American reacts to how the German Government works

[@snickepie95]

Intervals of elections in Germany: - Bundestag (federal parliament): 4 years - Landtag (your state parliament): 5 years - European parliament: 5 years -County councils, city councils, municipal councils: Between 4 to 6 years, dependinge on the state Citizens elect neither chancellor nor federal president (legislative periods are 4 years (chancellor) and 5 years (federal president)).

[@lukasrentz3238]

Though Bremen is an exception, voting for its "Landtag" (Bürgerschaft) every 4 years as well.

[@haglasu1468]

Not all State Parliaments have a 5 year interval

[@cmilkau]

Every state can decide their election interval, it doesn't have to be 5y

[@sensationalfailure]

The federal elections are every 4 years, not 5.

[@sylviav6900]

No, federal elections for the Landestage are every five years, while the election for the Bundestag take place every four.

[@hoernchenmeister3216]

​@@sylviav6900Federal election ist die Bundestagswahl und die Landtagswahlen sind auch nicht in jedem Bundesland alle 5 Jahre.

[@markusschenkl7943]

@@sylviav6900 Per definiton those are not FEDERAL ELECTIONS but STATE ELECTIONS.

[@Why-D]

Right

[@Dsingis]

@@sylviav6900 federal election means the bundes-eletions. Landtags-elections are state elections. The federal elections are every 4 years. the state elections are every 5 years.

[@grieveromega6060]

0:29 - As a German, I need to be told how many times the Saarland would fit into Germany to understand how large Germany is.

[@MyHappyman1]

A little more than 139 times. And about 84 times by population.

[@Weizsaecker]

​@@MyHappyman1sry, I'm only familiar with common sense measures like soccer fields, pick-up trucks and fridges😂😂

[@PrueferAuge]

@@Weizsaecker 1 saarland IS a common measurement unit. used to measure area like: "last week, a forest fire in australia has reached the size of 3 saarlands."

[@Weizsaecker]

@@PrueferAuge as a kid from the Ruhrgebiet I measure in Ruhrgebiet, Sauerland and of course Ernst-Kuzorra-dem-seine-Frau-Ihr-Stadion

[@maskharat]

Everyone compares to things they know, that's normal. Your frame of reference is being US American, so your comparisons for concepts will be, too. Completely fine.

[@madrooky1398]

The US system as a base for comparison is actually a quite good starting point as Germany after ww2 took note from the US system, but was also influenced by Britain and France. And then of course its not a good idea making a 1:1 copy&paste as each region in the world has its own specific needs. And this in turn makes often arguments like "mine is better" absolutely nonsense because context is very important. Especially the US is in some ways quite a "unicorn" due to its geographics and the sheer size of the country.

[@alexanderkupke920]

Comparison like that also helps to understand or at least to kind of sort where something belongs in the overall context. I am just glad we have more than two parties (yes, technically the USA also have more than two parties) and no weird electoral college (which made sense in the past but nowadays seems obsolete to me). Still doesn't make it any easier for the upcoming election if you only are sure who you definitely not want to vote for, but no real idea who you want to vote for (which I can only blame the parties themselves and how they acted over the years for.)

[@madrooky1398]

@@alexanderkupke920 The electoral college is actually an important balancing tool in a country with vastly different population densities. A major problem with it is gerrymandering, i.e. how electoral district boundaries are drawn to favour one or the other party. And that in turn is a problem with how housing is distributed, often by class/wealth, which has an influence on how people vote. In Germany there is an emphasis to integrate and distribute social housing so it doesn't turn into secluded zones and disadvantaged people still have a fair access to infrastructure and social things and so on. Something like gated communities are unheard of in Germany. That ties back to what I said before, context is very important. These are complex systems designed to work under different conditions. And the culture of a region can make a big difference in how the same system would function in different areas.

[@ger_Raenef]

@ryanwass, in a few weeks there will be a tool out called "wahlomat" with questions which might help one to choose whom to vote for, you could do it yourself , they are like "should a speed limit on highways be imposed?" agree disagree neutral ect

[@einwitzigenname585]

Ryan, do it!

[@justaponyyy]

oh that would be so interesting tbh

[@vomm]

Genau KZbinr lieben es all ihre persönlichen politischen Ansichten in die Welt hinauszuposaunen das kann ja nur gut gehen!

[@YourLocalUkrainianGerman]

Voll die gute Idee!

[@SithLordFighter]

But you shouldnt just base your vote on the Wahlomat

[@aoeuable]

The president can only veto laws for not being (in their estimation) unconstitutional, it's not even mentioned in the constitution but implied, as it cannot be demanded from a constitutional organ (the president) to sign unconstitutional stuff into law. It's the constitutional court which has the final say over what's constitutional, though, so if it disagrees with the president then the president has to sign. In essence, the president has the power to trigger a juridical review of any law before it comes to force, while ordinary citizens can only file complaints about laws that are already in force and affecting them.

[@BurnCorpoStuff]

Should add that politicians frequently sue for a constitutional review of controversial laws by the constitutional court.

[@Westerschwelle]

What would happen if the president simply did not sign a law? Beugehaft?

[@aoeuable]

@@Westerschwelle Impeachment by Bundestag or Bundesrat for dereliction of duty. Or, rather, they can bring a case in front of the constitutional court which then would again decide. Oh, and the court can bring the law into effect on its own. Or at least that's how I'm interpreting "judgements are immediately applicable law" right now.

