CONTEMPORARY GOVERNMENTS AND POLITICS OF THE EUROPEAN

STATES
1. Concept and form of State
The State is a political organization of society or the institutions of government. It is a social
community with a common political organization, territory and government institutions which is
sovereign and independent from other communities. It requires of the establishment of order
and security (which is the purpose of a State), laws and their enforcement methods, an area of
jurisdiction and geographically marked boundaries (the territory) and as I mentioned before,
sovereignity.
The form of State refers to the way in which the political power is exercised or the method of
ruling. There can be states which have external sovereignity (meaning they depend on other
states), authoritarian states, democratic states or dictatorships.

2. Form of government
The Government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally
a State. It has been generally classified into 3 groups: autocracy, aristocracy or democracy.
Inside of the last one we can find many subgroups such as monarchies (Spain, for example, has
a parliamentary monarchy within a democracy), federal republics, presidential republics,
parliamentary republics, etc.
It can also be divided by the economic policies of the State, in that case we can find socialist,
communist, capitalist or even feudalist states.

3. Germany
3.1 Form of government
Germany is a federal, parliamentary and representative democratic republic.
It is divided into 16 constituent states (hence the federal aspect) with each and every
one of them having their own constitution, this states, which are collectively referred to
as Länder, are very autonomous.
Economically speaking, Germany has a social market economy, which classifies the
country as a capitalist one but with social policies that ensure a welfare state.

3.2 State authorities

The head of State is the President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, he has representative
responsibilities and powers. The head of state is elected by the Bundesversammlung (or
federal convention).
The second highest ranked state authority is the President of the Bundestag (the federal
diet) who oversees this organism.
The third and last rank is the head of Government, this is the chancellor who has been,
since 2005, Angela Merkel. The head of government is elected by the President of the
Bundestag after being elected by the party or coalition with the most seats in the
Bundestag, the Chancellor has the executive power through her cabinet.

3.3 The legislative power

This power is exercised by the german parliament, it consists of two chambers which
together form the legislative body: the Bundestag (federal diet) and the Bundesrat
(federal council).
The Bundestag is elected through direct elections. The members of the Bundesrat
represent the governments of the sixteen federated states and thus are elected by them.
The Bundesversammlung, which elects the President, is an institution consisting of the
members of the Bundestag and an equal number of state delegates.

3.4 The judicial system

Germany’s law is based on Roman law and German law. The Bundesverfassungsgericht
(Federal Constitutional Court) is the German Supreme Court responsible for
constitutional matters, with power of judicial review. Its system is specialised: for civil
and criminal cases, the highest court of appeal is the inquisitorial Federal Court of
Justice, and for other affairs the courts are the Federal Labour Court, the Federal Social
Court, the Federal Finance Court and the Federal Administrative Court.
Criminal and private laws are codified in the Strafgesetzbuch and the Bürgerliches
Gesetzbuch respectively. The German penal system seeks the rehabilitation of the
criminal and the protection of the public.

3.5 The constitution

A constitution is an aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that
constitute the legal basis of a State and commonly determine how it is to be governed.
In Germany, the Constitution is called Grundgesetz. It was approved in Bonn on 8 May
1949 and came into effect on 23 May 1949. Even though each state has its own, this one
has federal repercussion.
The fundamental principles of the constitution, as expressed in the articles guaranteeing
human dignity, the separation of powers, the federal structure, and the rule of law, are
valid in perpetuity.
This Constitution stablishes a welfare state and the form of state explained before.
To change it or make amendments, the Constitution requires a two-thirds majority of
both the Bundestag and the Bundesrat.