Fernando from Brazil is interested in the political system of the Federal Republic of Germany. I'll try to explain it as simply as possible. Nevertheless, this sequence of Slow Deutsch is very complicated and difficult to understand. But believe me: Many do not know the German political system!

First, the structure of Germany: Germany has 16 federal states. The capital city is Berlin. Federal Republic was founded on 24 May 1949, four years after the end of the Second World War. In October, the Constitution of the German Democratic Republic, that the GDR was enacted. Since 3 October 1990, Germany reunited, so again a country. On that day, so every year is celebrated the "Day of German Unity".

I will now explain the following key concepts: the Bundestag, the Bundesrat, Chancellor, President.

The Federal Republic of Germany is a democratic, social state, more precisely, a parliamentary democracy. She is also a federal law. There are federal and state level. The individual states have their own constitutions. Where the Constitution is the supreme law of the FRG. This means that although each province has its own laws, the Constitution is in doubt, the decisive one. A simple example: In some states, stands in the old constitution still in there, that have the death penalty. According to the German Constitution, it does not exist anymore. So it does not exist in Germany.

The head of state is the Federal President. But he has largely ceremonial duties, politically he is not very important. He is elected every five years, from the Federal Assembly. This is the only task of the Federal Assembly. The Federal Assembly shall be composed of members of the Bundestag and an equal number of other members from around the country. In the last election there were 1205 members. Only once can be re-elected the President, then he would be 10 years in office. The next election will take place on 23 May 2009. The current Federal President Horst Köhler called, and another candidate is a woman - Gesine Schwan. Allegedly earned the President 199,000 euros per year (2007).

The Prime Minister is the Chancellor. He is elected by the Bundestag. Before him the President has proposed. The Chancellor - or, as is currently the Chancellor, Angela Merkel is because our boss - then suggests the federal minister. Chancellor and Ministers are the federal government. Sometimes, the Federal Republic of Germany is also known as the chancellor democracy, because the Chancellor has a very strong position. A Registrar may be reelected indefinitely. Helmut Kohl was the longest German Chancellor: From 1982 to 1998, for 16 years. The chancellor reportedly earns € 240,000 a year.

Two important institutions must declare I have - sometimes they are confused by many Germans. There is the Bundestag and the Bundesrat. The Bundestag is the parliament. He is elected by direct popular vote. A so-called legislature, ie the time in the making of the Bundestag in more or less the same composition policy lasts, usually four years. Currently there are 612 deputies in parliament from all provinces. The Bundestag President Norbert Lammert is currently. The Bundestag, the federal law creates and changes the Constitution. He may also approve international treaties with other states and adopt the federal budget, so the country's finances. He chooses as I said earlier the Chancellor and monitors the use of armed forces, so the military.

The Bundesrat, however, has other duties: Here are all the members states are represented. Each state has three to six seats, depending on the population. You can thus participate in the federal legislation. The Federal Council currently has 69 members and can not be abolished.

Finally, even if it was up here already very complicated, one more word to the German parties. The largest parties in Germany, the SPD and the CDU / CSU. The SPD is the Social Democratic Party of Germany. The last chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, the SPD. The red color of the SPD is the CSU exists only in Bavaria, she has teamed with its sister party CDU. The color of the CDU / CSU is black, which stands for Christian-Democratic Union, Christian Social Union, respectively. The two major parties have formed a coalition and govern together at the moment. Smaller parties, the FDP (yellow), often referred to as liberals, and the Greens (green), which exists since 1980 and have been used at the beginning of their time, especially for the environment. Only a year there is "The Left", a very controversial party.

So, that was so complicated about the policy, rather the political system of Germany. In everyday life, you realize that as a German way: You can go to the polls and elect members of the Bundestag or the Landtag. Then you wait until the Chancellor is elected. Often there is criticism that we may not directly elect the Chancellor - but that is so in many countries.

At the end a little music, from Markus Kaes, sung by Judith Jahn. The song is called " Again . "Incidentally, there is a new tool to slowgerman.com. If your double-clicks the mouse on any word, then click two times, then you see the English translation. Thanks to Stan for this widget!

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. The latest version is here ready for download. And for JavaScript to be enabled in your browser.

Here you can download the episode
Text here to download as PDF
Learning material download (1 €)
Learning material downloaded here (follow 31-40)
Learning material downloaded here (follow 08-50, 25 €)

Fernando from Brazil is interested in the political system of the Federal Republic of Germany. I'll try to explain it as simply as possible. Nevertheless, this sequence of Slow Deutsch is very complicated and difficult to understand. But believe me: Many do not know the German political system! First, the structure of Germany: Germany has 16 federal states. ...