[@haerbernd]

​@@aoeuable I don't think the BVerfG (federal constitutional court) can bring a law "into action" on its own. I think it's rather that if they impeach the president for refusing to sign a constitutional law, that the law will simply go to effect by power of it being constitutional and passed by the Bundestag (+ Bundesrat). I think the next president would then need to sign it into law. But I'm no lawyer or law student, so please correct me if I'm wrong about this

[@JanSWeber]

Not only if the law is unconstitutional but also if the process of the law being voted for is not in accordance with the constitution. In that case he can also veto laws that are constitutional in their own content.

[@stennostenno1346]

The president is the person who signs the laws, therefore they are instrumental and extremely powerful... however, a president almost never rejects to sign a law (it has only happened like twice in the history of federal Germany)

[@jrgptr935]

Scheel und von Weizsäcker, wenn ich mich recht erinnere, habens einmal getan. Scheel and von Weizsäcker, if I remember correctly, did it once

[@perasturiaadastra]

If i remember correctly, he basically is responsible to check if the law is in accordance with the Grundgesetz/Constitution, and will only reject a law if he doubts that or sees errors in the making of the law

[@Lisa-xn9xc]

He isn't allowed to reject to sign a law. If he does the court can force him or he has to quit. This limits his power a lot.

[@f_f_f_8142]

Wikipedia lists 9 times this has happened. It is only meant to be used in case of errors in the process or if the law is unconcstitutional, not for political reasons.

[@dirkspatz3692]

@@Lisa-xn9xc Yes he is allowed to reject a law - to trigger a check by the constitutional court - If the Court say's its ok then he sign it to bring into law. By this preocess he can force a check.

[@DontPanick]

Yes, we don't vote directly for the chancellor. But the parties nominate their chancellor candidate prior to elections, so the candidates for chancellor do still play an important role in the elections. This is also the reason why you see polls and predictions that say 25% would like Habeck as chancellor, but has basically no chance of becoming chancellor. The CDU/CSU leads the the polls by a lot and thus predictions say that the likelihood of Friedrich Merz becoming chancellor is over 90%.

[@MeQuiety]

Wenn man Bild [also Springer] Umfragen glaubt! Ein Faktenbasierter Umfragedurchschnitt sieht Fritz Chance bei max. 60% und min. 48% wahrscheinlich! Und Er arbeitet gerade gut zum unteren Ende hin, bitte weiter so Fritz...!

[@fabiansaerve]

@@MeQuiety Schau dir einfach nur an was mit Laschet und Scholz passiert ist. Deswegen bin ich noch optimistisch bis zur Wahl. Es kann sich noch einiges ändern.

[@VintageBall19]

Merz wird es sehr wahrscheinlich werden, aber für mich hat er absolut das Potenzial sich eine verbale Entgleisung sondergleichen zu leisten, die ihn und die CDU den Sieg kosten würde

[@vomm]

@@fabiansaerve Ist jetzt im Winter aber eher unwahrscheinlich dass eine Flut gibt über deren Opfer sich CDU Politiker krummlachen können

[@MeQuiety]

@@VintageBall19 Wie gesagt, traue keiner Umfrage die von Springer ist! Die ist grundsätzlich 3 bis 6%Punkte weiter rechts als die Wahrheit! Und bei bis zu 20% unter der 5% [auch BSW kratzt dahin] Hürde ist für Grün/rot noch alles möglich, aber schwierig wird es... --- Aktuell hat Fritz ja versprochen bis zu einem Viertel der Wähler die Staatsbürgerschaft zuentziehen! Mal schauen wieviele den persönlichen Nachteil begreifen...?

[@SiqueScarface]

While Bundespräsident and Bundesratspräsident are formally higher ranked than the Bundeskanzler (Chancellor), the German Constitution says in Article 65: "The Federal Chancellor determines the guidelines of Politics and is responsible for them."

[@crackspeed70]

Nö. Der Bundesratspräsident kommt NACH dem Bundeskanzler. Du meinst wahrscheinlich den Bundestagspräsidenten.

[@SiqueScarface]

@crackspeed70 Yes, typo of mine.

[@andy1977]

Just think of the Bundespräsident as an elected king. Like King Charles, he represents the country and has some ceremonial parts but he doesn't actually rule and make policy.

[@connycatlady7429]

Bundestagspraesident is currently Baerbel Bas. Wolfgang Schäuble passed away.

[@sayrocks11]

Ich denk mal das Video ist schon Älter, da noch Merkel zu sehen war. Aber natürlich hast Recht mit deiner Aussage

[@jcxz983]

That original Video is 5 years old. It was a weird moment to see Schäuble in it.

[@vomm]

@@jcxz983 It was always weird to see Schäuble even when he was "alive"

[@materiaparticulata]

@@vomm friggin´ true.

[@Wildcard71]

@@vomm at least after escaping attempted murder

[@BurnCorpoStuff]

the voters know who the chancelor will be by the fact that each party makes their choice public as part of the election campaign. The party with the most seats that ends up in the gouvernment coalition gets to fill the chancelor position (not a requirement, but always happens)

[@LunnarisLP]

Germans to American: I bet you cant name most of the European countries! American to German: I bet you cant name most of our States. German to American: I bet you cant name a single German State American: Germany has states? But it isnt called united States of Germany that cant be!

