Geopolitics

POLITICAL SYSTEM

Before the 9th of November 1918, Germany was ruled by the Prussian royal family. But at the end of the First World War, Kaiser Wilhelm II had to abdicate, for the Germany to become a republic even though the word “republic” wasn’t officially used before the end of the Second Word War. The Social Democrat Frank-Walter Steinmeier, elected in 2017, is currently the President.

Germany is a federal system made up of 16 states (called Länders) lead by Minister-Presidents. Each one of these states also have its own parliament. So the power in Germany is decentralized as the states have their own health and education system, police force and are responsible for some social issues. Moreover, every federal ministry have both an office in Berlin and in Bonn which were the capitals of East and West Germany during the Cold War. Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen are also city states. It gives them even more power than the 13 other Länders.

Every four years since 1949, national elections are held as well as State votes. In Germany, the mixed-member proportional representation system is used. It consists in having two votes, one for a candidate and another for a party. It permits to avoid a majority made up with one single party in parliament. So the two biggest parties (CDU and SPD) are looking for coalition partners in order to obtain the majority.

The parliament is divided in two houses: the Bundestag is the lower one in which directly elected politicians are drafting laws and the Bundesrat is the upper one. Its role is to approve the laws concerning state decisions or the constitution. The Bundestag is also responsible for electing the Chancellor who is proposed by the President within the lead candidate of each party (Spitzenkandidaten). 

FOREIGN RELATIONS

Germany is a member of North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the G20, the G8, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. It maintains relations with approximately 200 countries and has a major role in the European Union. At the end of the last century, Germany built strong relationships with many countries, mainly with France, but is also very close to the United States thanks to the interests and similarities that exist between the two countries. Moreover, since the last decades, they provide a lot of aid all around the world during conflicts or crisis.

The country is the 3^rd largest contributor to the budget of the United Nations by providing 8% and is also the largest for the European Union with 20%.