GERMAN LAW

German Federal State Principal

German Federal State Principal

Decentralization in Germany is the result of federal law

The German constitution stipulates that the Republic of Germany is a "social state, Confederate and democratic." This means that Germany is composed of the 16 states. The term "states" or "Länder" in German says that the states as a whole constitute political and administrative levels below the national level - or level of "confederation" ("Bund"). The third level are the municipalities, which the German constitution have political autonomy, but are part of the states. Article 28 of the Constitution explicitly states:

"The constitutional order in the states must correspond to the precepts of the social state of law, republican and democratic in the sense of this fundamental law. In the states, districts and municipalities, the people must have representation from general elections, direct, public, free, egalitarian, by secret ballot. For the elections in districts and municipalities, also consider individuals who are nationals of a member state of the European Community, eligible and entitled to vote under the law of the European Community. In the municipalities, a general assembly can assume the functions that normally are specific to local government".

"It must be ensured the right of municipalities to regulate itself responsibly, all the affairs of the local community under the law. Community associations also have under the privileges appropriate to their tasks, the right to self-administer regulated by law. The guarantee also covers self-administration bases its own financial responsibility, these conditions corresponds to a power law for the collection - the "Hebesatz" - accrual of taxes on economic strength".

"The Confederation shall ensure that the constitutional order of states to comply with fundamental rights and provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2".

To understand why Germany was established after the Second World War as a Confederate state, we have to take a look at the historical development of the country. Germany was divided for centuries in many large and small sovereign states. Over time the small principalities were united into larger units, to a greater or lesser extent dependent on the German emperor as the highest authority, although this had only limited political power. Between 1870 and the end of the First World War, Germany was focused, like all other European states of that time, to the national. After the German emperor resigned at the end of World War formed a democratically legitimized. However, the states that emerged from the principalities of old, relatively broad authority retained. Only the Nazi period, under the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler, concentrated all power in the central government. States and units of government were dissolved and the status of provinces without proper attribution.

After the Second World War created new states, in part at the request of the allies in East Germany also formed states. This is interesting to mention the fact that states and municipalities and worked, before the federal state as a whole is formed. The decision to start with the supply to the population, along with the reconstruction of cities in a decentralized, ...