Germany’s Government: Chancellor Democracy Essay, Research Paper

Germany’s Government: Chancellor Democracy

Steve Rice

Political Science 90

Computer Project

The German system of government is often referred to as a “Chancellor

democracy” owing to the powers and responsibilities of the Federal Chancellor,

head of federal government. The Chancellor is directly elected by the bundestag,

Germany’s parliament, upon the proposal of a candidate from the Federal

President, currently Prof. Dr. Roman Herzog. The Chancellor is the only member

of the government elected by the parliament and he alone is accountable to it.

The Chancellor chooses the federal ministers that will compose the cabinet and

proposes them to the President for appointment or dismissal. He also determines

the number of ministers and their responsibilities. The guidelines of government

policy are set by the Chancellor, placing him in a particularly strong position

in government. That the Chancellor is accountable to parliament is evidenced by

the inclusion of the ?constructive vote of no confidence? in the Basic Law. A

vote of no confidence in the the current Chancellor must also be a vote of

confidence for a successor. It was in this way that the current Chancellor, Dr.

Helmut Kohl, was elected in 1982.