Chancellor Democracy

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The term chancellor democracy describes a possible form of the German system of government in which the chancellor has a strong position and is in contrast to coordination democracy .

In doing so, the Federal Chancellor tries in constitutional practice (see constitutional reality) to expand the rights given to him by the Basic Law (GG) and thus gains far more power in relation to other constitutional organs or the cabinet than he would actually be entitled to under the Basic Law. In political science it is now undisputed that Germany was only a chancellor democracy in certain times. The fact that the Federal Chancellor, for example in comparison to the Reich Chancellor of the Weimar Republic , is given a strong position by the Basic Law speaks in favor of the assumption of a chancellor democracy . He has the authority to issue guidelines ( Art. 65 GG), can force the government majority on his side by means of a vote of confidence ( Art. 68 GG) , selects his ministers alone ( Art. 64 GG) and the entire government, can only through a constructive vote of no confidence are overthrown ( Art. 67 GG), the Federal Chancellery with the Federal Intelligence Service and the Press and Information Office of the Federal Government are also subordinate to him .

However, this view is hypothetical insofar as the formally granted rights cannot be used “in their pure form” in constitutional practice. The Federal Chancellor cannot - especially in coalition governments that are typical for Germany - recruit political personnel at will. Last but not least, internal party interest groups must also be taken into account. Furthermore, the coalition partner and the institution of the coalition committee play an important role in this context . Even today, the concept of chancellor democracy in political science almost exclusively stands for Adenauer's reign .

Nevertheless, Karlheinz Niclauß in particular (as an important representative of the thesis) emphasizes five characteristics of a chancellor's democracy:

  1. Implementation of the chancellor principle in a political sense. Not only the implementation of policy competence, but also the central role of the Chancellor in preparing the most important decisions in the cabinet . The Chancellor presents government policy in public.
  2. Personal prestige of the Chancellor in the government camp and in the majority of the population. The Chancellor embodies government policy and is the focus of reporting.
  3. The office of Federal Chancellor is closely linked to the chairmanship of the largest ruling party. The chancellor is undisputed in his own party.
  4. The dualism between the government camp and the opposition determines the general political debate. Through mutual demarcation, the government camp and the opposition are clearly opposed to one another.
  5. The Chancellor is personally very involved in foreign policy and also intervenes heavily in the department of the responsible foreign minister.

In the history of the Federal Republic of Germany , based on these characteristics, one can only speak of a chancellor's democracy for the first 12 years (1949–1961) of the fourteen-year Adenauer era . The accusation of transforming into a chancellor's democracy was raised again in 2005 , when Chancellor Gerhard Schröder used the vote of confidence to dissolve the Bundestag, as the question arose as to whether the Chancellor was really "mistrusted" in the previous Bundestag votes recognize there. It was argued that the Chancellor could now decide on the length of the legislative period , which would have meant a significant increase in power.

Political science today only speaks of “phases” of chancellor democracy in relation to the power of the Federal Chancellor. For example, since 1982, with Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl, a leadership style could be recognized that “... reminds of the self-image practiced by Adenauer. After his quick and determined use of the opportunity to unite the two German states, Kohl appeared almost unassailable ”. It is also argued that with increasing European integration, the concentration of power within the executive branch continues to increase. Under certain circumstances, this would also benefit a development towards a chancellor democracy.

See also

Political system of Germany , chancellor principle , departmental principle , Cabinet principle , interpellation , party democracy , presidential democracy , separation of powers

literature

  • Jost Küpper: The Chancellor's Democracy: Requirements, Structures, etc. Changes d. Government styles in d. Adenauer era , Peter Lang Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1985, ISBN 3-8204-5575-2 .
  • Karlheinz Niclauß: Chancellor Democracy. Governance from Konrad Adenauer to Angela Merkel . Springer, Wiesbaden 2015. 452 pp. ISBN 3-658-02397-X

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Joachim Jens Hesse , Thomas Ellwein : "The government system of the Federal Republic of Germany" , Vol. 1: Text, 8th edition, Opladen / Wiesbaden, 1997, p. 315