The Federal Chancellor, the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany directs the destiny of the state. In the free economy, he or she would be referred to as managing director, CEO or director, director. But what are the duties of a chancellor, a chancellor, how is he or she elected and can the chancellor, the chancellor during the term of office also be abgewalzt? Here you can learn everything important about this office.
The Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany is currently Angela Merkel.
Since 2005, Angela Merkel of the CDU has been the Chancellor of Germany
Every state has a head of government, even if this office is called something different. The head of government, the head of government of the Federal Republic of Germany is called the Federal Chancellor, Federal Chancellor. Together with the federal ministers, he or she forms the federal government.
Even if the chancellor, according to the constitution, determines the guidelines of current policy and bears responsibility for them, in practice he or she must take into account the ideas of their own party and those of the coalition. If this does not happen, he or she risks, in the worst case, being voted out of office and replaced by a new chancellor.
Who elects the Chancellor, the Chancellor of Germany?
The Federal Chancellor, the Chancellor is elected by the Bundestag. The Bundestag, i.e. the parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany, consists of deputies elected by the people. Every four years, these deputies are newly elected.
The strongest party, i.e. the party with the most deputies in the Bundestag, seeks out one or more other parties to form a coalition with them. The goal of such a coalition is to obtain the majority in the Bundestag and thus to be able to elect the Federal Chancellor, the Federal Chancelloress. The Federal Chancellor, the Chancellor is elected in principle with absolute majority. That is, the candidate, the candidates need at least half of all votes plus one vote. This type of majority is also called "Chancellor majority" called.
Procedure for the election of the Federal Chancellor
After the coalition negotiations, the Federal President proposes a candidate to the Bundestag for election. The mandate holders of the Bundestag elect after the proposal of the Federal President the Federal Chancellor, the Federal Chancellor, If in the first round in the election no absolute majority can be achieved, the second election phase follows. The Bundestag has 14 days from this point to elect another Chancellor, another Chancellor. How many rounds of voting actually take place does not matter. These candidates for chancellor must also obtain an absolute majority for a successful candidacy.
If the Bundestag finds no chancellor also in this phase, the third phase follows. This election takes place immediately and the person who receives the relative majority, i.e. the most votes, is elected chancellor.
After the election of the Federal Chancellor, the Federal Chancellor in the first or second election phase, the Federal President must appoint the elected person as Chancellor, the Chancellor within seven days. If the federal chancellor is elected by a relative majority in the third phase, the federal president has the choice of appointing the elected person as chancellor or dissolving the Bundestag.
After his own election, the Chancellor proposes the various ministers to the Bundestag for election. The Bundestag cannot elect a Federal Minister who has not been proposed by the Federal Chancellor.
Who exactly the Chancellor proposes for the individual ministerial posts is agreed between the parties during coalition negotiations. The federal ministers are also members of the federal cabinet. One of these federal ministers becomes vice chancellor. This office is not provided for in the Basic Law, but is customary. Likewise, it is common for the vice chancellor to come from the coalition partner.
The chancellor is very often the leader of his own party. But this does not have to be the case, and there have been exceptions in the past.
The three principles that govern the work of the Federal Chancellor, the Chancellor
The Chancellor principle means that the Chancellor determines the guidelines of the policy of the Federal Republic of Germany and bears responsibility for it. This means that he or she is in charge of the business of the federal government. This is based on rules of procedure adopted by the Cabinet. These rules of procedure must also be approved by the Federal President.
The second principle that determines the work of the Federal Chancellor is the collegial principle. This means that ministers and the chancellor decide jointly when matters of general political importance are discussed. If there are differences of opinion, the chancellor, the chancellor is first, first among equals. This means that the chancellor, the chancelloress mediates in disagreements between the various ministers and ministers.. The cabinet then decides by majority.
In accordance with the departmental principle, each minister is responsible for his or her own area of responsibility. This means that the Federal Chancellor may not interfere with the powers of ministers and make decisions in these areas. However, every minister is bound by the political framework laid down by the chancellor.
How long is the duration of a term of office, re-election and deselection?
The Federal Chancellor, the Chancellor receives the certificate of appointment from the Federal President after the completed election to the Chancellor. He or she remains in office until a new election results in the first meeting of a new Bundestag. Then come, in turn, the coalition negotiations and the election of the chancellor, the chancellor. How often a person is re-elected is not limited in the Federal Republic of Germany, unlike in other countries.
The Bundestag can express the chancellor, the chancellor but also the mistrust and vote him or her out of office in this way. However, the members of the Bundestag must also choose a successor, a successor at the same time. It cannot happen that the parliament expresses the mistrust of the chancellor and votes him out of office and the Federal Republic of Germany stands then without successor. This procedure is called a constructive vote of no confidence.
In the history of the Federal Republic of Germany, it has only happened once before that a chancellor came into office through this constructive vote of no confidence. It was 1982 when the incumbent chancellor Helmut Schmidt was replaced by Helmut Kohl, who in this way became the sixth chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. Ten years earlier, a constructive vote of no confidence had failed.
To the Federal Chancellor or Chancellor can be elected, who fulfills the following requirements:
– be at least 18 years old
– Have German citizenship
This sounds very simple, but that does not mean that everyone can simply become chancellor, chancellor. Before a successful election, there are still some hurdles to overcome. The candidate does not necessarily have to hold a seat in the Bundestag, i.e., he or she does not have to be a member of parliament, but the Federal President must also nominate the candidate.
The president makes the decision when he selects and proposes as a candidate, as a candidate. Of course, he will hardly propose anyone, but the person from whom he assumes that he or she will also be elected. Usually this is the chancellor candidate, the chancellor candidate a party.
The history of the chancellor
The next German Chancellor was Konrad Adenauer in 1949. But the office of the chancellor did not come into being only this year. Already in the Middle Ages there was a chancellor at the imperial court. This led the imperial writing room, the chancellery. Among the many different servants of the emperor, the chancellor had the most power.
In the Holy Roman Empire there was the office of archchancellor. This counted among the arch offices and was a highly coveted office. Practiced in Germany until the year 1806 by the Elector of Mainz. The archchancellor was not elected at that time, but the office was inherited along with the title of elector.
In the subsequent German Confederation from 1818 to 1866, there were no chancellors, only the Bundestag. This federation was followed by the monarchist federal state from 1867 to 1918. This had a single minister at the federal level, the chancellor. This office was renamed Reichskanzler in 1871. The term pulpit comes from the fact that the office of the Chancellor was originally intended as a kind of chief executive who implements the decisions of the Federal Parliament.
The Weimar Republic also knew the position of the Chancellor of the Reich. This was appointed by the President of the Reich and could also be dismissed. Adolf Hitler combined the offices of Reich President and Reich Chancellor into one office, which he held. After the end of World War II, the office of Chancellor was created as we know it today.
But also the history of the Federal Chancellor, as the office today know, is very interesting. Konrad Adenauer, for example, the first chancellor of Germany, was very controversial at his election. He won the vote in the Bundestag in 1949 by a single majority vote – his own vote.
However, the way Konrad Adenauer conducted his office and his style still have a great influence on the office of chancellor and how it is exercised today. He declared individual political fields to be a top priority. Without Adenauer’s influence on the office and its exercise, the Federal Chancellor would not have as much power today as he, or she, does.