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The Landtag of Brandenburg is the
unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...
legislature of the
state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...
of
Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 sq ...
in
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. Its 88 members of parliament are usually elected every 5 years. It is responsible for deciding on state laws, controlling the state government and
public administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit est ...
, deciding on the budget and electing its
presidium A presidium or praesidium is a council of executive officers in some political assemblies that collectively administers its business, either alongside an individual president or in place of one. Communist states In Communist states the presid ...
, state constitutional judges, the members of the state court of audit and the
minister president A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. I ...
. On 1 September 2019 elections to the 7th Landtag were held. Six political parties managed to gain representation. The Social Democratic Party (SPD) became the largest party in the Landtag with 25 seats, followed by Alternative for Germany (AfD) with 23 seats, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) with 15 seats, Alliance 90/The Greens and the Left with 10 seats each and the Brandenburg United Civic Movements/Free Voters (BVB/FW) won 5 seats. Elections to the 1st Landtag of Brandenburg were held in 1946 in the
Soviet Occupation Zone The Soviet Occupation Zone ( or german: Ostzone, label=none, "East Zone"; , ''Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii'', "Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany") was an area of Germany in Central Europe that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a ...
. The composition of the 2nd Landtag was determined before the 1950 election. This Landtag only continued to exist until 1952. It has existed in its current form since the recreation of the state of Brandenburg following reunification. Since the 1990 election the SPD has remained the largest party and participated in all state governments since and all minister presidents of the state to this day have been from the SPD. The office has been held by
Dietmar Woidke Hubert Dietmar Woidke (born 22 October 1961) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany. Since August 2013, Woidke has served as Minister President of Brandenburg. Political career Woidke has been a member of the SPD ...
since 28 August 2013.


History

The Landtag of Brandenburg was established in 1946 and abolished in 1952. It was re-established in 1990. The seat of the Parliament is the reconstructed
Potsdam City Palace The Potsdam City Palace (german: Potsdamer Stadtschloss) is a building in Potsdam, Germany, located on the Old Market Square, next to the St. Nicholas' Church (''Nikolaikirche''). It was the second official residence (the winter residence) of ...
since early 2014. Its former seat was the Military School building on the Brauhausberg,
Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream o ...
, which dates from 1902.


Elections

Elections to the Landtag use a
hybrid system A hybrid system is a dynamical system that exhibits both continuous and discrete dynamic behavior – a system that can both ''flow'' (described by a differential equation) and ''jump'' (described by a state machine or automaton). Often, the te ...
whereby the 44 electoral districts return one member each in
first-past-the-post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...
votes, and 44 seats are elected by
party-list proportional representation Party-list proportional representation (list-PR) is a subset of proportional representation electoral systems in which multiple candidates are elected (e.g., elections to parliament) through their position on an electoral list. They can also be us ...
. Every German citizen who has been habitually resident in Brandenburg for at least one month prior to the election is entitled to vote. Each elector has two votes, one for the individual representative of their electoral district and the other for a party list. The proportionally allocated seats are distribruted proportionally based on votes across the state to all parties or political unions on the list that received at least 5% of the vote in a constituency or who have won one or more directly elected seats. Candidates are required to be over 18 years old, be a citizen of Germany and have lived in the state of Brandenburg for 3 months. Elections are held every five years, on a Sunday or public holiday between 57 and 60 months after the start of the first legislative period after the previous election. The most recent election was held on 1 September 2019 and the next elections will be held in 2024. The legislature may be dissolved sooner by a two thirds majority vote, if this happens new elections must be held within 70 days.


