Block 3

Popular sovereignty means that state power emanates from the people. The people exercise it through elections and votes and through the bodies they put in place. Neither a monarch, nor the Federal Constitutional Court, nor interest groups stand above this chain of legitimacy.

Electing a state parliament is called a Landtagswahl (state election). For contrast: the Bundestagswahl elects the federal parliament, local elections choose municipal and district councils, and the European election picks Germany's members of the European Parliament.

The executive is the branch that carries out the law: ministries, authorities such as the tax office, and the police. The courts belong to the judiciary, the branch that adjudicates. This separation ensures nobody reviews their own actions.

Germany is organised in three tiers: federal government, states, and municipalities (towns and districts). Each level has its own elected bodies and its own responsibilities. The four occupation zones ended in 1949 and the East-West division in 1990; cantons exist in Switzerland.

The Bundestag elects the Chancellor and oversees the government, but does NOT form the Federal Cabinet. The cabinet (ministers) is appointed by the Federal President on the Chancellor's proposal. Bundestag tasks: legislation, the federal budget, government oversight.

The largest Jewish communities in Germany are Berlin and Munich. Around 100,000 people belong to Jewish congregations in Germany today, many of them having emigrated from the former Soviet Union. Worms and Speyer were major centres in the Middle Ages but are no longer.

School policy is the classic core responsibility of the federal states and part of their cultural sovereignty. Defence and foreign policy lie exclusively with the federal government, and economic policy is largely a federal and EU matter.

Article 7 of the Basic Law places the entire school system under state supervision. This expressly covers private schools too, which do exist in Germany: the state thereby guarantees minimum standards for curricula, qualifications, and teacher training.

The three administrative tiers are the federal government, the states, and the municipalities. The municipality is the lowest and closest to citizens: it handles nurseries, local roads, waste, and residence registration, and is elected directly through the council and mayor.

The Federal President proposes a candidate for chancellor to the Bundestag for election and then appoints whoever is elected. Running the government, however, is the chancellor's own job, and the chancellor also selects the ministers: the President merely appoints them formally.

Since the government and parliament moved in 1999, the Chancellor works mainly in Berlin, where the Federal Chancellery and the Bundestag are located. Bonn is now only a secondary seat of government. Schloss Bellevue is the Federal President's residence, and Schloss Meseberg the government guest house.

The Federal Chancellor is Friedrich Merz (CDU). He was elected by the Bundestag in May 2025, following the federal election of February 2025. The chancellor is elected by the Bundestag and appointed by the Federal President, so the holder changes with the majorities in parliament.

The two largest parliamentary groups in the Bundestag are currently the CDU/CSU and the AfD. After the federal election of February 2025 the Union became the largest force and the AfD the second largest. A group's size follows the second-vote result and changes with every election.

The parliament for all of Germany is the Bundestag. Not to be confused with: the Federal Convention, which meets only to elect the Federal President; the Federal Court of Justice, which is a court; and the Volkskammer, which was East Germany's parliament.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier has been German Federal President since March 2017. He was re-elected in 2022 for a second and final five-year term. The Federal President is head of state: primarily a representative role; political power lies with the Federal Chancellor.

CDU stands for Christlich Demokratische Union (Christian Democratic Union). Founded in 1945, it sees itself as a centrist catch-all party with Christian roots. It does not stand in Bavaria: there its sister party is the CSU, with which it forms a joint parliamentary group in the Bundestag.

The Bundeswehr is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany, established in 1955. It is a parliamentary army: the Bundestag must approve deployments abroad. Internal security, by contrast, is the responsibility of the police, which answer to the states.

SPD stands for Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (Social Democratic Party of Germany). With roots going back to 1863, it is the oldest party still in existence in Germany and traditionally represents the interests of employees.

FDP stands for Freie Demokratische Partei (Free Democratic Party). Founded in 1948, it represents liberal positions: as little state interference as possible in the economy and in personal life.

The Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe is Germany's supreme court for constitutional questions. It reviews whether laws and state actions are compatible with the Basic Law, and can declare them invalid. It is NOT responsible for interpreting ordinary laws.

The Bundestag elects the Federal Chancellor: on the Federal President's proposal and by a majority of its members. The people do not elect the chancellor directly, the Bundesrat plays no part, and the Federal Convention elects only the Federal President.

The federal cabinet (the government made up of the chancellor and ministers) is chaired by the Federal Chancellor. Under Article 65 of the Basic Law the chancellor sets the general guidelines of policy, a power known as Richtlinienkompetenz.

The Federal Chancellor is elected by the Bundestag. This question tests the same point as question 81: neither the people, nor the Federal Convention, nor the government itself elects the chancellor.

The Federal President represents Germany at home and abroad. He or she signs laws, appoints officials, and receives state guests, but does not govern. Governing is the chancellor's role, laws are drafted by the government and Bundestag, and the courts oversee compliance.

The Bundesrat is made up of members of the 16 state governments, not of elected parliamentarians. Each state has between three and six votes depending on its population, and must cast them as a bloc. This is how the states take part in federal legislation.

The Federal President is elected by the Federal Convention. It consists half of Bundestag members and half of people delegated by the state parliaments: often including public figures with no political mandate. It meets for this single purpose.

The head of state is the Federal President. In protocol terms he or she stands at the top of the state and represents Germany under international law. The Federal Chancellor, by contrast, is head of government and runs day-to-day politics.

The opposition scrutinises the government: it tables questions, demands accountability, calls for committees of inquiry, and offers political alternatives. This oversight function is central to parliamentary democracy. It does not decide ministerial posts or Bundesrat membership.

The association of one party's members within parliament is called a Fraktion (parliamentary group). Group status brings rights and resources: in the Bundestag a group needs at least five percent of the members to qualify.

The 16 federal states participate in federal lawmaking through the Bundesrat. For laws affecting state interests, its consent is required. The Bundesrat consists of 69 members delegated by the state governments: not directly elected.