[@sabineausmg9543]

I think most USAmericans know Bavaria (Bayern), but not as a federal state but as a synonym for Germany. 😜

[@kaibroeking9968]

The Bundespräsident has no veto power. He may, however, withhold his signature (i.e. assent) on a law, in which case there is a bit of a curfuffle, and in the end he signs it anyway (would amount to work, otherwise, and after all, he has taken the job to give pseudo-philosophical speeches, christen ships and be the patron of the Federal guild of charted accountants' spouses, or some other worthy cause). The function of our federal president has been described as "Grüß-August" (maybe, "smile-and-wave-at-you Augustus") which is not entirely exagerated. The last time a German consitution gave the president any sort of real executive power, it fast led to the country being governed by presidential decrees instead of parliament doing its job properly. The result was a) political chaos, b) a general loss of confidence in democracy, and c) the then very old president, Paul von Hindenburg, being manipulated by a bunch of people around him to hand chancellorship to a monotesticular strongman of Austrian descent.

[@MartinAmbrosiusHackl]

hm, 1. rather Berlin is a mixture of DC and New York as a cultural and political centre (among others like LA) 2. Federal elections are every FOUR years, generally.

[@simongunkel7457]

DC is the birthplace of Hardcore (Bad Brains) and Emo (Rites of Spring and Embrace), so it is arguably also a cultural center. What Berlin has that DC lacks is statehood.

[@lukasrentz3238]

Also Berlin is a full Sate, DC is not

[@Gulitize]

​@@lukasrentz3238 And Unlike Bremen and Hamburg it started of as a regular part of Brandenburg. Only after reunification it was decided that it should be its own state due to its capital status/post war history.

[@Micha-qv5uf]

I would like to give an overview of the upcoming election in terms of what to look out for. Interesting for an outside perspective is probably that you can ignore half of the partys because their vote share won't matter for one reason or another. FDP and BSW are irrelevant because they might not even reach the 5% threshold to get into the parliament and even if they do, their vote share would still be too small to be relevant for any coalition to reach a majority. Also they have a problematic reputation among the bigger partys. AfD is irrelevant eventhough they might become the second strongest party in the parliament simply because they are still far away from a majority on their own (like all partys) and none of the other partys would form a coalition with them under any circumstances. The partys to look out for are CDU/CSU, SPD and Grüne. These are the partys with enough vote share to be relevant while at the same time being able to form a coalition with other partys. The interesting question is if 2 of these 3 partys will get enough votes to reach a majority without the third and if yes: which ones will it be? Or if they will have to form a 3 party coalition. I hope this is usefull for you Ryan. Have fun following the election!

[@falknfurter]

I would point that is important to look out whether BSW and FDP receive more than 5%. This could change the possible options for coalitions quite significantly.

[@Micha-qv5uf]

@@falknfurter I don't think so. In the current political situation, no other party would enter a government with either of them. CDU and FDP maybe but they wouldn't get a majority and Neither SPD nur Greens would enter a coalition with the FDP again.

[@klarasee806]

The Bundespräsident does have full veto power. However, his veto is a legal right of review. He can therefore only reject bills if they violate the constitution. In the past, this has hardly ever happened. If the AfD continues to gain power, the role of the Bundespräsident may become more important.

[@f_f_f_8142]

What do you mean with "full"? He can just refuse to do anything, but without a valid reason that can be grounds for impeachment only requiring a 25% vote in the federal diet or federal council.

[@klarasee806]

@@f_f_f_8142 Every bill/law that is passed must be presented to him for signature, and he can refuse to sign any of them - if he has constitutional concerns. That's what I meant by "full". If he refuses to sign, it will be examined by the Federal Constitutional Court, which has the final say. So, in this sense, he (fortunately) does not have the political power that comes with a political veto like in the USA, for example, and his veto is not a final, irrevocable decision, that's right. He does not have the power to block a law for political or strategic (or even personal...) reasons. In that sense, it is not a full veto right. He is not a political figure in that sense, but his extremely important task is to protect the constitution.

[@Aaron94146]

He said you need 5% for a seat in goverment which is wrong, a party needs 5% to be allowed to represent itself in parliament (that representation organ then is called Fraktion/faction)

[@Wildcard71]

A relative majority in one district would already be enough for one seat.

[@CCRMSN]

5:28 now it’s Olaf Scholz from SPD

[@maxmisterman785]

10:58 The president can veto laws, but only if he thinks they would violate the constution. So he has an important job, but its not really his personal veto.

[@Felix-st2ue]

If you were wondering about the Bundesrat, it is a bit like the US Senate. However, members are not elected directly. Instead, every state government sends representatives, more or less in proportion to their population.

[@metazock]

The fact that the german president has mostly representative duties makes Elon Musk recent "tyran" insults even more idiotic.

[@anerd42]

Musks comments on German politics are stupid on all levels. He "demanded" (as if he had any say in that) the goverment to step down AFTER they did. After that he published an Chat-GPT "essay" in a newsletter and now is promoting the far-right party. In summary: A south-african illigal immigrant to the US, soon part of its goverment makes demands on the German goverment while not even able to write a short German text. If that would happen the other way round, I am pretty sure it would be classified as "foreign interference"...

[@vomm]

How is it idiotic? Politics is not about facts. Everything he did in life led to him being a billionare and important politican. He's not idiotic, he's smart, because he knows, it's not about facts but about what people want to hear and believe

[@aliasWas]

Lets just say, we all have different ideas what „smart“ means at the end of the day..

