Institutions provide legitimacy. How the Bundestag, the Bundesrat, and the Federal Government breathe life into our federal democracy

Lecture on 15 January 2027

Following the experiences of the Weimar Republic and the Nazi dictatorship, the Basic Law adopted in Bonn established strong institutions designed to safeguard the democratic order. As the foremost branch of government, the German Bundestag was deliberately conceived under the Basic Law as a strong, stable and effective parliament. It embodies Germany’s rejection of authoritarian systems and its commitment to representative democracy. At the same time, it forms part of a system of checks and balances alongside the Federal Chancellor, the Bundesrat, the Federal President and the Federal Constitutional Court.

The Bundestag translates the will of the electorate into concrete policy. It elects and scrutinises the government and provides it with democratic legitimacy. Without a functioning and effective parliament, parliamentary democracy in Germany would lose one of its essential foundations.

The Bundesrat is a federal constitutional body that safeguards Germany’s federal structure and represents the interests of the Länder.

Together, the two institutions make German democracy more resilient, more balanced and more closely attuned to the country’s diverse regional realities.