Functions


Legislative

One of the functions of the Landtag is to pass state laws. Legislation can be proposed by the state government, MPs, the president of the Landtag, the presidium of the Landtag, parliamentary committees and their parliamentary groups, though it is usually the government that proposes new legislation. Proposed legislation can also be submitted through a
popular initiative In political science, an initiative (also known as a popular initiative or citizens' initiative) is a means by which a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters can force a government to choose either to enact a law or hold a p ...
, assuming it is signed by at least 80,000 voting age Brandenburgian citizens. The Landtag is then obligated to treat this initiative just like it would one originating from the state government or its own members. If it fails to do this within two months a
referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
is called. Before being voted on, new legislation is subject to two readings. In the first reading a broad strokes debate regarding the proposal is held. Then it is transferred to one or more parliamentary committees. If multiple committees are involved, one of them largely holds responsibility. In the committees the proposal is reworked and a recommendation given. It is then subject to a second reading, where the proposal is discussed in detail and at the end of which the proposal is voted on. Until the second reading is complete,
amendments An amendment is a formal or official change made to a law, contract, constitution, or other legal document. It is based on the verb to amend, which means to change for better. Amendments can add, remove, or update parts of these agreements. The ...
can be proposed by parliamentary groups or individual members and are voted on be for the proposal is. Proposals are passed with a majority of the members present and voting.
Constitutional amendments A constitutional amendment is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly altering the text. Conversely, t ...
require a 2/3 majority to pass. Proposals changing the text of the constitution and the budget are discussed in three readings. A third reading is also held if a parliamentary group or at least 1/5 of MPs request it. For laws to come into force they need to be signed by the president of the Landtag and published in the ''Gesetz- und Verordnungsblatt für das Land Brandenburg'' ( 'law and decree gazette for the state of Brandenburg').


Budgeting

Article 101 §3 of the state's constitution grants the Landtag of Brandenburg budgeting powers. According to constitution the budget can be set for one of more years. The budget is prepared by the state government setting the priorities for the next year (or years). The members of the Landtag function have a control function which has the character of a "general review of the work of the state government".Präsident des Landtages Brandenburg, 2007, 153. They are tasked with checking, changing and approving the proposed budget. Every year the minister of finance reports to the Landtag the usage of funds along with state assets and debt. The entire budgetary and economic management of the state and its special assets and businesses are checked by the state court of audit.


Control functions

Additionally the Landtag is tasked with parliamentary control, i.e. the control of the activities of the government and the
public administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit est ...
. This control is implemented through checks, complaints and toleration of state action both after the fact and by formulating recommendations before the fact. Conflicts commonly occur between the government and the parliamentary groups supporting or opposing the government instead of the Landtag as a whole.


Right of members to speak and ask questions

There are various ways for the Landtag to control the state government and
public administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit est ...
. One of them is the right of MPs to speak and ask questions. Every representative has the right to speak and submit enquiries and law proposals in order to receive information on states of affaires the state government is responsible for handling. According to the state constitution the government is obligated to respond to enquiries immediately to the best of its knowledge and must give a complete answer which means that compared to the basic law and the other German states' constitutions information rights are stronger here. According to
parliamentary procedure Parliamentary procedure is the accepted rules, ethics, and customs governing meetings of an assembly or organization. Its object is to allow orderly deliberation upon questions of interest to the organization and thus to arrive at the sense ...
the right to answer questions includes major, minor, spoken and urgent enquiries. Major enquiries usually concern statewide problems or technical matters of superregional and particular political importance usually with the purpose of general political control of the government. Such an enquiry can be initiated by a
parliamentary group A parliamentary group, parliamentary party, or parliamentary caucus is a group consisting of some members of the same political party or electoral fusion of parties in a legislative assembly such as a parliament or a city council. Parliamenta ...
or at least 1/5 of MPs. A written response must be given within three months. Minor enquiries usually concern specific events or specific policies by the government or public administration. They can be initiated by any MP in written form and must be responded to within four weeks. Spoken and urgent enquiries have the purpose that representatives can demand statements by the government on specific issues in plenary meetings i.e. in the presence of the general public. Spoken enquiries can be initiated by any MP. Urgent enquiries can be initiated with after a shorter than usual waiting period and have the purpose of elucidating politically contentious issues. They must be approved by the president of the Landtag in accordance with the vice-presidents. The state constitution requires the state government to inform the Landtag and parliamentary committees early and completely of the preparation of laws regarding specific issues. This includes laws and decrees regarding fundamental questions of regional and location planning and the implementation of major projects. This duty also extends to participation of the state in the Bundesrat and cooperation with the federal government, other German and sovereign states and the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
.