[@miriamscheuch7356]

Musk ? Musk is not a politican . It is different if you think you are then actually be it . Musk just thinks he can rummble and interfere in other then the us because he has money . And with money he can buy whatever , right ? That doesnt make him smart ​@@vomm

[@miriamscheuch7356]

Musk ? Musk isnt a politician just because you think you are . No you are not . He just has money that is why he trys to interfere in whatever . But no he is not a politican and smart well . Big strech ​@@vomm

[@klopferator]

The video is a bit outdated, not just concerning who is Bundestagspräsident, Bundeskanzler, etc. There has been a reform of the election law since then, which limits the size of the Bundestag. It mainly affects the direct candidates for the constituencies, since now not everyone who wins a constituency will also get a seat in the parliament.

[@steemlenn8797]

Yes, Japan is a little bigger, but also stretched out over 3 times the distance just for the main islands, that is why it looks small. The main difference is of course that Germany has cities practically everyhwere, while most of Japan's population is clustered in just 2 areas while 2/3 is nearly unpopulated villages.

[@gregor-samsa]

Aktuell its Bärbel Bass She drives a Harley Davidson Motor Bike:-) Can you imagine a Rocker in a leather suit lifts his helm and a nice blond lady appears and she is the second highest person in the state!

[@jackychamber534]

In my option your pronounciation of " Bundestag" and Bundesrepublik Deutschland" was pretty good. 👍 well done. And yes, of course, politic things, democratie, election rules, and "Bürokratie" are a little bit complicated sometimes.

[@sylviav6900]

Complicated... or in other words: elaborated. 😉

[@moatl6945]

Kanzler (Chancellor) just an other word for Premierminister or Ministerpräsident (both Prime Minister) for the head of government. This dates back to the beginning of Imperial Germany in 1866, when the first Chanellor vonBismark (who was the Primeminister of Prussia) rejected the term Ministerpräsident for the new federal position. Originally, the Chanellor was more or less just a kind of secretary in the Bundesrath (the representation of the states), which was the more important chamber back then. The role of the Chanellor grew out of the fact, that almost always between 1866 and 1918 the Chanellor almost always was also the Primeminister of Prussia, the most important state.I After the revolution of 1918 there was a Federal Primeminister or a short time. The name got back to chanellor for the head of government in 1919 (and in West-G. in 1949).

[@knutritter461]

Only when the president put his signature under a new law and when the law is publicized in the Official Journal of Federal Laws a law becomes law. However, the president can postpone his signature for some time and can order a presidential review performed by his staff. There must be serious doubts about its constitutional validity. It is very rare that the president will refuse to sign a new law but it has happened.

[@seijika46]

In old European terms, it is easiest to think of such a president as being like an elected constitutional monarch - they reign but do not rule. While they have potentially important powers, in practice everything goes to the chancellor/prime minister. (The division of such roles helps to reduce the likelihood of dictatorship creeping in under one all-powerful leader.)

[@baronbalduin]

I believe he didn't described the voting system correctly. He said that the first vote makes up half the parliament and the the second the other. That is incorrect. I'll try to describe how the voting system was when the video was made. The first vote mainly exists for local representation, not for the composition of the parliament. The 2nd vote is responsible for that. If party A earned 100 seats by the first vote, these 100 people would become members of parliament. The original Bundestag was supposed to have 598 seats. That would be ~17% of the seats. Now we have to look at the 2nd vote. This decides how many percent of the seets in parliament a party gets. This leaves us with three senarios. A: If the party earned 100 seats and their percentage in the second vote is equal to that, everything stays like this. B: If the party earned 100 seats but got 20% of the parliament seats, they can get aditional party members into parliament. C: If the party earned 100 seats but got 15% of the parliament seats, they have too much. In that case the other partys can get more members into parliament so that the relation of the percentages from the second vote are maintained.

[@Al69BfR]

9:45 Yeah, we don‘t elect our chancellor or our president but we vote for people who will then vote for them or appoint people to vote in our names.

[@MichaEl-rh1kv]

6:20 The system of the federal election has been slightly changed. Now only the votes for a party decide over the distribution of seats, and the votes for the candidate within a constituency only decide the order in which the seats won by a party will be filled. An exemption are seats won by people who do not run also for a party respectively are not supported by a party - they got their seats first, before the other seats are distributed between the parties. That was introduced to avoid the growth of ever more overhang seats - which for example led to my constituency having four members of parliament of different parties.

[@mats7492]

Saying the president has little power is quite an understatement… He has to sign every law and if he refuses to(has happened before), the law is not valid. He can also dissolve the parliament and announce new elections (which he just did cause Scholz asked him to)… That’s quite powerful

[@petebeatminister]

The Bundespresident has the power to reject laws that the parliament wants to bring into effect. If they go against the constitution for example. But its complicated, and when it actually happened it has caused a big upset. So its pretty rare that this right has been used. Also the party or parties who designed the law dont want to get fobbed off, thats not good for their image. So they try to avoid flaws that could cause a rejection.

[@cmilkau]

I was actually taught in school (in Germany) that the German 1949 constitution was modelled after the US one (on top of previous German ones) with the major differences being the removal of presidential powers and removal of direct elections for the highest positions. In particular this included the federal system and the two chamber parliament (although unlike the Senate, the Bundesrat is not meeting regularly).

