Political System of the Federal of Republic of Germany Politisches System der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (German) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Polity type | Federal democratic parliamentary republic |
| Constitution | Basic Law for Germany |
| Legislative branch | |
| Name | Bundestag and Bundesrat |
| Type | Bicameral |
| Meeting place | Reichstag building |
| Presiding officer | Bärbel Bas, President of the Bundestag |
| Executive branch | |
| Head of state | |
| Title | Federal President |
| Currently | Frank-Walter Steinmeier |
| Appointer | Bundesversammlung |
| Head of government | |
| Title | Federal Chancellor |
| Currently | Olaf Scholz |
| Appointer | President |
| Cabinet | |
| Name | Cabinet of Germany |
| Current cabinet | Scholz cabinet |
| Leader | Chancellor |
| Deputy leader | Vice Chancellor |
| Appointer | President |
| Headquarters | Chancellery |
| Ministries | 15 |
| Judicial branch | |
| Name | Judiciary of Germany |
| Federal Constitutional Court | |
| Chief judge | Stephan Harbarth |
| Seat | Seat of the Court, Karlsruhe |
| This article is part of a series on the |
| Politics of Germany |
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Germany is a democratic and federal parliamentary republic, where federal legislative power is vested in the Bundestag (the parliament of Germany) and the Bundesrat (the representative body of the Länder, Germany's regional states).
The federal system has, since 1949, been dominated by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). The judiciary of Germany is independent of the executive and the legislature, while it is common for leading members of the executive to be members of the legislature as well. The political system is laid out in the 1949 constitution, the Grundgesetz (Basic Law), which remained in effect with minor amendments after German reunification in 1990.
The constitution emphasizes the protection of individual liberty in an extensive catalogue of human and civil rights and divides powers both between the federal and state levels and between the legislative, executive and judicial branches.
West Germany was a founding member of the European Community in 1958, which became the EU in 1993. Germany is part of the Schengen Area, and has been a member of the eurozone since 1999. It is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G7, the G20 and the OECD.
The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Germany a "full democracy" in 2022.[1][needs update] According to the V-Dem Democracy indices Germany was 2023 the 15th most electoral democratic country in the world.[2]
- ^ Democracy Index 2023: Age of Conflict (PDF). Economist Intelligence Unit (Report). 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 June 2024. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
- ^ V-Dem Institute (2023). "The V-Dem Dataset". Retrieved 14 October 2023.