Committee of inquiry

The Landtag has the right to install a committee of inquiry to elucidate matters of public interest. The Landtag must be informed of the results of the investigation in form of a final report. Additionally every member of the committee has the right to append the report with a dissenting opinion. In the third legislative period three committees of inquiry were established dealing with the
Berlin Schönefeld Airport Berlin Schönefeld Airport () (formerly ) was the secondary international airport of Berlin, the capital of Germany. It was located southeast of Berlin near the town of Schönefeld in the state of Brandenburg and bordered Berlin's southern bou ...
, the Landesentwicklungsgesellschaft (LEG) and Chipfabrik Frankfurt (Oder) respectively. The committee of inquiry 4/1 created by a resolution on 27 February 2008 investigated the land reform affaire uncovered in late 2007.https://www.parlamentsdokumentation.brandenburg.de/parladoku/w4/beschlpr/anlagen/5918-B.pdf On 26 April 2016 the Landtag installed a committee of inquiry (6/1) about the "organized far-right extremist violence and administrative action, especially regarding the
National Socialist Underground The National Socialist Underground (german: link=no, Nationalsozialistischer Untergrund, ), or NSU (), was a far-right German neo-Nazi terrorist group which was uncovered in November 2011. The NSU is mostly associated with Uwe Mundlos, Uwe Böh ...
(NSU)".


Commissions


=Parliamentary control commission

= In matters regarding constitutional protection the state government is subject to the control of the parliamentary control commission (PKK) which consists of at most 5 representatives. The opposition must be fairly represented on the commission. The state government must inform the PKK of the general activities of the office for constitutional protection, affaires of special importance along with isolated incidents. Additionally the PKK also has various information rights so it can get the information required for it to fulfill its control functions.


=G10-commission

= The G10-commission named after article 10 of the basic law is the final control institution. The G10-commission is tasked with checking the restrictions of the liberal democratic basic order ordered by the interior ministry. The interior ministry is required to inform the commission of such restrictions e.g.
telephone tapping Telephone tapping (also wire tapping or wiretapping in American English) is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitorin ...
.


Electoral function

Another important function of the Landtag is the election of the minister president of the state of Brandenburg. In the lead-up to the inaugural meeting a potential governing coalition is usually agreed upon that can elect its candidate without a debate and on a secret ballot. Every representative has the right to propose a candidate. It is also possible for a person to be proposed who is not a member of the Landtag. If the proposed candidate does not get an
absolute majority A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority r ...
in the first round, a second vote is held. If they once again don't receive an absolute majority, a third round is held where a simple majority of representatives is enough. If a minister president is not elected within the three weeks after the inaugural meeting, the Landtag is automatically dissolved and reelections are held. After the minister president has sworn their oath, they take control of government affairs and appoint the cabinet. The minister president forms a cabinet by handing the future ministers their certificate of appointment. They likewise swear an oath. During the allocation of portfolios, the setting of political focus of the respective partners plays a crucial role, because certain policy areas are associated with certain parties, leading to them desiring responsibility for the respective portfolios. The head of government (i.e. the minister president) sets the guidelines and answers to the Landtag regarding these guidelines. Within the confines set by the minister president, the ministers lead their ministries independently. In general, the minister president's term ends with the start of the new Landtag though it can also be cut short by a
vote of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...
. The Landtag also elects the members of the state court of audit, the members of the state constitutional court, the 'state commissioner for data protection and the right of access to documents' along with the members of the G10-commission, the parliamentary control commission, the council for sorbian matters, the electoral committee for the election of judges () in addition to the representatives of the Landtag in the state youth welfare committee and the broadcasting council of the RBB.