[@jrgptr935]

Selbstverständlich hat der Präsident das Einspruchsrecht, er nimmt es wahr, indem er ein Gesetz nicht unterzeichnet. Of course, the President has the right of objection, which he exercises by not signing a law.

[@michaelbrauner758]

Only if he/she has doubts that the law is against the constitution. It is the only major job presidency has: Check with their team of laywers in a speedcheck if it is against the constitution. Sometimes they're wrong and a Bundespresident will not stop a law very often. If he does, the law will also be proven by the German "Supreme Court"

[@rittersportfan]

Not really. He can only reject laws if he deems them to be unconstitutional. He has no right to reject a law if he just doesn't like it.

[@jrgptr935]

@rittersportfan Lieber Freund, danke für Deine Reaktion - ich verstehe sie nur leider nicht, weil Englisch in unserem Bundesland normalerweise nicht gelehrt werden kann/darf (außer als zweite Framdsprache, wenn das nicht Latein ist). Darum schreibe ich gewöhnlich deutsch und füge die Übersetzung durch DeepL hinzu. Denn ausgerechnet Englisch kann der KZbinübersetzer ja NICHT übersetzen, alle anderen Sprachen funktionieren. Dear friend, thank you for your response - unfortunately I don't understand it because English cannot/may not normally be taught in our state (except as a second frame language, if that is not Latin). That's why I usually write in German and add the translation through DeepL. Because the KZbin translator can NOT translate English of all languages, all other languages work.

[@rittersportfan]

@@jrgptr935 Der Bundespräsident hat kein generelles Vetorecht für Gesetze. Er darf seine Unterschrift nur verweigern, wenn er (bzw. seine juristischen Mitarbeiter) starken Gund zu der Annahme haben, dass ein Gesetz verfassungswidrig ist. Ansonsten muss er es unterschreiben, selbst wenn er es inhaltlich für falsch hält.

[@jrgptr935]

@@rittersportfan Selbstverständlich ist auch der Präsident an die Verfassung gebunden! Er wirkt ja nicht nach Gutsherrenart - das habe ich ja nicht sagen wollen. Das war vermutlich nicht deutlich, ich bitte um Entschuldigung.

[@Leander05]

The federal elections are every 4 years, state elections and the election of the President are every 5 years

[@tirirana]

The veto power of the Bundespresident is one very important exception to common German law. In that while it is true that the constitution does not explicitly give him that power, any law will only become official once signed by the president. So technically the President can block any law, by just not signing it. That has rarely happened afaik 8 times now since 1949. What has happened more often is that the President has asked the Parliament to change the law before signing it or the federal court nullifying a law even though it was signed, sometimes even the president directly calling upon the federal court to check the law when signing it.

[@falknfurter]

One of the interesting differences between the political systems in Germany and in the US is this: In Germany, the system is designed to ensure that the party/coalition of the chancellor (executive branch) has a majority in the parliament (Bundestag, legislative branch). If the coalition of the chancellor dissolves there is a way to force immediate elections without waiting out the full term. This is what happens in Germany right now. The regular full 4 year term is not yet over. The intention of this is to ensure that the government can work efficiently. And anyway it doesn't make sense that the chancellor (as the leader of the executive branch) runs the show without support by a majority of the citizens (as represented by the parties in the Bundestag). Compared to the US, a split government (a president from one party and congress controlled by the other party) is usually only a very temporary situation (although exceptions occurred in the past).

[@Dr.Disco089]

It's a relict from the holy romen empire german nation around 1400. Europe was a so called "patchwork rug" full of countries, duchies, dioceses, principalities (Habsburg, Schauenburg, Welfen, Askanier, aso.)

[@Nebujin383]

Sidenote: Lower Saxony is one of the few states, where they speak clean high german. The type of german taught at international schools. The vast majority of the other states has some really weird and sometimes even horrible dialects. Sometimes it feels, like being a foreigner in the own country 🤣

[@ub681904]

If we Lower Saxons speak our dialect "Plattdeutsch" or low german, every german from a different region is out. They wouldn't understand a single sentence. "Häss du mi verstoahn? Süss klei mi doch anne Klabusterbernen."

[@Jan-i-tor]

Übertreib ma net xD Niedersachsen z.B. spricht auch sehr hochdeutsch und der Norden eigentlich auch.

[@lukasrentz3238]

@@ub681904 Plattdeutsch isn´t even considered a dialect. It is its own language.

[@schnelma605]

9:20 + 10:40 The Federal President can veto a federal law if he considers it to be unconstitutional. Ultimately, however, the Constitutional Court decides whether a law is unconstitutional. It is therefore less a political power (except that the veto has a suspensive effect). It is more like a notary who has to sign a house purchase agreement. Anyone affected, and many institutions, can file a constitutional complaint against a law with the Constitutional Court. Unlike the Federal President, however, they can only do this after the law has been announced.

[@Mister__Jey]

5:40 Every four years and not every five years, every five years there are European elections.

[@anerd42]

As you are facinated about the direct-proportional voting system you might want to have a look on the video from CGP grey on different voting systems despite of first-win-the-post

[@FRYYYYYY86]

As a German, I only understood half of the video 😂, but I am fascinated by the fact that you correctly stated at the end that we do not elect the chancellor ourselves directly 😊

[@voelligegal]

Its 4 Years not 5 Years.

