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SUBJECT: POLITICAL SCIENCE
Assignment:
Country OverviewCountry: GermanySubmitted by Muhammad Haider Khan (01-111102-122)
11/13/2013
Submitted to Atif Bilal
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Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 2
Etymology ..................................................................................................................................................... 2
History .......................................................................................................................................................... 3
Germanic tribes and Franklin Empire ....................................................................................................... 3
Holy Roman Empire ................................................................................................................................. 3
German Confederation and Empire .......................................................................................................... 4
Weimar Republic and Nazi Regime.......................................................................................................... 4
East and West Germany ............................................................................................................................ 6
German reunification and the EU ............................................................................................................. 6
Political Structure of Germany ..................................................................................................................... 7
Intro of Political Structure ........................................................................................................................ 7
The Executive ........................................................................................................................................... 7
The Bundestag .......................................................................................................................................... 8
The Bundesrat ........................................................................................................................................... 9
Political parties.......................................................................................................................................... 9
The judiciary ........................................................................................................................................... 10
The lnder ............................................................................................................................................... 10
PakistanGermany Relationship ............................................................................................................... 11
Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................. 12
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IntroductionGermany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in western-
central Europe. The country consists of 16 states and its capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers
an area of 357,021 square kilometers and has a largely temperate seasonal climate. With 80.3 million
inhabitants, it is the most populous member state in the European Union. Germany is the major economic
and political power of the European continent and a historic leader in many cultural, theoretical andtechnical fields.
Various Germanic tribes occupied what is now northern Germany and southern Scandinavia since
classical antiquity. A region named Germania was documented by the Romans before AD 100. During
the Migration Period that coincided with the decline of the Roman Empire, the Germanic tribes expanded
southward and established successor kingdoms throughout much of Europe. Beginning in the 10th
century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century,
northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation. Occupied during the
Napoleonic Wars, the rise of Pan-Germanism inside the German Confederation resulted in the unification
of most of the German states in 1871 into the German Empire, which was dominated by Prussia.
After the German Revolution of 19181919 and the subsequent military surrender in World War I, the
Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic in 1918, with some of its territory partitioned
in the Treaty of Versailles. Despite its lead in many scientific and cultural fields at this time, Germany
nonetheless endured significant economic and political instability, which intensified during the Great
Depression and contributed to the establishment of the Third Reich in 1933. The subsequent rise of
fascism leads to World War II. After 1945, Germany was divided by allied occupation, and evolved into
two states, East Germany and West Germany. In 1990, the country was reunified.
Germany has the world's fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP and the fifth-largest by purchasing
power parity. As a global leader in several industrial and technological sectors, it is the second-largest
exporter and third-largest importer of goods. It is a developed country with a very high standard of living,
featuring comprehensive social security that includes the world's oldest universal health care system.
Known for its rich cultural and political history, Germany has been the home of many influential
philosophers, music composers, scientists, and inventors. Germany was a founding member of the
European Community in 1957, which became the EU in 1993. It is part of the Schengen Area, and has
been a member of the Eurozone since 1999. Germany is a great power in regional and global affairs, and
is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, the OECD and the Council of Europe.
Etymology
The English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesaradopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. The German term Deutschland (originally diutisciu land, "the
German lands") is derived from deutsch, descended from Old High German diutisc "popular" (i.e.
belonging to the diot or diota "people"), originally used to distinguish the language of the common people
from Latin and its Romance descendants. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *iudiskaz
"popular" (see also the Latinised form Theodiscus), derived from *eud, descended from Proto-Indo-
European *tewth- "people".
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History
Germanic tribes and Franklin Empire
The Germanic tribes are thought to date from the Nordic Bronze Age or the Pre-Roman Iron Age. From
southern Scandinavia and north Germany, they expanded south, east and west from the 1st century BC,
coming into contact with the Celtic tribes of Gaul as well as Iranian, Baltic, and Slavic tribes in Centraland Eastern Europe. Under Augustus, Rome began to invade Germania (an area extending roughly from
the Rhine to the Ural Mountains). In AD 9, three Roman legions led by Publius Quinctilius Varus were
defeated by the Cheruscan leader Arminius. By AD 100, when Tacitus wrote Germania, Germanic tribes
had settled along the Rhine and the Danube (the Limes Germanicus), occupying most of the area of
modern Germany; Austria, southern Bavaria and the western Rhineland, however, were Roman
provinces.
