Democracy in Germany new question

Question 1

The reichstag

Answer 1

-The Reichstag was elected by men over 25 who voted for their parties, and the Reichstag did have some important powers; they could veto legislation from the Bundestag and due had control over the budget. The Kaiser could dissolve them but the fact so many laws needed to be passed in the new reunified Germany meant they were rarely dissolved and adds to the fact that they weren’t completely undermine; they also enjoyed parliamentary immunity

• however, in reality the Reichstag gave an illusion of democracy because the Reichstag did little more than rubber-stamped the policies of the Bundestag. They couldn’t initiate legislation so parties that grew with popular support couldn’t introduce laws to help their voters. Furthermore the control over the budget was undermined due to the emphasis on the army, with armies of over 400,000 getting automatic expenditure, and the military budget being set for 7 years at a time
• Reichstag members were not paid, making it difficult for the lower classes to run for election

Question 2

Leadership of the country ie Bismarck and the Kaiser

Answer 2

The Kaiser of Prussia held great levels of influence over Germany, as he could appoint and dismiss the Chancellor who was not an elected person and therefore undermined democracy in the country

• the Kaiser had control over the army and 80% of state expenditure went towards it, this obviously seriously undermined the monetary control of the Reichstag, and the army was drawn from 4 states to serve under the King
• The Kaiser controlled all foreign policy and this was not delegated to anyone else, so he effectively had complete control in war-time situations
• the Kaiser had emergency powers, allowing him to introduce laws which over-ruled state laws, suggesting a very authoritarian government in Germany and limiting the extent of democracy
• Bismarck could ignore the demands of the Reichstag and even considered changing the constitution in 1880 to curtail any growing power of the Reichstag
• Bismarck overruled the socialist party which was growing through his anti socialist law in 1878 which banned them from public meetings and allowed police to search and imprison them
• also attacked the church through the Kulturkampf

Question 3

Lander parliaments and Bundesrat

Answer 3

Each parliament was elected and had their own individual control over education, taxes and education etc

• the big 4 southern states were given a range of benefits by Bismarck to encourage them to join the northern confederation, such as exemption from taxes on alcohol
• The bundesrat was made up of representatives from each state, with proportional numbers per state being seated in the Bundesrat, which meant it should’ve achieved a good level of democracy because these members could initiate legislation to benefit their constituent

-however in reality democracy here did not exceed the small numbers of powers that each state parliament had over their own affairs; Prussia dominated the Bundesrat with 17 seats, whilst only 14 votes were needed to veto legislation; along with the fact that upper class votes for the Lander parliaments were worth 3 times as much as lower class votes, it meant a Prussian favoured government was almost always set up, massively reducing the amount of democracy to be enjoyed in Germany