded on a solidarity basis. Car, building, and liability insurance are private property insurance and are not part of social security.

In the 13 territorial states, the head of government is called Ministerpräsident (Minister-President). Only the three city-states differ: Berlin has a Governing Mayor, while Hamburg and Bremen have a First Mayor / President of the Senate.

Article 20(1) of the Basic Law reads: "The Federal Republic of Germany is a democratic and social federal state." A federal state is one state made up of member states that retain statehood of their own. A confederation or union of states (like the EU) is instead an association of independent states.

Every federal state has its own government, its own parliament (Landtag), and its own state constitution. Foreign policy, currency, and defence, however, are exclusively federal matters: no state has its own foreign minister, currency, or army.

'Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit' (Unity and Justice and Freedom) is the opening line of Germany's national anthem: the third stanza of the Deutschlandlied (lyrics 1841 by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben). The first two stanzas are not sung. Melody: Joseph Haydn, 1797.

A society contains different interests and opinions. Several parties make that diversity visible in parliament and give voters a real choice. This party pluralism is a core feature of democracy; a one-party state is characteristic of dictatorships.

Laws are passed by parliament: the Bundestag at federal level, the respective Landtag for state laws. The government usually introduces bills but cannot enact them. Courts apply laws, and the police enforce them.

A party can be banned if it seeks to undermine the free democratic basic order (Article 21 of the Basic Law). Only the Federal Constitutional Court may decide this. Criticism of the government or head of state, and proposing a new programme, are expressly permitted.

Citizens do not elect the Federal President directly. That is done by the Federal Convention, made up half of Bundestag members and half of delegates sent by the state parliaments. The Bundestag, the state parliaments, and the EU Parliament are all elected directly.

Long-term care insurance (Pflegeversicherung) is the youngest of the five pillars of statutory social insurance (introduced 1995). It funds care for people in need: the other four pillars are health, pension, unemployment, and accident insurance.

Building roads and schools is part of public service provision: the state supplies infrastructure everyone needs and that the market does not reliably deliver. Food, clothing, newspapers, and cars are produced and sold by private companies instead.

Paying for holiday travel for all citizens is not one of the state's tasks. Child benefit, funding for museums, and support for athletes are, by contrast, established state services under social and cultural policy.

The five federal constitutional bodies are the Bundestag, the Bundesrat, the Federal President, the Federal Government, and the Federal Constitutional Court. A citizens' assembly is not one: it is a participation format at municipal level with no powers of its own under the Basic Law.

School policy is a matter for the federal states. This so-called cultural sovereignty of the states is a cornerstone of German federalism and the reason curricula, school types, and holiday dates differ from state to state. The federal government has virtually no competence here.

Social market economy (Soziale Marktwirtschaft) is Germany's economic model: market freedoms (private property, free competition, free price formation) combined with social balance (social insurance, collective bargaining, codetermination). The term goes back to Alfred Müller-Armack and was implemented by Ludwig Erhard after 1948.

In a state governed by the rule of law, only the state may make arrests, on a legal basis and under judicial oversight: a private police force detaining people for no reason contradicts that entirely. Criticising the government, demonstrating peacefully, and being arrested after committing a crime are all normal parts of such a state.

Popular sovereignty means that all state authority derives from the people (Article 20(2) of the Basic Law). The Bundestag and the Federal Constitutional Court exercise power only because the people have delegated it to them: they are not themselves the source of legitimacy.

The rule of law means the state itself is bound by law. Public authorities may act only where a law empowers them to, and those affected can challenge them in court. The German term has nothing to do with "right-wing" parties.

The three branches of state authority are the legislative (law-making), the executive (government and administration), and the judiciary (the courts). There is no branch called a "directive": the word simply means an instruction or guideline.

The picture shows the Reichstag building in Berlin, seat of the German Bundestag. It is recognisable by Norman Foster's glass dome and the inscription "DEM DEUTSCHEN VOLKE" above the columned portico. The Bundestag has met there since 1999.

The public order office (Ordnungsamt) is part of the municipal administration and handles matters such as trade licensing, residence registration, and public order. The tax office is a state authority, the Federal Foreign Office a federal one, and the parish office belongs to the church, not the state.

The President of the Bundestag traditionally comes from the largest parliamentary group and is elected by the members at the constituent sitting. In protocol terms it is the second-highest office in the state, directly after the Federal President.

Federal ministers are formally appointed and dismissed by the Federal President, but only on the proposal of the Federal Chancellor. The President therefore has no independent right of selection here and simply enacts the proposal.

An edict of the Roman emperor Constantine from the year 321 mentions the Jewish community in Cologne. It is the oldest written evidence of Jewish life north of the Alps, so roughly 1700 years ago. That is why 2021 was marked nationwide as the year of "1700 years of Jewish life in Germany".

The legislature (law-making branch) consists of the Bundestag (directly elected parliament) and Bundesrat (representation of the states). Together they pass federal laws. The executive is the government, the judiciary are the courts (separation of powers).