In the 3rd century a number of large West Germanic tribes emerged: Alemanni, Franks, Chatti, Saxons,
Frisii, Sicambri, and Thuringii. Around 260, the Germanic peoples broke into Roman-controlled lands.
After the invasion of the Huns in 375, and with the decline of Rome from 395, Germanic tribes moved
further south-west. Simultaneously several large tribes formed in what is now Germany and displaced the
smaller Germanic tribes. Large areas (known since the Merovingian period as Austrasia) were occupied
by the Franks, and Northern Germany was ruled by the Saxons and Slavs.
Holy Roman Empire
On 25 December 800, the Frankish king Charlemagne was crowned emperor and founded the Carolingian
Empire, which was divided in 843. The Holy Roman Empire resulted from the eastern portion of this
division. Its territory stretched from the Eider River in the north to the Mediterranean coast in the south.
Under the reign of the Ottonian emperors (9191024), several major duchies were consolidated, and the
German king Otto I was crowned Holy Roman Emperor of these regions in 962. In 996 Gregory V
became the first German Pope, appointed by his cousin Otto III, whom he shortly after crowned Holy
Roman Emperor. The Holy Roman Empire absorbed northern Italy and Burgundy under the reign of the
Salian emperors (10241125), although the emperors lost power through the Investiture Controversy.
Under the Hohenstaufen emperors (11381254), the German princes increased their influence further
south and east into territories inhabited by Slavs, preceding German settlement in these areas and further
east (Ostsiedlung). Northern German towns grew prosperous as members of the Hanseatic League.
Starting with the Great Famine in 1315, then the Black Death of 134850, the population of Germany
plummeted. The edict of the Golden Bull in 1356 provided the basic constitution of the empire and
codified the election of the emperor by seven prince-electors who ruled some of the most powerful
principalities and archbishoprics.
Martin Luther publicised The Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 in Wittenberg, challenging the beliefs of the
Roman Catholic Church and initiating the Protestant Reformation. A separate Lutheran church became
the official religion in many German states after 1530. Religious conflict led to the Thirty Years' War
(16181648), which devastated German lands. The population of the German states was reduced by about
30%. The Peace of Westphalia (1648) ended religious warfare among the German states, but the empire
was de facto divided into numerous independent principalities. In the 18th century, the Holy Roman
Empire consisted of approximately 1,800 such territories.
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From 1740 onwards, dualism between the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy and the Kingdom of Prussia
dominated German history. In 1806, the Imperium was overrun and dissolved as a result of the
Napoleonic Wars.
German Confederation and Empire
Following the fall of Napoleon, the Congress of Vienna convened in 1814 and founded the GermanConfederation (Deutscher Bund), a loose league of 39 sovereign states. Disagreement with restoration
politics partly led to the rise of liberal movements, followed by new measures of repression by Austrian
statesman Metternich. The Zollverein, a tariff union, furthered economic unity in the German states.
National and liberal ideals of the French Revolution gained increasing support among many, especially
young, Germans. In the light of a series of revolutionary movements in Europe, which established a
republic in France, intellectuals and commoners started the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states.
King Frederick William IV of Prussia was offered the title of Emperor, but with a loss of power; he
rejected the crown and the proposed constitution, leading to a temporary setback for the movement.
Conflict between King William I of Prussia and the increasingly liberal parliament erupted over military
reforms in 1862, and the king appointed Otto von Bismarck the new Minister President of Prussia.Bismarck successfully waged war on Denmark in 1864. Prussian victory in the Austro-Prussian War of
1866 enabled him to create the North German Confederation (Norddeutscher Bund) and to exclude
Austria, formerly the leading German state, from the federation's affairs. After the French defeat in the
Franco-Prussian War, the German Empire was proclaimed in 1871 in Versailles, uniting all scattered parts
of Germany except Austria (Kleindeutschland, or "Lesser Germany").
