Blog

Legislature-States 2

States had legislatures of their own. Today we discuss the national legislature. We will deal with the individual state’s legislatures shortly.

The Bundesrat

The Bundesrat (Federal Council) consisted of deputies from each of the states. The aristocratic ruler of the state (or elected official in the Free Cities) appointed deputies. With the exception of those three city republics, each of the German states were monarchies (though not all kingdoms) and aristocratic in nature. They were sovereign entities with the right to appoint representatives to the Bundesrat. As a result, again with the exception of the three republics, the members were delegates of the reigning princes. Imperial Germany was not a monarchy in theory, but an aristocratic polyarchy. There were 58 votes, as shown by Article 6 of the Constitution that stated,

The Federal Council shall consist of the representatives of the States of the Confederation, among whom the votes shall be divided in such a manner as that Prussia (including the former votes of Hanover, the Electoral-Hesse, Holstein, Nassau, and Frankfort am Main.) shall have 17 votes; Bavaria, 6 votes; Saxony, 4 votes; Württemberg, 4 votes; Baden, 3 votes; Hesse, 3 votes; Mecklenburg-Schwerin, 2 votes; Saxe-Weimar, 1 vote; Mecklenburg-Strelitz, 1 vote; Oldenburg, 1 vote; Brunswick, 2 votes; Saxe-Meiningen, 1 vote; Saxe-Altenburg, 1 vote; Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, 1 vote; Anhalt, 1 vote; Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, 1 vote; Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, 1 vote; Waldeck, 1 vote; Reuss (Elder branch), 1 vote; Reuss (younger branch), 1 vote; Schaumburg-Lippe, 1 vote; Lippe, 1 vote; Lübeck, 1 vote; Bremen, 1 vote; Hamburg, 1 vote.

A couple of points are worth discussing on this division of votes. There was a constitutional amendment on 31 May 1911that admitted three representatives of Alsace-Lorraine, under certain circumstances. Prior to 1911, Alsace-Lorraine had been the province of the Empire and there was no representation in the Bundesrat. Once Alsace-Lorraine became a quasi-state in 1911, Prussia appointed the administration and therefore controlled the votes. Also, Waldeck had ceded its administration to Prussia as of 2 March 1887. That means there was an independent state of Waldeck but that Prussia controlled the vote.

The Bundesrat was generally conservative and not controversial for the Kaiser and other princely rulers. Prussia dominated, so if you controlled the Prussian provincial legislature you controlled the Bundesrat. While either house could introduce legislation, the imperial ministers originated the great majority of bills in the Bundesrat. The Kaiser could not introduce legislation; however, he could introduce bills through his Prussian delegates in the Bundesrat.

The Reichstag

Members of the Reichstag were elected every three years using universal suffrage. All males who were citizens of any state and over the age of 25 and were neither criminals nor debtors were eligible to vote. All of the votes counted equally. Women were not included; in fact, an 1851 Prussian law forbade women from attending meetings where politics were discussed.  Universal male suffrage was a foreign concept in Prussia but was the norm in Bavaria and most of the other states of Imperial Germany. The idea had taken root in St. Paul’s Parliament in 1849, but in 1867, it was still considered very radical. Even Karl Marx opposed universal male suffrage. Bismarck supported it, because he saw that the conservative rural population would vote the way he wanted.

The Reichstag voting resulted in a 397 member split: Prussia, 235; Bavaria, 48; Saxony, 23; Württemberg, 17; Baden, 14; Hesse, 9; Mecklenburg-Schwerin, 6; Saxe-Weimar, 5; Mecklenburg-Strelitz, 1; Oldenburg, 3; Brunswick, 3; Saxe-Meiningen, 2; Saxe-Altenburg, 1; Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, 2; Anhalt, 2; Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, 1; Schwarzburg-Sonderhausen, 1; Waldeck, 1; Reuss (Elder branch), 1; Reuss (younger branch), 1; Schaumburg-Lippe, 1; Lippe, 1; Lübeck, 1; Bremen, 1; Hamburg, 1; Lauenburg, 1; Alsace-Lorraine, 15.

Of the 397 members (also called deputies) in the Reichstag, more than half came from Prussia. The Reichstag had the right to overturn or approve any legislation. While the Reichstag did not create the legislation itself, the Kaiser, who was used to absolute power, still had to go through that civilian branch of government to decree legislation. While most legislation was introduced in the Bundesrat, the approval of the Reichstag was necessary for loans, the budget, and treaties. If a budget were to require a deficit or a credit, the Reichstag held the keys. This is where you got those saying:” the deputies have approved the credits.”

The representation in the Reichstag changed over time, based on its membership. The number of seats and their assignments to various districts did not. Originally, representatives were selected on the basis of one deputy for every 100,000 people. If you had 50,000 or more, you rounded up to another representative. Population migration altered the distribution. As the population moved into cities and other urban areas, one district had one representative based on a population of 219,000, another based on 339,000, and a third based on 163,000. Yet some rural districts had only 13,000 or 15,000 qualified voters, but as the population migrated, the number of representatives was not adjusted.

This unbalance was a major cause of friction between the government and conservative forces, who believed that the Reichstag should represent the different classes, while the liberal Social Democrats believed the Reichstagrepresentation should be based on an arithmetical exactness. By 1912, the Conservative Party had 74 deputies supporting 1,933,000 voters. By contrast, the Socialists had 110 representatives supported by 4,250,000 voters. Of the 397 districts, 243 were rural with the majority of the population living in communities of less than 2,000 inhabitants. The Social Democrats controlled only 24 of those districts. Of the 154 urban districts, the conservative groups controlled only five. While the North German Confederation Parliament had a majority of noble members, there were only 57 noble Reichstag members in 1912. Eighty deputies had reserve commissions. 189 members had served in the army.

Reichstag Deputies were elected using the dual ballot system. In a district where candidates from multiple parties ran, and no one candidate obtained 50 percent of the vote, there was a second ballot run-off between the top two candidates. The Reichstag Deputy election would often be decided by an alliance between groups of political parties. A high number of votes short of 50 percent, with no allies, would doom that candidate. The Social Democratic Party, having few allies, almost always lost in runoff elections. By 1912, 190 deputies were elected by run-off elections.

Under Article 24 of the Constitution, the Bundesrat could dissolve the Reichstag with the consent of the Kaiser. This tool was used several times to close the Reichstag and install new representatives in an effort to pass stalled legislation. The Kaiser had to establish an election date at the time of dissolution and assemble the new Reichstag within 90 days.