The Bavarian Senate (German ''Bayerischer Senat'') was the corporative

upper chamber An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restri ...

of Bavaria's parliamentary system from 1946 to 1999, when it was abolished by a

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(referendum) changing the

Constitution of Bavaria The Constitution of the Free State of Bavaria was enacted on 8 December 1946. It is the fourth constitutional document in Bavarian history after the Constitution of 1808, the Constitution of the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1818 and the Bamberg Con ...

Composition

The 60 members of the Senate had to be at least 40 years of age and could not be a member of the

Landtag A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in no ...

(the other and more important chamber of the Bavarian parliament). Every other year, a third of the Senate's members would be elected by corporations representing social, economic, municipal or cultural groups or appointed by religious denominations for a term of six years. The number of seats representing each group was fixed by the constitution of Bavaria: * 11 representatives of

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or forestry * 5 representatives of

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and

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* 5 representatives of craftsmen * 11 representatives of unions * 4 representatives of

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s * 5 representatives of

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* 5 representatives of religious denominations * 5 representatives of social welfare organisations * 3 representatives of universities and

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s * 6 representatives of municipalities and municipal associations Internationally, the Senate's composition was similar to the Vocational panels in the

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. It also bore remnants of council-democratic ideas.

Role

The Senate's main role was consulting other state institutions and delivering legal opinion. It also had the power to delay state legislation passed by the Landtag within a month (one week for urgent acts). However, the Landtag could overturn the veto by a simple majority, the same majority required to pass a law in the first place.

Criticism and dissolution

In the 1990s, public opinion in Germany turned towards leaner government. The Senate, due to being essentially powerless, was regarded by many as an unnecessary expenditure. In June 1997, a popular initiative petition sponsored by the Ecological Democratic Party gained 927,047 signatures (10.5% of those entitled to vote). In the following referendum on 8 February 1998, which yielded a turnout of 39.9%, a majority of 69.2% voted for the law amending the State Constitution to abolish the Senate. A counter-proposal by the ruling Christian Social Union, which would have changed the composition of the Senate, only received 23.6%. On 1 January 2000, the law abolishing the Senate came into effect.

Presidents of the Senate of Bavaria

External links

Gegenentwurf des Landtags zum Volksentscheid am 8. Februar 1998 (Senatsreformgesetz) (pdf)
(34 kB) The counter-proposal by the ''Christian Social Union''

Official voting results * [https://web.archive.org/web/20120401025428/http://www.bayern.verfassungsgerichtshof.de/12VIII98.htm Urteil des Bayerischen Verfassungsgerichtshofes nach dem Volksentscheid zur Abschaffung des Bayerischen Senats] Court ruling on the abolishment of the Senate {{Authority control Politics of Bavaria 1946 establishments in Germany 1999 disestablishments in Germany Defunct upper houses 20th century in Bavaria Corporatism

Composition

Role

Criticism and dissolution

Presidents of the Senate of Bavaria

See also

External links