With almost two-thirds of its territory and population, Prussia was the dominating constituent of the new
state; the Hohenzollern King of Prussia ruled as its concurrent Emperor, and Berlin became its capital. In
the Grnderzeit period following the unification of Germany, Bismarck's foreign policy as Chancellor of
Germany under Emperor William I secured Germany's position as a great nation by forging alliances,
isolating France by diplomatic means, and avoiding war. As a result of the Berlin Conference in 1884Germany claimed several colonies including German East Africa, German South-West Africa, Togo, and
Cameroon. Under Wilhelm II, however, Germany, like other European powers, took an imperialistic
course leading to friction with neighbouring countries. Most alliances in which Germany had previously
been involved were not renewed, and new alliances excluded the country.
The assassination of Austria's crown prince on 28 June 1914 triggered World War I. Germany, as part of
the Central Powers, suffered defeat against the Allies in one of the bloodiest conflicts of all time. An
estimated two million German soldiers died in World War I. The German Revolution broke out in
November 1918, and Emperor Wilhelm II and all German ruling princes abdicated. An armistice ended
the war on 11 November, and Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles in June 1919. The
treaty was perceived in Germany as a humiliating continuation of the war, and is often cited as an
influence in the rise of Nazism
Weimar Republic and Nazi Regime
At the beginning of the German Revolution in November 1918, Germany was declared a republic.
However, the struggle for power continued, with radical-left Communists seizing power in Bavaria. The
revolution came to an end on 11 August 1919, when the democratic Weimar Constitution was signed by
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President Friedrich Ebert. An era of increasing national confidence, a very liberal cultural life and decade
of economic prosperity followed - known as the Golden Twenties. Suffering from the Great Depression of
1929, the harsh peace conditions dictated by the Treaty of Versailles, and a long succession of unstable
governments, Germans increasingly lacked identification with the government in the early 1930s. This
was exacerbated by a widespread right-wing Dolchstolegende, or stab-in-the-back legend, which argued
that Germany had lost World War I because of those who wanted to overthrow the government. TheWeimar government was accused of betraying Germany by signing the Versailles Treaty.
By 1932, the German Communist Party and the Nazi Party controlled the majority of Parliament, fuelled
by discontent with the Weimar government. After a series of unsuccessful cabinets, President Paul von
Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany on 30 January 1933. On 27 February 1933
the Reichstag building went up in flames, and a consequent emergency decree abrogated basic citizens'
rights. An enabling act passed in parliament gave Hitler unrestricted legislative power. Only the Social
Democratic Party voted against it, while Communist MPs had already been imprisoned. Using his powers
to crush any actual or potential resistance, Hitler established a centralised totalitarian state within months.
Industry was revitalised with a focus on military rearmament.
In 1935, Germany reacquired control of the Saar and in 1936 military control of the Rhineland, both of
which had been lost in the Treaty of Versailles. In 1938, Austria was annexed, and in 1939,
Czechoslovakia was brought under German control. The invasion of Poland was prepared through the
MolotovRibbentrop pact and Operation Himmler. On 1 September 1939 the German Wehrmacht
launched a blitzkrieg on Poland, which was swiftly occupied by Germany and by the Soviet Red Army.
The UK and France declared war on Germany, marking the beginning of World War II. As the war
progressed, Germany and its allies quickly gained control of most of continental Europe and North
Africa, though plans to force the United Kingdom to an armistice or surrender failed. On 22 June 1941,
Germany broke the MolotovRibbentrop pact and invaded the Soviet Union. Japan's attack on Pearl
Harbor led Germany to declare war on the United States. The Battle of Stalingrad forced the German
army to retreat on the Eastern front.
In September 1943, Germany's ally Italy surrendered, and German troops were forced to defend an
additional front in Italy. D-Day opened a Western front, as Allied forces advanced towards German
territory. On 8 May 1945, the German armed forces surrendered after the Red Army occupied Berlin.
