Slides on the structure of government and economy in Germany, prepared for a graduate course in Comparative Political Economy that I taught in 2004.

1. Die Bundesrepublik
auf Deutschland
(The Federal Republic of Germany)

2. Überblick
(Overview)
• Historical insights on the modern German state
• German political culture.
• The structure, processes and dynamics of the
German political system.
• The German Social Market Economy.

3. Auf-einen-Blick
(At-a-Glance)
• Official Name: Federal Republic of Germany
• Germany is Western Europe’s most populous nation.
• Historically, Germany has been crucial to stability on the
European continent.
• It is often described as the archetypal social market
economy.
Germany is a consensual parliamentary democracy.
It is federal in structure, with a bicameral legislature
that aims for proportional representation within an
“additional member” electoral system.

4. Historische Vorgeschichte
(Historical Antecedents)
• Germany as disunited territory prior to Bismarck
- Historically, Germany was occupied by a set of tribes that
were not united under a common banner though they
occupied a common territory.
- Before Bismarck was able to unite most of these tribes,
attempts by European powers to conquer German
territory was the cause of political instability on the
continent.
- It was Bismarck who was able to make the first
significantly successful attempt to unite Germany as a
nation and power in its own right.

5. Historische Vorgeschichte
(Historical Antecedents)
• The Weimar Republic
- Following World War I, the German people established an
advanced constitutional democracy.
- This democracy, however, was not able to withstand
certain social forces:
~ Political division and ferment between parliamentarians and
leftist groups.
~ Prevailing context of an authoritarian political culture.
~ Economic hardship occasioned by the Great Depression.

6. Historische Vorgeschichte
(Historical Antecedents)
• The Cold War and Reunification
- Germany can be seen as a microcosm of the Cold War as
the country was divided into two spheres of influence.
- The political economy of each Germany developed in
radically different directions.
- Unification at the end of the Cold War presented itself as
the significant political undertaking of modern Germany.
~ Divergent socioeconomic profiles imposed severe social
costs on integration.
~ In large part, the success of unification has to do with the
political will of Germany’s leaders and people.

7. Deutsche Politische Kultur
(German Political Culture)
• German historical experience belies an orientation
towards nation-building and nationalism.
• The concept of the German Nation is a powerful idea that
Germans have rallied around in the past.
• Immediately following World War II, there was some
skepticism towards democratic institutions.
• This has been tempered through the years though some
remnants of it remain after German unification.
• At present, Germany possesses a largely participant
political culture.

8. Deutsche Politische Kultur
(German Political Culture)
• The basic characteristics of modern German political
culture are encapsulated in the overall orientation of
the Basic Law.
• Constitutional Patriotism
• Primacy of individual rights and freedoms.
• Emphasis on decentralized decisionmaking.
• Concern towards curbing political extremism and populism.
• Militant democracy
• Acceptance that the use of these freedoms are tied to
certain social responsibilities.

9. Niveaus der Allgemeinen Leitung
(Levels of Public Administration)
1.) National (Federal) Government
2.) Länder Governments
3.) Administrative Districts
4.) Counties
5.) County-Free Independent Cities

10. President Chancellor
Federal Federal
Convention Constitutional Court
Bundesrat Bundestag
(Federal Council) (Federal Assembly)
16 Länder
Electorate

11. President Chancellor
Head of State Head of Government
Federal
Constitutional Court
Cabinet Selection
Bundesrat Bundestag
(Federal Council) (Federal Assembly)
16 Länder Committee
Fraktionen
System
Electorate

12. Das Wahlsystem
(The Electoral System)

13. The German electoral system is a unique hybrid of first-
past-the-post and proportional representation.
All German voters get two votes:
• The first (Erststimme) determines which individual
candidates will represent specific constitutencies/
districts.
• The second (Zweitsimme) determines the total
number of seats political parties are entitled to, both
on the whole and in addition to those won by
individual candidates.
Thus, it is an additional member system:
How many more members
will be entitled to represent each political party?

15. Wie es Funktioniert
(How it Works)
• The proportion of 2nd ballot votes received by a
party determines the number of seats (ceiling) that
party is entitled to in the Bundestag.
- This is computed by a variant of the Hare Quota called
the Hare-Niemeyer method.
- This applies only to parties that either gain 5% of the vote
or win at least 3 seats in district elections.
• Half the number of seats are contested at the district
level by plurality.
- Seats won by party candidates in this way are guaranteed
and subtracted from the ceiling computed for the party.

16. Wie es Funktioniert
(How it Works)
• The remaining seats to be filled are determined by
by largest remainders as previously computed.
• Seats are awarded to candidates in the order by which
they were listed by their parties.
• It is possible that parties end up with more mandates
than their ceilings allow due to having won more
districts that party-list votes.
Über komplikated!

17. Wahl Dynamik
(Electoral Dynamics)
• Split Ticket Voting
• Voters have two ballots and need not vote for the same
party on both, giving them greater flexibility of choice.
• Encouraging voters to split the ticket has been a tactic
employed by coalition partners.
• “Dual Billing”
• Since parties come up with their party-lists prior to
elections, they can field the same candidate as both
district and party-list representatives.
• This can be used as a tactic to ensure winning a seat or to
compensate for weak district support.

18. Wahl Dynamik
(Electoral Dynamics)
• Threshold: pros and cons
• Pro: the threshold is envisioned as a deterrent against
splinter political parties.
• Con: it does result in “wasted votes”.
• Consequences of “overhang” votes
• Negative vote weight
• Disproportionality

19. Politisch Dynamik
(Political Dynamics)
• The overall structure of German government creates
an environment averse to partisanship (although it
may occur).
• The structure itself does reflect the twin principles
of respect for individual choice and community
representation.
• Local alignments (i.e. which political parties win at
the local level) can have significant political
implications at the national level.
• The fraktion system is a means of further
strengthening the state’s party system.

20. Sozialmarktwirtschaft
(Social Market Economy)
• Some Characteristics:
• Relatively open to the world (now within the context of
the European Union).
• Relatively high and stable wage rate with minimum
inequality.
• Premium on savings.
• Operates within the context of an “enabling state” that
mitigates the less desirable aspects of economic growth
and development.

21. Sozialmarktwirtschaft
(Social Market Economy)
• Institutional Framework:
• Markets are socially regulated and seen as a means to
serve public purposes.
• State power to intervene in the market is limited by its
structure; however, it does play a supporting role to
market activity.
• Indeed, state economic intervention is less the result of
dictum and more the product of consensus building and
negotiation.
• Firms are viewed as key social institutions and co-
determination of labor and management interests exists.

22. Sozialmarktwirtschaft
(Social Market Economy)
• The German state is also a welfare state (which
makes it a Social Market Economy).
• The state has a commitment to social justice and social
security as evinced by its welfare policies.
• Welfare policies are the product of tripartite cooperation
between the state, beneficiaries and policy benefactors.
State
Firms Workers
and and
Employers Other Benefactors

23. DasEnde
(The End)
Keine Deutschen wurden
im Bilden dieser Darstellung geschädigt.
(No Germans were harmed in the making of this presentation.)