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The Chancellor of Germany
The federal government consists of the chancellor and his or her cabinet
ministers. As explained above, the Basic Law invests the chancellor with
central executive authority. For that reason, some observers refer to
the German political system as a "chancellor democracy." The chancellor's
authority emanates from the provisions of the Basic Law and from his or
her status as leader of the party or coalition of parties holding a majority
of seats in the Bundestag. Every four years, after national elections
and the seating of the newly elected Bundestag members, the federal president
nominates a chancellor candidate to that parliamentary body; the chancellor
is elected by majority vote in the Bundestag.
The Basic Law limits parliament's control over the chancellor and the
cabinet. Unlike most parliamentary legislatures, the Bundestag cannot
remove the chancellor simply with a vote of no-confidence. In the Weimar
Republic, this procedure was abused by parties of both political extremes
in order to oppose chancellors and undermine the democratic process. As
a consequence, the Basic Law allows only for a "constructive vote of no-confidence."
That is, the Bundestag can remove a chancellor only when it simultaneously
agrees on a successor. This legislative mechanism ensures both an orderly
transfer of power and an initial parliamentary majority in support of
the new chancellor. The constructive no-confidence vote makes it harder
to remove a chancellor because opponents of the chancellor not only must
disagree with his or her governing but also must agree on a replacement.
As of 1995, the Bundestag had tried to pass a constructive no-confidence
vote twice, but had succeeded only once. In 1972 the opposition parties
tried to replace Chancellor Willy Brandt of the SPD with the CDU party
leader because of profound disagreements over the government's policies
toward Eastern Europe. The motion fell one vote shy of the necessary majority.
In late 1982, the CDU convinced the FDP to leave its coalition with the
SPD over differences on economic policy and to form a new government with
the CDU and the CSU. The constructive no-confidence vote resulted in the
replacement of Chancellor Helmut Schmidt with Helmut Kohl, the CDU party
leader. Observers agree that the constructive no-confidence vote has increased
political stability in Germany.
The chancellor also may make use of a second type of no-confidence vote
to garner legislative support in the Bundestag. The chancellor can append
a simple no-confidence provision to any government legislative proposal.
If the Bundestag rejects the proposal, the chancellor may request that
the president dissolve parliament and call new elections. Although not
commonly used, this procedure enables the chancellor to gauge support
in the Bundestag for the government and to increase pressure on the Bundestag
to vote in favor of legislation that the government considers as critical.
Furthermore, governments have employed this simple no-confidence motion
as a means of bringing about early Bundestag elections. For example, after
Kohl became chancellor through the constructive no-confidence vote in
August 1982, his government purposely set out to lose a simple no-confidence
provision in order to bring about new elections and give voters a chance
to validate the new government through a democratic election.
Article 65 of the Basic Law sets forth three principles that define how
the executive branch functions. First, the "chancellor principle" makes
the chancellor responsible for all government policies. Any formal policy
guidelines issued by the chancellor are legally binding directives that
cabinet ministers must implement. Cabinet ministers are expected to introduce
specific policies at the ministerial level that reflect the chancellor's
broader guidelines. Second, the "principle of ministerial autonomy" entrusts
each minister with the freedom to supervise departmental operations and
prepare legislative proposals without cabinet interference so long as
the minister's policies are consistent with the chancellor's larger guidelines.
Third, the "cabinet principle" calls for disagreements between federal
ministers over jurisdictional or budgetary matters to be settled by the
cabinet.
The chancellor determines the composition of the cabinet. The federal
president formally appoints and dismisses cabinet ministers, at the recommendation
of the chancellor; no Bundestag approval is needed. According to the Basic
Law, the chancellor may set the number of cabinet ministers and dictate
their specific duties. Chancellor Ludwig Erhard had the largest cabinet,
with twenty-two ministers, in the mid-1960s. Kohl presided over seventeen
ministers at the start of his fourth term in 1994.
The power of the smaller coalition partners, the FDP and the CSU, was
evident from the distribution of cabinet posts in Kohl's government in
1995. The FDP held three ministries--the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Ministry of Justice, and Ministry for Economics. CSU members led four
ministries--the Ministry of Finance, Ministry for Health, Ministry for
Post and Telecommunications, and Ministry for Economic Cooperation.
The staff of a cabinet minister is managed by at least two state secretaries,
both of whom are career civil servants responsible for the ministry's
administration, and a parliamentary state secretary, who is generally
a member of the Bundestag and represents the ministry there and in other
political forums. Typically, state secretaries remain in the ministry
beyond the tenure of any one government, in contrast to the parliamentary
state secretary, who is a political appointee and is viewed as a junior
member of the government whose term ends with the minister's. Under these
top officials, the ministries are organized functionally in accordance
with each one's specific responsibilities. Career civil servants constitute
virtually the entire staff of the ministries.
Governments of the Federal Republic of Germany, 1949-
Date Formed |
Reason for Change |
Coalition Partners |
Chancellor |
September 1949 |
Election |
CDU/CSU, FDP, DP |
Konrad Adenauer (CDU) |
October 1953 |
-do- |
CDU/CSU, FDP, DP, All German Bloc/Federation of Expellees
and Displaced Persons |
Konrad Adenauer (CDU) |
October 1957 |
-do- |
CDU/CSU, DP |
Konrad Adenauer (CDU) |
November 1961 |
-do- |
CDU/CSU, FDP |
Konrad Adenauer (CDU) |
October 1963 |
Chancellor retirement |
-do- |
Ludwig Erhard (CDU) |
October 1965 |
Election |
-do- |
Ludwig Erhard (CDU) |
December 1966 |
Coalition change |
CDU/CSU, SPD |
Kurt Georg Kiesinger (CDU) |
October 1969 |
Election |
SPD, FDP |
Willy Brandt (SPD) |
December 1972 |
-do- |
-do- |
Willy Brandt (SPD) |
May 1974 |
Chancellor retirement |
-do- |
Helmut Schmidt (SPD) |
December 1976 |
Election |
-do- |
Helmut Schmidt (SPD) |
November 1980 |
-do- |
SPD, FDP |
Helmut Schmidt (SPD) |
October 1982 |
Constructive no-confidence vote |
CDU/CSU, FDP |
Helmut Kohl (CDU) |
March 1983 |
Election |
-do- |
Helmut Kohl (CDU) |
January 1987 |
-do- |
-do- |
Helmut Kohl (CDU) |
December 1990 |
-do- |
-do- |
Helmut Kohl (CDU) |
November 1994 |
-do- |
-do |
Helmut Kohl (CDU) |
September 1998 |
Election |
-do |
Gerhard Schroeder (SPD) |
- The
Chancellor
- The President
- Legislature
- Bundestag
- Bundesrat
- Electoral System
- Political Parties
- Extraparty Political
Forces
- Geography (lands and
capitals, climate)
- Society (population, religion,
marriage, urbanization, social structure, immigration)
- Education (elementary,
junior, senior, vocational, higher)
- Economy (the Economic
Miracle, financial system, Bundesbank, business culture)
- Politics (government,
the Chancellor, the President, parties, Bundestag)
- Mass Media (newspapers,
radio and TV)
- Armed Forces (army,
navy, air forces, police)
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