In what later became known as The Holocaust, the Third Reich regime had enacted policies directly
subjugating many dissidents and minorities. Millions of people were murdered by the Nazis during the
Holocaust, including several million Jews, Romani people, Slavic people, Soviet POWs, people with
mental and/or physical disabilities, Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals, and members of the political and
religious opposition. World War II was responsible for more than 40 million dead in Europe. The war
casualties for Germany are estimated at 5.3 million German soldiers, millions of German civilians; andlosing the war resulted in large territorial losses; the expulsion of about 15 million ethnic Germans from
former eastern territories of Germany and other formerly occupied European countries; mass rape of
German women; and the destruction of numerous major cities. The Nuremberg trials of Nazi war
criminals were held after World War II.
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East and West Germany
After the surrender of Germany, the remaining German territory and Berlin were partitioned by the Allies
into four military occupation zones. Together, these zones accepted more than 6.5 million of the ethnic
Germans expelled from eastern areas. The western sectors, controlled by France, the United Kingdom,
and the United States, were merged on 23 May 1949 to form the Federal Republic of Germany
(Bundesrepublik Deutschland); on 7 October 1949, the Soviet Zone became the German DemocraticRepublic (Deutsche Demokratische Republik, or DDR). They were informally known as "West Germany"
and "East Germany". East Germany selected East Berlin as its capital, while West Germany chose Bonn
as a provisional capital, to emphasise its stance that the two-state solution was an artificial and temporary
status quo.
West Germany, established as a federal parliamentary republic with a "social market economy", was
allied with the United States, the UK and France. The country enjoyed prolonged economic growth
beginning in the early 1950s (Wirtschaftswunder). West Germany joined NATO in 1955 and was a
founding member of the European Economic Community in 1957. East Germany was an Eastern Bloc
state under political and military control by the USSR via the latter's occupation forces and the Warsaw
Pact. Though East Germany claimed to be a democracy, political power was exercised solely by leading
members (Politbro) of the communist-controlled Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), supported by
the Stasi, an immense secret service, and a variety of sub-organisations controlling every aspect of
society. A Soviet-style command economy was set up; the GDR later became a Comecon state.
The Berlin Wall in front of the Brandenburg Gate shortly before its fall in 1989. Today the Gate is often
regarded as Germany's main national landmark.
While East German propaganda was based on the benefits of the GDR's social programmes and the
alleged constant threat of a West German invasion, many of its citizens looked to the West for freedom
and prosperity. The Berlin Wall, built in 1961 to stop East Germans from escaping to West Germany,
became a symbol of the Cold War, hence its fall in 1989, following democratic reforms in Poland andHungary, became a symbol of the Fall of Communism, German Reunification and Die Wende.
Tensions between East and West Germany were reduced in the early 1970s by Chancellor Willy Brandt's
Ostpolitik. In summer 1989, Hungary decided to dismantle the Iron Curtain and open the borders, causing
the emigration of thousands of East Germans to West Germany via Hungary. This had devastating effects
on the GDR, where regular mass demonstrations received increasing support. The East German
authorities unexpectedly eased the border restrictions, allowing East German citizens to travel to the
West; originally intended to help retain East Germany as a state, the opening of the border actually led to
an acceleration of the Wende reform process. This culminated in the Two Plus Four Treaty a year later on
12 September 1990, under which the four occupying powers renounced their rights under the Instrument
of Surrender, and Germany regained full sovereignty. This permitted German reunification on 3 October
1990, with the accession of the five re-established states of the former GDR (new states or "neue
Lnder").
German reunification and the EU
Based on the Berlin/Bonn Act, adopted on 10 March 1994, Berlin once again became the capital of the
reunified Germany, while Bonn obtained the unique status of a Bundesstadt (federal city) retaining some
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federal ministries. The relocation of the government was completed in 1999. Since reunification,
Germany has taken a more active role in the European Union and NATO. Germany sent a peacekeeping
force to secure stability in the Balkans and sent a force of German troops to Afghanistan as part of a
NATO effort to provide security in that country after the ousting of the Taliban. These deployments were
controversial since, after the war, Germany was bound by domestic law only to deploy troops for defence
roles. In 2005, Angela Merkel became the first female Chancellor of Germany as the leader of a grandcoalition. In 2009, a liberal-conservative coalition under Merkel assumed leadership of the country.
