The Five Percent Clause : Germany

Of the 36 parties which sought election to the first Bundestag in 1949, only four remained in the parliament elected in 1990. This is the result of a “five percent debarring clause” which was introduced in 1953 and made stricter still in 1957. It stipulates that only parties gaining at least five percent of the valid second votes or at least three constituency seats can be represented in parliament. This arrangement was explicitly accepted by the Federal Constitutional Court since its purpose was to prevent tiny splinter parties from entering parliament (as had happened in the days of the Weimar Republic) and thus enable the larger parties to obtain majorities that would enable them to govern.

The five percent hurdle is waived in the case of national minorities. Thus the South-Schleswig Voters’ Association, which represents the Danish minority, has a member in the state parliament of Schleswig-Holstein even though it obtained fewer than five percent of the votes. Local government elections sometimes produce

1994 Bundestag election

Party Valid Percent MPs
second votes
CDU 16,089,491 34.2 244
SPD 17,141,319 36.4 252
FDP 3,257,864 6.9 47
CSU 3,427,128 7.3 50
Alliance 90/The Greens 3,423,091 7.3 49
PDS 2,067,391 4.4 30

Total’ 45,406,284 672

results that differ greatly from those of federal and state elections. Here the “town-hall parties”, independent voters’ associations, often play an important role.