Organization of representatives


Presidium

The president of the Landtag presides over and represents the Landtag. He is the highest representative of the state of brandenburg and thus is the one who receives both foreign and national state guests. The Landtag elects the president of the Landtag from among its members during its first session. The largest parliamentary group has the right of proposal (article 69 §1 of the state constitution of Brandenburg). However the president is supposed to be neutral in the exercise of their duties including towards their own party group. The president can be removed with a 2/3 majority. The president calls the meetings of both the Landtag and the presidium both of which they open, preside over and end. Meetings can also be called if 1/5 of members or the government requests it. In the Landtag the president exercises the domiciliary right and command over the police. Additionally the president approves topics of discussion in accordance with the rules of procedure, controls the printing and distribution of documents and accepts inquiries and proposals with have to be submitted to the president of the Landtag. In the legislative process a law only comes into force when it has been signed by the president. If the president of the Landtag is not present, their duties are performed by the vice-presidents. If they are also not present, the president of the Landtag is represented by a member of the presidium belonging to the largest parliamentary group. In the fifth legislative period Gunter Frisch (SPD) held the office, which he had also held during the fourth legislative period. The office of vice-president was held by Gerrit Große during the fifth legislative period from December 2009 onwards after Gerlinde Strobawa (They were both members of The Left) had resigned in November 2009. In the sixth legislative period the office of president of the landtag was held by Britta Stark (SPD) and the office of vice-president by Dieter Dombrowski (CDU). In the current seventh legislative period Ulrieke Liedtke (SPD) has been president of the Landtag since September 2019. The vice-presidents are Andreas Galau (AfD) and Barbara Richstein (CDU). The remaining members of the presidium are elected in the constituting session like the president and vice-presidents. Each parliamentary group represented in the Landtag has the right to at least one member on the presidium. The presidium supports the president in the exercise of their duties, facilitates agreements between parliamentary groups and decides the schedule and agenda of plenary meetings. The members of the presidium can, like the president, be removed by a 2/3 majority.Präsident des Landtages Brandenburg, 2007, 167.