Political Structure of Germany
Intro of Political Structure
Unlike the American political system and the British political system which essentially have existed in
their current form for centuries, the current German political system is a much more recent construct
dating from 1949 when the American, British and French zones of occupation were consolidated into the
Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). In 1990, the former German Democratic Republic (East
Germany) joined the Federal Republic.
However, the 1949 constitution embraces a central feature of the original German constitution of 1871 -
which brought together Prussia with Europe's other German states (except Austria) - and the Weimar
Constitution of 1919 - which involved a sharing of power between the central government and local
Lnder (states) - namely a disperal of authority between different levels of goverment. So the Basic Law
(Grundgesetz) of 1949 deliberately distributes power between the central government and the Lnder.
The vitality of Germany's democratic system and the quality of its political leadership Chancellors such
as Konrad Adenauer (1949-1963), Willy Brandt (1969-1974), Helmut Schmidt (1974-1982) and Helmut
Kohl (1982-1998)have been enormously impressive.
The Executive
The head of state is the President, a largely ceremonial position, elected for a maximum of two five-year
terms. The voters in the election for President are known collectively as the Federal Convention, which
consists of all members of the Bundestag and an equal number of members nominated by the state
legislatures - a total of 1,244. The current President is Joachim Gauck.
The head of the government is the Chancellor (equivalent to the British Prime Minister). The current
Chancellor is Angela Merkel of the CDU.
Every four years, after national elections and the convocation of the newly elected members of the
Bundestag, the chancellor is elected by a majority of the members of the Bundestag upon the proposal ofthe President. This vote is one of the few cases where a majority of all elected members of the Bundestag
must be achieved, as opposed to a mere majority of those that are currently assembled. This is referred to
as the Kanzlermehrheit (Chancellor's majority) and is designed to ensure the establishment of a stable
government.
Most significantly, the Chancellor cannot be dismissed by a vote of no confidence.
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In fact, in the six decades of the Bundestag, there have been only eight Chancellors a remarkable
element of stability. In the same period of time, Italy has had 37 Prime Ministers (although some of
served several separate terms of office). The current Chancellor is Angela Merkel of the CDU.
As in Britain or France, day to day government is carried out by a Cabinet, the members of which are
formally appointed by the President but in practice chosen by the Chancellor.
Since Germany has a system of proportional representation for the election of its lower house, no one
party wins an absolute majority of the seats and all German governments are therefore coalitions.
The Bundestag
The lower house in the German political system is the Bundestag. Its members are elected for four-year
terms. The method of election is known as mixed member proportional representation (MMPR), a more
complicated system than first-past-post but one which gives a more proportional result (a variant of this
system known as the additional member system is used for the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh
Assembly).
Half of the members of the Bundestag are elected directly from 299 constituencies using the first-past-the
post method of election. Then the other halfanother 299 - are elected from the list of the parties on the
basis of each Land (the 16 regions that make up Germany). This means that each voter has two votes in
the elections to the Bundestag. The first vote allows voters to elect their local representatives to the
Parliament and decides which candidates are sent to Parliament from the constituencies. The second vote
is cast for a party list and it is this second vote that determines the relative strengths of the parties
represented in the Bundestag.
The 598 seats are only distributed among the parties that have gained more than 5% of the second votes
or at least 3 direct mandates. Each of these parties is allocated seats in the Bundestag in proportion to the
number of votes it has received. This system is designed to block membership of the Bundestag to small,
extremist parties. As a consequence, there are always a small number of parties with representation in the
Bundestagcurrently the figure is only six (and effectively the CDU and the CSU are the same party).
At least 598 members of the Bundestag are elected in this way. In addition to this, there are certain
circumstances in which some candidates win what are known as an overhang seat when the seats are
being distributed. This situation occurs if a party has gained more direct mandates in a Lnd than it is
entitled to according to the results of the second vote, when it does not forfeit these mandates because all
directly elected candidates are guaranteed a seat in the Bundestag.