[@GödekeMichels_72]

The extra seats are actually something that was changed recently. The new election won't have those. But might see several people who won the race on the 1st vote not gaining a spot in the Bundestag since their party still needs to win their seat with the 2nd vote proportion.

[@uwesauter2610]

Whether the Bundestagspräsident or the Bundesratspräsident holds the second highest office is a question of point of view. Because the Bundesratspräsident is the deputy of the Bundespräsident. The perspective is different at the state level than at the federal level. The fact is that the Bundeskanzler/Chancellor has the 4th place. The Ministerpräsidentin/Prime Minister of Saarland, Ms. Anke Rehlinger, is currently President of the Bundesrat.

[@jancleve9635]

The election is not really interesting: The fun starts in the weeks after the vote. Just imagine a dating show with candidates that spend the last 3 month shittalking about each other. That is the fun coalition forming phase and always highly entertaining if you keep some memory from the campaigne of each party before the votes were counted...

[@Purpel-Dragon_5541]

I need to watch this as i Don't know my German elections and u write a test about it and stuff at the second day of school

[@Purpel-Dragon_5541]

also about the us election system

[@tabeaha_da]

I laughed about the thumbnail, like "Gemany has states too? I didn't know that" - Good joke 😂 Yes, the political system is a bit complicated, but it makes sence and you are used to it, so if you know it it's not a big deal. Nice reaction 😊 If you are more interested about politics in the several federal states, there is much to know like what is ruled by the politics from the federal states (for example the school saystem) and what is ruled by the "Bundestag". And which differences there are between the federal states and so on 😅

[@timm5494]

Greatings from germany! You really should make a react video, to funny german town names. Btw: I learn a lot about the USA here, too xD

[@emiliajojo5703]

Every four,he was probably confused with the president,that's five.

[@MrLogo73]

One major difference to the US-governmental system is, that we can ban parties, companies etc, if it happens, that they attempt to abolish the free and democratic order. Basic Law Art. 21: (2) Parties which, based on their goals or the behavior of their supporters, aim to impair or eliminate the free democratic basic order or endanger the existence of the Federal Republic of Germany are unconstitutional. (3) Parties whose goals or the behavior of their supporters are aimed at impairing or eliminating the free democratic basic order or endangering the existence of the Federal Republic of Germany are excluded from state funding. If the exclusion is determined, there will also be no tax benefits for these parties and for donations to these parties. Law on Political Parties §32: (1) If a party or a sub-organization of a party is declared unconstitutional in accordance with Article 21 Paragraph 2 of the Basic Law, the authorities designated by the state governments shall, within the framework of the law, take all measures necessary to enforce the judgment and any additional enforcement regulations of the Federal Constitutional Court are. For this purpose, the highest state authorities have unrestricted right to issue instructions to the state authorities and departments that are responsible for maintaining public safety or order.

[@twinmama42]

Major errors: 1. Bundestagswahl is every 4 years. The EU parliament, the Federal President (2 term restriction), and some federal states are elected every 5 years as well as some lower administrative corpora (Regierungsbezirke, Kreise (counties), Städte (cities), and Gemeinden (villages). The others are elected every 4 years. 2. The voting system for the Bundestag has recently changed to curb the number of overhang mandates (too complicated to explain because I don't really looked into it and the only video about it I saw was confusing) 3. The President has to abstain from "Party politics" (as they are the representative of the whole people) and doesn't have "veto-power" but they can refuse to sign, utter their concern (if they think the law they are supposed to sign is unconstitutional) or/and present the law to the Bundesverfassungsgericht (BVG - federal constitutional court) for review. This happens occasionally.

[@Alex2007MUC]

Yes, Sir... you did well in your pronunciation! There are several parties in the German Government ...which is (I think) a good thing. It takes a few days longer to get to an "it's done and it's ready to go"-point. The mixture of several parties "having a say" is not a bad idea and it covers a wide spectrum of issues and settings. The US only has 2 parties (well you have inherited this system...) and it seems nothing gets done and what ever gets done... is "only one party-mind behind it" without compromise.

[@positroll7870]

Think of the Bundespräsident as the GER equivalent of the King in the UK. His veto power is limited: he can stop laws he considers unconstitutional (procedurally or on the merits), but not laws he doesnt like on political grounds. Overall, his powers are quite limited as long as parliament manages to agrre on a chancllor. He becomes much more important and powerful if/when the normal democratic process in parliament breaks down.

[@MichaEl-rh1kv]