Current composition

The results of the 2019 Landtag elections were as follows:
< 2014     Next > , - bgcolor=#E9E9E9 ! colspan="2" , Party ! Ideology ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- ! Seats % , - , style="width: 1px" bgcolor= align="center" , , align="left" , Social Democratic Party (SPD) , align="left" ,
Social democracy Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...
, align="right" , 331,238 , align="right" , 26.2% , align="right" , 5.7% , align="right" , 25 , align="right" , 5 , align="right" , 28.4% , - , style="width: 1px" bgcolor= align="center" , , align="left" , Alternative for Germany (AfD) , align="left" ,
German nationalism German nationalism () is an ideological notion that promotes the unity of Germans and German-speakers into one unified nation state. German nationalism also emphasizes and takes pride in the patriotism and national identity of Germans as one n ...
, align="right" , 297,484 , align="right" , 23.5% , align="right" , 11.3% , align="right" , 23 , align="right" , 12 , align="right" , 26.1% , - , style="width: 1px" bgcolor= align="center" , , align="left" , Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , align="left" , Christian democracy , align="right" , 196,988 , align="right" , 15.6% , align="right" , 7.4% , align="right" , 15 , align="right" , 6 , align="right" , 17.0% , - , style="width: 1px" bgcolor= align="center" , , align="left" , Alliance '90/The Greens (Grünen) , align="left" ,
Green politics Green politics, or ecopolitics, is a political ideology that aims to foster an ecologically sustainable society often, but not always, rooted in environmentalism, nonviolence, social justice and grassroots democracy. Wall 2010. p. 12-13. It b ...
, align="right" , 136,364 , align="right" , 10.8% , align="right" , 4.6% , align="right" , 10 , align="right" , 4 , align="right" , 11.4% , - , style="width: 1px" bgcolor= align="center" , , align="left" , The Left (Die Linke) , align="left" , Democratic socialism , align="right" , 135,558 , align="right" , 10.7% , align="right" , 7.9% , align="right" , 10 , align="right" , 7 , align="right" , 11.4% , - , style="width: 1px" bgcolor="#0000CD" align="center" , , align="left" , Brandenburger Vereinigte Bürgerbewegungen/Freie Wähler (BVB/Freie Wähler) , align="left" , Direct democracy , align="right" , 63,851 , align="right" , 5.0% , align="right" , 2.3% , align="right" , 5 , align="right" , 2 , align="right" , 5.7% , - ! colspan=9, , - , style="width: 1px" bgcolor= align="center" , , align="left" , Free Democratic Party (FDP) , align="left" ,
Liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...
, align="right" , 51,660 , align="right" , 4.1% , align="right" , 2.6% , align="right" , 0 , align="right" , 0 , align="right" , 0% , - , style="width: 1px" bgcolor= align="center" , , align="left" , Human Environment Animal Protection (Tierschutzpartei) , align="left" , Animalism , align="right" , 32,959 , align="right" , 2.6% , align="right" , 2.6% , align="right" , 0 , align="right" , 0 , align="right" , 0% , - , style="width: 1px" bgcolor= align="center" , , align="left" ,
Pirate Party Germany The Pirate Party Germany (german: Piratenpartei Deutschland), commonly known as Pirates (), is a political party in Germany founded in September 2006 at c-base. It states general agreement with the Swedish Piratpartiet as a party of the informa ...
(Piraten) , align="left" , , align="right" , 8,712 , align="right" , 0.7% , align="right" , 0.8% , align="right" , 0 , align="right" , 0 , align="right" , 0% , - , style="width: 1px" bgcolor= align="center" , , align="left" , Others , align="left" , , align="right" , 10,292 , align="right" , 0.8% , align="right" , 0.4% , align="right" , 0 , align="right" , 0 , align="right" , 0% , - ! align="right" colspan=2, Total ! align="right" , ! align="right" , 1,280,895 ! align="right" , 100.0% ! align="right" , ! align="right" , 88 ! align="right" , ! align="right" , , - ! align="right" colspan=2, Blank and invalid votes ! align="right" , ! align="right" , 15,789 ! align="right" , 1.2 ! align="right" , ! align="right" , ! align="right" , ! align="right" , , - ! align="right" colspan=2, Registered voters / turnout ! align="right" , ! align="right" , 2,088,592 ! align="right" , 61.3 ! align="right" , ! align="right" , ! align="right" , ! align="right" ,


Presidents of the Landtag of Brandenburg


See also

* List of Electoral Districts in the Landtag of Brandenburg *
1999 Brandenburg state election The 1999 Brandenburg state election was held on 5 September 1999 to elect the members of the 3rd Landtag of Brandenburg. The incumbent Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD) majority government led by List of Ministers-Pr ...
*
2004 Brandenburg state election The 2004 Brandenburg state election was held on 19 September 2004 to elect the members of the 4th Landtag of Brandenburg. The incumbent government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Christian Democratic Union (CDU) led by Minister-President ...
* 2009 Brandenburg state election *
2014 Brandenburg state election The 2014 Brandenburg state election was held on 14 September 2014 to elect the members of the 6th Landtag of Brandenburg. The incumbent coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Left led by Minister-President Dietmar Woid ...
*
2019 Brandenburg state election The 2019 Brandenburg state election was held on 1 September 2019 to elect the members of the 7th Landtag of Brandenburg. It took place on the same day as the 2019 Saxony state election. The outgoing government was a coalition of the Social Democrat ...


References


External links


Official Web site of Landtag Brandenburg
{{Authority control
Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 sq ...
Politics of Brandenburg