This electoral system results in a varying number of seats in the Bundestag. In the 2005 elections, there
were 16 overhang seats while, at the last election in 2009, there were even more overhang seats (24). In
2008, the highest German court de-legalized the overhang seats claiming them to be "absurd" and obliged
the Bundestag to change the electoral system on that issue. A deadline was fixed for doing so of end June
2011.
One striking difference when comparing the Bundestag with the American Congress or the British House
of Commons is the lack of time spent on serving constituents in Germany. In part, that difference results
from the fact that only 50% of Bundestag members are directly elected to represent a specific geographic
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district. In part, it is because constituency service seems not to be perceived, either by the electorate or by
the representatives, as a critical function of the legislator and a practical constraint on the expansion of
constituent service is the limited personal staff of Bundestag members (especially compared to members
of the US Congress).
The Bundestag elects the Chancellor for a four-year term and is the main legislative body.
The Bundesrat
The upper house in the German political system is the Bundesrat.
At first glance, the composition of the Bundesrat looks similar to other upper houses in federal states such
as the US Congress since the Bundestag is a body representing all the German Lnder (or regional states).
However, there are two fundamental differences in the German system:
Its members are not elected, neither by popular vote nor by the state parliaments, but are members of the
state cabinets which appoint them and can remove them at any time. Normally, a state delegation is
headed by the head of government in that Land known in Germany as the Minister-President.
The states are not represented by an equal number of delegates, since the population of the respective
state is a major factor in the allocation of votes (rather than delegates) to each particular Land. The votes
allocation can be approximated as 2.01 + the square root of the Land's population in millions with the
additional limit of a maximum of six votes so that it is consistent with something called the Penrose
method based on game theory. This means that the 16 states have between three and six delegates.
This unusual method of composition provides for a total of 69 votes (not seats) in the Bundesrat. The state
cabinet then may appoint as many delegates as the state has votes, but is under no obligation to do so; it
can restrict the state delegation even to one single delegate. The number of members or delegates
representing a particular Land does not matter formally since, in stark contrast to many other legislative
bodies, the delegates to the Bundesrat from any one state are required to cast the votes of the state as a
bloc (since the votes are not those of the respective delegate). This means that in practice it is possible
(and quite customary) that only one of the delegates (the Stimmfhrer or "leader of the votes" - normally
the Minister-President) casts all the votes of the respective state, even if the other members of the
delegation are present in the chamber.
Even with a full delegate appointment of 69, the Bunsderat is a much smaller body that the Bundestag
with over 600 members. It is unusual for the two chambers of a bicameral system to be quite so unequal
in size.
The Bundesrat has the power to veto legislation that affects the powers of the states.
Political parties
Like many countriesincluding Britain, France, and the USAGermany has two major party groupings,
one Centre-Right and the other Centre-Left.
The Centre-Right grouping comprises two political parties that operate in different parts of the country so
that there is no direct electoral competition between them. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
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operates in all the Lnder except Bavaria, while the Christian Social Union (CSU) operates only in
Bavaria.
The Centre-Left party is the Social Democratic Party (SPD in German).
The other parties represented in the Bundestag are:
The Free Democratic Party (FDP)a Rightist party
The Left Partybuilt on the former Communist Party
The Alliance '90/The Greensthe German Green party
The electoral system in the German political system means that coalition governments are very common.
The Social Democratic Party was in coalition with the Greens the Red/Green coalition - from 1998-
2005 and, from 2005-2009, there was a 'grand coalition' between the CDU/CSU and the SDP. Since 2009,
the CDU/CSU has been in a coalition with the FDP.
Unusually political parties in Germany receive significant public finds and the costs of election
campaigns are substantially met from the public purse.
The judiciary
Germany's supreme court is called the Federal Constitutional Court and its role is essentially as guardian
of the constitution. There are 16 judges divided between two panels called Senates, each holding office
for a non-renewable term of 12 years. Half the judges are elected by the Bundestag and half by the
Bundesrat, in both cases by a two-thirds majority. Once appointed, a judge can only be removed by the
Court itself.