The role of the Federal President was adjusted mostly due to the experience with the last Reichspräsident (Imperial President) of the Weimar Republic. President von Hindenburg, a former WW I general, was an anti-democratic monarchist involved in spreading myths about WW I and the defeat of the German army (Dolchstoßlegende = stab-in-the-back legend) to distract from his own failures. By his supporters he was stylized as hero because he had won the battle of Tannenberg (at the eastern front) in 1914; in 1916 he became Chief of the General Staff, de facto Supreme Commander. He was elected the first time in 1925; partly because of critics from the far right he started in 1930 to undermine the democratic system by dissolving the government and installing a conservative chancellor without parliamentary consent and then dissolving the protesting parliament, abusing the constitutional option for emergency decrees in case of a state crisis. He switched a few times the chancellor before he gave the chancellorship in 1933 to Hitler (the Nazis did not have a majority in the parliament after the 1932 elections, but were the strongest party - similar to the current situation in Austria). The West German constitution of 1949 strengthened the parliament and and restricted the options to dissolve it prematurely (only after the chancellor loses a vote of confidence and the parliament can not agree on a new chancellor, the chancellor can ask the president to dissolve the parliament and call for new elections). The idea was to have a better system of checks and balances which no single person gives to much power. The strengthening of the parliament also meant that the president of parliament became formally the second highest rank in diplomatic terms. Formally she is also the boss of the parliamentary police and can prohibit access to the parliamentary building for members of all other security forces. The parliament also elects the Chancellor (who is then formally appointed by the President) and can replace the Chancellor at any time with another person (but it can not dismiss him or her without electing a new one first). The title of prime minister (which translates to first servant) was never used in Germany. The Imperial Chancellor was even back in the Holy Roman Empire (at least formally) the head of government and outranking every minister. The states however have not a chancellor as head of state government, but usually a Ministerpräsident (minister-president, so a president of the cabinet of ministers = state servants) (the city states have a "Governing Mayor" or "First Mayor" instead).

[@globalistlive6849]

Some of the rules have changed meawhile, so the election in February is the first that takes place under the new law. The reason for the changes: The current parliament is way bigger than intended. Therefore, some smaller districts will most probably lose their direct representative.

[@Heisenberg-Blue]

The President and Chancellor were separated because Hitler was Reich Chancellor and was therefore President and Chancellor in one. And with the new constitution it was separated so that a single person doesn't have so much power. Because the Federal President has to approve laws. For example, if these laws are unconstitutional, he can reject them. The President has the last word and not the Chancellor.

[@kiha2213]

Key difference between US and Germany is that the US is a presidential system and Germany is a parliamentary system. Once you get the hang of that, you know why each works the way it does. Also, the “federal” level in the US is the center (Washington DC) whereas in German it is the states (Bundesländer) and the center is the “Bund” - that’s a technical difference but leads to some people in places like London to talk about “the Feds” when they mean the police 😂 (which is funny because not only is the UK not a presidential system like the US, it’s also not a federal system like both the US and Germany)

[@felixccaa]

german Government is somehow a bit like chess: you have a King (Bundespräsident) and a Queen (Bundeskanzöer), where the Queen is the most powefull piece on board, but by losing the King the game ends instantaneously

[@CheburashkaGenovna]

Of course, the President has the power to veto a law. And not only that, but also has the obligation to review whether the law complies with the Constitution before he signs it into law of the land.

[@DJHercul3s]

Berlin is our Detroit, Michigan. Berlin is the only capital in Europe that needs to be supported by the rest of the country because Berlin has been making negative figures for decades. Dont go to Berlin Trust me xD

[@itssogood69]

your knowledge is like "Drip.. Drip... Drip" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@JerryT2]

Unfortunately this video you are watching has so many flaws. The graphics are fine, but beginning with the duration and rules, poor translation of Bundesrat, unfortunately a lot of errors. I would love to see you filling out the wahlomat! 🎉

[@bmkmymaggots]

three arrows is an extremely good channel!

[@aliasWas]

off topic hypothesis: Bärbel is the funniest german name. prove me wrong

[@RobertSailing]

There has been a reform regarding the election and a cap has been put in place for the number of seats in parliament, which will be in use this election

[@pyratehyena1312]

the president CAN veto a law, but only to make the courts confirm if it's in accordance with the constitution. if it is, then they have to sign it, so they have no personal political control.

[@christhedemon9464]

Diese Kommentarsektion gehört zu der Bundesrepublik Deutschland

[@ger_Raenef]

7:30 there was a change yellow out :P they are like 3% and well as dark red (the left) out they are at 3% too going by recent questionaires

[@h.1699]

3:57 slightly wrong, the president's main job apart of representing Germany is checking any new law for conformity with the constitution and veto signing into law any that are questionable, a job hardly done at all for over two decades. without the president's signature no law (change) getting into affect.

[@BFS-z8i]

Laws passed by parliament must be signed by the Federal President, otherwise they will not be valid. This has happened in recent history, I am not sure who it was, Wulf or Köhler... ? In any case, the draft laws must then at least be changed...

[@Eric0816]

In theory the president has some powers and he could go rogue and cause a lot of trouble. But tradition dictates that he doesn't get involved into daily politics. He is more like a constitutional monarch without a crown. He meets people, shakes hands, appopints the chancellor and represents the country. Often the president is a career politican but as soon as he assumes office he is supposed to be neutral when it comes to controversial political issues. One of the few times a president got involved in a debate was when president Gustav Heinemann announced that he would veto any law to bring back the death penalty.

[@chrisclaim5112]

It´s a little bit complecated but it is the result after WWII. Our System share state power and is designed to ensure mutual control of state power in order to prevent anything like the 1930s from happening again.

[@kataseiko]

Has anyone checked on Angela lately? Did she get the superglue off her fingertips or is she still running around with that hand pose?

[@maeschder]

Japan is marginally bigger in terms of overall land mass yes. However it's like 75% mountains or even more, so you can't compare it at all

[@Asendra01]

Also unlike DC, Berlin has statehood

[@derAbsurde]

Berlin is more like the Bronx

[@melchiorvonsternberg844]

It is both true and untrue that the president has no right of veto when it comes to legislation. He cannot really prevent a government law. But he can delay a law for up to six months. This allows for further discussion and allows citizens to organize their resistance against it...

