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German Government

Government Name/Type: Federal Republic of

Executive Branch:

Chief of state: President

The Federal President's most prominent duties include:  Proposing the Federal to the  Appointing and dismissing the Federal Chancellor and Federal Ministers  Dissolving the Bundestag under certain circumstances  Convening the lower house of the federal parliament (Bundestag) according to arcticle 39 of the constitution  Signing and promulgating laws  Appointing and dismissing federal judges, federal civil servants, and commissioned and non- commissioned officers of the Armed Forces  Exercising the power to pardon individual offenders on behalf of the Federation  Awarding honours on behalf of the Federation  Representing Germany at home and abroad

Source: Wikipedia

Head of government: Chancellor Angela Merkel

The Chancellor has a prominent position in the government. He or she is, as it were, the "captain" of the ship of state. The Chancellor determines who will be in the government, since he or she alone has the right to form the Cabinet. The Chancellor chooses his ministers and makes a proposal that is binding for the Federal President with regard to their appointment (or dismissal). He or she determines the number of Ministers and defines their terms of reference. The Chancellor determines the general guidelines of government policy ("principle of Chancellor policy guidelines").

Source: www.bundesregierung.de

Source: Wikipedia

Cabinet: Cabinet or Bundesminister appointed by the president on the recommendation of the chancellor. The chancellor is responsible for guiding the cabinet and deciding its political direction.

Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture: Christian Schmidt

Elections:

President elected for a five-year term (eligible for a second term) by a Federal Convention, including all members of the Federal Parliament (Bundestag) and an equal number of delegates elected by the state parliaments

Chancellor elected by an absolute majority of the Federal Parliament for a four-year term

Legislative Branch: Bicameral Parliament or Parliament

Federal Council or Bundesrat (69 seats; members appointed by each of the 16 state governments or )

Federal Diet or Bundestag (631 seats - total seats can vary each electoral term; approximately one-half of members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote and approximately one-half directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote; members serve 4-year terms)

Major Political Parties:

Alliance '90/Greens

Alternative for Germany or AfD

Christian Democratic Union or CDU [Angela MERKEL]

Christian Social Union or CSU

Free Democratic Party or FDP Left Party or Die Linke

Social Democratic Party or SPD

Diplomatic Representation:

Ambassador to the U.S: Hans Peter Wittig

U.S. Ambassador to Germany: Amb. John B. Emerson

Administrative Divisions:

16 states (Laender, singular - Land); Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bayern (), , Brandenburg, Bremen, , Hessen (Hesse), Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania), Niedersachsen (Lower ), Nordrhein-Westfalen (North Rhine-Westphalia), Rheinland-Pfalz (Rhineland-Palatinate), Saarland, Sachsen (Saxony), Sachsen-Anhalt (Saxony-Anhalt), Schleswig-Holstein, Thueringen (); note - Bayern, Sachsen, and Thueringen refer to themselves as free states (Freistaaten, singular - Freistaat), while Hamburg prides itself on being a Free and Hanseatic City (Freie und Hansestadt)

Source: http://globaledge.msu.edu/countries/germany/government

Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/Political_System_of_Germany.svg/220p x-Political_System_of_Germany.svg.png