Whereas the Bundestag and the Bundesrat have moved from Bonn to Berlin, the Constitutional Court is
located in Karlsruhe in the state of Baden-Wrttemberg.
The lnder
During the initial occupation of Germany after the Second World War the territory in each Occupation
Zone was re-organized into new Lnder (singular Land) to prevent any one Land from ever dominating
Germany (as Prussia had done). Later the Lnder in the western part of the former German Reich were
constituted as administrative areas first and subsequently federated into the Bund or Federal Republic of
Germany.
Today, following the reunification of Germany, there are 16 Lnder in the German political system. The
cities of Berlin and Hamburg are states in their own right, termed Stadtstaaten (city states), while Bremen
consists of two urban districts. The remaining 13 states are termed Flchenlnder (area states).
The Basic Law accords significant powers to the 16 Lnder. Furthermore there is a strong system of state
courts.
Politics at the state level often carries implications for federal politics. Opposition victories in elections
for state parliaments, which take place throughout the federal government's four-year term, can weaken
the federal government because state governments have assigned seats in the Bundesrat.
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PakistanGermany Relationship
Succeeded by the historical German-British Indian strong ties in 1910s40s, the relations were
fully established in 1950s, which were primarily based on mutual friendship, cultural, and mutual
cooperation in social, education, and economic developments. Relations with Pakistan were first
established by West-Germany and later on by East Germany with East-Pakistan, also in 1950s.
As of current, Germany maintains an embassy in Islamabad and consulate-generals in Karachi,
Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta. Pakistan has as embassy in Berlin and consulate-generals in
Hamburg, Brandenburg, and other cities of Germany. Despite strong cooperation and historical
ties, the recent difficulties grew in bilateral relations of both countries as the political issues of
Afghan war becoming the prime factor in both countries' strategic policies on settlement in 2014.
According to a 2013 BBC World Service Poll, only 5% of Germans view Pakistan's influence
positively, with overwhelmingly 82% expressing a negative view.
There was some hostility between the perceptions across both countries towards each other when
Germany became the first European country to recognize Bangladesh in 1972. The economic andfinancial development cooperation between Pakistan and Germany goes back to 1961, with trade
investment exceeding 2.3 billion. Germany is now Pakistan's fourth largest trade partner.
During 1970s, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto took the initiative to strengthen the relationship between
Germany and Pakistan by initiating Strategic and Military training pact. Military officials of both
countries visited each others military academies at that time. Both countries formed a military
alliance and supported each other while running operation Clandestine against the Soviet
Unions presence in Afghanistan SSR.
Pakistan German Business Forum was established in 1997.
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Conclusion
Like all political systems, the German one has its strengths and weaknesses.
The great strength of the system a deliberate feature of the post-war constitution
is the consensual nature of its decision-making processes. The Bundesrat servesas a control mechanism on the Bundestag. Since the executive and legislative
functions are closely intertwined in any parliamentary system, the Bundesrat's
ability to revisit and slow down legislative processes could be seen as making up
for that loss of separation.
On the other hand, it can be argued that the system makes decision-making opaque.
Some observers claim that the opposing majorities in the two chambers lead to an
increase in backroom politics where small groups of high-level leaders make all
the important decisions and then the Bundestag representatives only have a choicebetween agreeing with them and not getting anything done at all.
Germany is has a strong will to survival which is prominent after witnessing its
breakage and reunification time and time again. Surviving two world war defeats
and coming out of the holdings of four countries upon its capital, Germany truly
shows the power of persistence and national strength turning into its integrity. The
state system like US but surpassing the American system by creating separate
constitutions and one above all to keep the federal and the states intact is a very
clever and strengthening move. The coalition governments make sure that the
oppositions are as much minimized and consensus is as much created as possible.
Germany tends to capitalize on her distinct strength and make it stand against all
odds, that is their key to success that will take them to further heights of
prosperousness.