[@Draktand01]

If you want an explaination on how the votes are counted, CGP gray has a video explaining the Single Transferable Vote (STV) election system. Actually, perhaps you should react to all his videos about voting systems, lol.

[@icetwo]

The German Federal President has a veto right, but this is not comparable to the veto power of the American President. The President’s primary role is to ensure that the legislative process complies with the constitution. For instance, if a law has not been passed by the Bundestag but only by the Bundesrat, the President is obliged to veto it or refuse to sign it, preventing it from coming into force. The veto, therefore, primarily concerns the procedural aspects of the legislative process. Additionally, if there are doubts about the constitutionality of a law, the Federal President can refuse to sign it. In such cases, the matter is decided by the Federal Constitutional Court. If the Court concludes that the law or legislative process is constitutionally valid, the President is required to sign it. Thus, this "veto right" is more accurately described as an obligation to review. It is also rare. Every nine and a half years on average. Here are the known cases: Theodor Heuss (1949-1959): 1951: Refused to sign the “Act on the Administration of Income and Corporation Tax” due to lack of approval from the Bundesrat. Heinrich Lübke (1959-1969): 1960: refused to sign the “Law on Company and Employee Trade” because he felt it impaired his freedom to exercise his profession. Gustav Heinemann (1969-1974): 1969: Rejected the “Engineering Act” because, in his view, the federal government was not responsible for it. 1970: Rejected the “Architects Act” for the same reason. Walter Scheel (1974-1979): 1976: Initially opposed the abolition of the conscientious objection test for conscientious objectors because he lacked the approval of the Bundesrat. Richard von Weizsäcker (1984-1994): 1991: Refused to sign the amendment to the Air Traffic Act as he felt that the federal administration of air traffic under Article 87d Paragraph 1 of the Basic Law had been violated. Horst Köhler (2004-2010): 2006: Stopped the privatization of the federally owned German Air Traffic Control (DFS) and the Consumer Information Act

[@fabslp7354]

RIP Schäuble

[@Jonas_C137]

The President has to sign Laws, therefore he has a Veto

[@metazock]

Bundesrepublik not Bundlesrepublik

[@serfranke5744]

A pretty good video in general, only complaint I have is that the federal elections are held every four years, not five.

[@dan438]

The Chancellor is ranked 4th in the government hierarchy, after Bundespräsident, Bundestagspräsident and Bundesratspräsident, but before Bundesverfassungsgerichtspräsident.

[@dan438]

We vote every five years? Where does the maker of this video get their information? Edit: The video continues to show a Wahlzettel of a state election. Those are held every 5 years. The federal elections are every 4 years, though.

[@justaponyyy]

please do the wahlomat in a few weeks when it comes out!

[@RolandDeschain19]

Wolfgang Schäuble died 2023. Bärbel Bas is the current Bundestagspräsidentin.

[@FindigeUrsel]

Bundestag is elected every 4 years... Every 5 years is the Election of the President... and the Election of the states... exept of Bremen (4 years).

[@hucky89]

Well they tried to reform the election, because with this overhang places the Parlament was getting bigger and bigger and really expensive. But i lost how it ends because the smaller/regional parties was fighting against it.😅

[@DontPanick]

The overhang seats and leveling seats (Ausgleichsmandate) weren't really the issue of smaller and regional parties. Their issue was that they (maybe) wanted to change the rule that a party can join the parliament even when they don't reach the 5% threshold if they win 3 direct mandates.

[@Psi-Storm]

The reform went through partially. The overhang seats are gone. If a party now gains more direct candidate seats than they earn by the party vote, then only the direct candidates that earn the highest percentage of votes actually get the seats that the party vote allows.

[@f_f_f_8142]

The reform broadly stands, there will be no more overhang and balancing seats in the next election, but the Federal Constituinal Court reinstated the Grundmandatsklausel.

[@RadekSuski]

WAIT, does it say "Bundlesrepublik" 1:23 ?? This is HILARIOUS

[@SotGravarg]

Nah, Berlin is more like Detroit, the bad side of Detroit.

[@jackychamber534]

I like your interest in Germany . But wait for some videos with explanations, when/ if there will be some "Überhangsmandate" 😅 / what ? 🤔 That always comes with some confusion and questions. At least, it was in the past time. 🙂

[@A._Meroy]

Don't worry, I'm a German, and I never heard about President of the Bundestag Bärbel Bas either. That's because they are only involved in internal politics and rarely appear in public. Also I would like to point out, in case you didn't know yet, that Angela Merkel is no longer the Federal Chancellor of Germany, it's currently a guy named Olaf Scholz

[@AnnetteLudke-je5ll]

This is an old video. Mr Schauble has passed away .

[@NDakota79]

I'm German and even I don't understand this fully

[@CaptainFirefred]

Berlin is the Capitol, but more like New York than DC, for example, Berlin is represented in parliament.

[@Kazu89]

That's because Berlin is a state and DC is not. Also capitAl, capitOl is where the US Congress convenes.

[@CaptainFirefred]

@@Kazu89 Thanks for the correction, ironically calling it capital is more fitting, since everything seems to be about money. What I wanted to point out is, that poeple living in DC have no representation, but I guess you understood that.

[@MircoWilhelm]

Don't get too exited. There is a lot less drama in European elections than US News make it out to be.