The Weimar Constitution Was the Weimar Constitution a source of strength or weakness for a successful democratic Germany? What is a constitution? A constitution is a set of unchangeable rules about how a country is to be governed and what rights the people should have. The President ● Elected every 7 years by everyone in the country. ● In charge of the German Army and Navy ● Appointed the Chancellor ● Had special powers in an emergency (Article 48). What was Article 48? Article 48 gave the President the power to pass laws - called decrees - without the support of the Reichstag in an emergency. This was good because…. …it meant that laws could be passed and actions could be taken even if the Reichstag couldn’t reach an agreement in an emergency situation. This was bad because… …a President could abuse this power because the Constitution didn’t specify what an emergency was or how long it could last. The Chancellor ● The equivalent of our Prime Minister. ● He was appointed and dismissed by the President. ● Without the support of the Reichstag, he would be unable to pass laws. ● He was usually a member of the Reichstag. The Reichstag ● It was voted for by all men and women over the age of 20 by a system called Proportional Representation ● It had the power to vote for or against laws put forward by the Chancellor Proportional Representation ● This was Germany’s voting system between 1919 and 1933 ● The number of seats in the Reichstag a party was given would match the proportion of votes they recieved in elections. ● The % of votes led to % of seats; therefore if 15% of people voted for Party A, then Party A would get 15% of the seats in the Reichstag What was good and bad about this? ● Everyone who voted could feel that they were represented in their Reichstag. ● No party ever received 50% of the votes so all governments would had to be coalitions (two or more parties agreeing to work together.) ● Coalitions kept falling apart when the parties were unable to reach an agreement and when coalitions fell apart, new elections had to be held. ● There were 20 different coaltion government between 1919 and 1933 and no government lasted longer than 2 years So what were the strengths and weaknesses of the Weimar Constitution? Complete the heads and tails activity and write the matched terms and definitions into your exercise book. The British System ● Example: If there were 10 constituencies and, in every constituency Party 1 just gets the most votes, this would be the result: ● Party 1 – 800,000 votes - 10 seats ● Party 2 - 700, 000 votes – 0 seats ● Other parties – 500,000 - 0 seats Is this a good system? Is this fair? Under PR % of votes Seats (out of 500) Party A 35 175 Party B 25 125 Party C 20 100 Party D 15 75 Party E 5 25 A coalition would need over 50% of the seats or more to form the government. Possible Coalitions A coalition would need 51% of the seats (at least 251) to form a government. Party A(175) and Party C (100) = 275/ 500 Party B (125), Party C (100), Party D (75) = 300/ 500 (There are other possibilities) In other words, the party that won the most seats (Party A) could actually be excluded from power by a coalition of the other parties..