Facts - The Bundestag at a glance - Deutscher Bundestag

More documents

Recommendations

Info

The Federal Republic is divided into 299 constituencies, from Flensburg in Schlewig-Holstein, which is Constituency No 1, to Homburg in the Saarland, which is numbered 299. What determines the balance of power between parties in the Bundestag is the second vote. By making this cross on their ballot papers, voters determine which party or coalition will win a large enough share of the vote to elect one of its members to serve as Federal Chancellor. Every party can campaign for seats in the Bundestag by drawing up Land lists of candidates. The party submits such a list in one or more federal states, listing in sequence the candidates it deems suitable. If a party wins enough second votes in a given Land to merit the allocation of ten seats and has won four constituency seats in that Land, the party’s top six list candidates take the remaining six seats. Parties campaigning in an election are subject, however, to the 5% hurdle, whereby a party must win at least five per cent of the national vote in order to enter the Bundestag. There is one exception: if a party wins at least three constituency seats, it enters Parliament with the number of seats corresponding to its percentage of second Palimentary elections votes even if it falls short of the 5% threshold. This threshold is designed to prevent a splintering of the party system that might weaken Parliament. In principle, half of the seats in the Bundestag are distributed on the basis of the Land lists, while the other half are constituency seats. This, however, accounts for only 598 of the 622 seats (at the start of the electoral term) in the 17th Bundestag. Overhang mandates, as they are known, were won by the CDU/ CSU in certain Länder and accounted for the remaining 24 seats. The number has since dropped to 22, following the resignation of two CDU/CSU Members elected in these Länder. An overhang mandate occurs when the number of constituency seats won by a party in a particular Land exceeds the number of seats to which it would be entitled on the strength of the second vote. If, for example, a party wins enough second votes to merit the allocation of 15 seats but its candidates secure the largest share of the vote in 17 constituencies, it obtains 17 parliamentary seats. After all, each of the 17 candidates has been directly elected. This situation would create two extra seats, or overhang mandates, in the Bundestag.
Election of the 17th German Bundestag 299 Members Constituency seats Constituency candidates (first vote) First vote - candidate Candidate A Candidate B Candidate C Candidate D Candidate E Candidate F 622 Members The percentage of second votes determines the percentage of seats won by each party Ballot paper Polling Second vote - party Land list 1 with candidates Land list 2 with candidates Land list 3 with candidates Land list 4 with candidates Land list 5 with candidates Land list 6 with candidates 35 323* Members Candidates on Land party lists Land lists (second vote) * Includes 24 overhang mandates at the start of the electoral term; these are created when a party wins more constituency seats in a federal state than the total number of seats it would be allocated on the basis of its percentage share of second votes in that state. If a Member whose party has won overhang mandates in the state in question steps down, he or she is not replaced; as a result, there can be a reduction in the number of seats in the course of an electoral term.
Page 1: Facts The Bundestag at a glance
Page 4 and 5: Tasks of the Bundestag The German B
Page 6 and 7: German Bundestag - 17th electoral t
Page 8 and 9: The Bundestag makes the laws Decisi
Page 10 and 11: Bills to which Bundesrat may lodge
Page 12 and 13: The Bundestag elects the Chancellor
Page 14 and 15: The Bundestag scrutinises the Gover
Page 18 and 19: Is membership of the Bundestag an o
Page 20 and 21: All Members of Parliament enjoy two
Page 22 and 23: Sitting weeks If it is to run smoot
Page 24: The fixed timetable for a sitting w
Page 27 and 28: dent of the Bundestag exercises pol
Page 29 and 30: committee chairpersonships. They ar
Page 31 and 32: How the Bundestag committees work C
Page 33 and 34: Study commissions On the motion of
Page 38: Bundestag buildings On 20 June 1991
Page 42 and 43: Plenary chamber and seating plan Fo
Page 44 and 45: At the heart of the environmental s
Page 46: The Paul Löbe Building Next to the
Page 53 and 54: The Jakob Kaiser Building The main
Page 55 and 56: about guided tours of the building
Page 58: Published by: German Bundestag, Pub

Facts - The Bundestag at a glance - Deutscher Bundestag

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?