The Fedral Chancellors : Germany

Here it is a question of harmonizing political intentions with the detailed knowledge provided by the experts. It is likewise in the committees that parliament scrutinizes and controls government activity. Otherwise it would not be possible to cope with the multitude of technical questions. The Bundestag’s committees correspond to the Federal Government’s departments and range from the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Labour and Social Affairs to the Budget Committee. The latter is particularly important because it represents parliament’s control of the budget. Anyone may directly address requestsand complaints to the Petitions Committee of the German Bundestag.

From 1949 until the end of the last legislative term in 1995, more than 7,500 bills were introduced in parliament and 4,600 of them passed. Most bills are initiated by the Federal Government, the others coming from members of the Bundestag or from the Bundesrat. They receive three readings in the Bundestag and are usually referred to the appropriate committee once. The final vote is taken after the third reading. A bill (unless it entails an amendment to the constitution) is passed if it receives a majority of the votes cast. Those which affect the functions of the federal states require the approval of the Bundesrat, however.