When I was a child, I was ignorant and thought that the president was the most powerful person in a country. Just like the ancient emperors, no one dared to refuse to obey the country. However, when I grew up, I realized that there are actually people in the president who are also good at it. In some countries, the president is just a mascot without real power.
Regarding this, Germany is the best example.
Germany is the fourth largest economy in the world today, and it is also the leader of the European economy and has a great influence internationally. Especially in Europe, Germany is almost the wallet of the EU and countries, and its status is comparable to France. However, as the head of state of Germany, the presence of the German president is very low, far less popular than the French president.
Even in many people's impression, Germany does not seem to have the position of president. Because those who represent Germany in public in recent years are basically prime ministers, both internally and externally. For example, former German Chancellor, Aunt Mom, known as the "Iron Lady of Europe", has been re-elected as the German Chancellor for four terms and has been in the European political arena for 16 years, almost representing an era in Germany.
During the period when Aunt Mom served as German Chancellor, there were four presidents in Germany, all of whom were men. But without exception, they were all covered by the halo of the "Iron Lady" and could not show much presence.
The president was "stealed" by the Prime Minister. In addition to Aunt Mo's outstanding political talents and personal charm, it is more because of the different definitions of "role". Unlike France and Russia, countries where presidents are in charge, Germany is the prime minister in charge, and the president is just a supporting role.
In the German political system, the president has no real power. According to the law, the German president is the head of state of Germany, and can represent Germany both outside and at home. He has the highest power in many areas including diplomacy, administration, legislation, justice and military. For example, in diplomacy, the president can conclude treaties on behalf of Germany and foreign countries; executively, the president can recommend and appoint and remove the prime minister; legislatively, the president can dissolve the parliament; judicially, the president has the power to pardon against criminals, etc. Basically, the German president has the power that mainstream presidents in the world have.
However, these powers of the German President are only a formal manifestation. The German president will have a lot of restrictions in the actual exercise of these powers.
For example, the formulation and implementation of various foreign policies in Germany need to be supervised by parliament and regulated by the government. Therefore, when the German president exercises diplomatic power, he needs to obtain the consent of other institutions. For example, when exercising legislative powers, although the president has the power to sign and review the laws passed by parliament, he cannot decide the final effect of the law. Because it will also require the consent of the Prime Minister and relevant federal ministers in the future.
In short, many of the powers granted by the law to the German president cannot be exercised independently. Every decision of the president must be approved by relevant agencies before it can be truly passed. In other words, although the German president is the supreme leader representing Germany, he cannot make a decision in Germany. From the perspective of exercising power alone, the German president's speech is not only not as good as the parliament and the prime minister, but even members and ministers cannot compare with each other. After all, their legislative power and executive power are both real powers, unlike the German president who is like air.
So, the position of German president is actually a "virtual title" with name but not real, and it is not useful. His position in Germany is more like a tool man who lacks political attributes. The most common job is not to go to the parliament to discuss the formulation of laws or to go to the government to supervise and implement them, but to sit honestly in your office, obey the "suggestions" of the parliament or the prime minister, and sign and seal various laws and regulations.
This is somewhat similar to those puppet emperors in our ancient times. They only have the name of an emperor, but they do not have the reality of an emperor. Everything can only be followed by others' mercy. Although they sat in the highest position above the court, it was someone else who gave the order. And all they can do is follow the "script" and be a tool.
The reason why the German president has no real power is mainly due to the German political system.Germany is a typical parliamentary democratic system, which is a mainstream political system in the West. Its biggest feature is "parliamentary supremacy".
In Germany, the Federal Senate is not only a legislative body, but also the highest authority of the country. Not only do the law require the parliament to be formulated, but even the government's leadership team is elected by the parliament.
In the general election, political parties speak according to votes and compete for the seats of members in the Senate. As long as any political party has the majority of seats in parliament, the party can become the ruling party, thus taking charge of the government and gaining the administrative power of the country. Among them, the leader of the ruling party will take up the position of government prime minister, and the cabinet , which he formed and led, is the core of the federal government.
Since Germany's highest authority in the country is the parliament, and the Prime Minister, as the executor of parliamentary power, is directly responsible to the parliament, which is equivalent to grasping the real power of the country.
In Germany, the Prime Minister is the head of the federal government and has great power. He can not only select cabinet members and decide on the country's major policies, but also suggest (order) the president to dissolve the parliament, announce early elections, etc. Germany's many major decisions, including internal affairs, diplomacy and military, were brewed, formed and issued in the cabinet.
Therefore, compared with the German president who is in name only, the German Chancellor is the actual helm of Germany and has the greatest voice. To put it simply, in this "big drama" in Germany, the German Chancellor is the indisputable protagonist, and the president is just a supporting role on the 18th line. It is reasonable to have no sense of existence.
There is a question here. Since the German president is a remote supporting role, why should he keep this position? You should know that the German president's treatment is not low, so I won't talk about what allowances and benefits are. It's just independent office facilities and services for traveling and boats. It costs a lot of money every year. If this position is removed, Germany will undoubtedly save a lot of money.
This is a procedural issue, which concerns the legitimacy of the government and even the parliament. As we all know, Germany is a democratic country, and state power belongs to all German citizens. Whether it is the parliament or the government, they are institutions that serve German citizens.
To put it simply, Germany is a large residential community. All citizens of Germany are the community owners, and the government Senate is the property that serves the owners. In terms of employment relationships, the owner is the boss, while the property owner works.
It is obvious that these "properties" do not have power in themselves, and the various powers they exercise are granted by all German citizens. But how can we prove that the "property" exercises the power granted by all German citizens?
Some people say that parliamentary elections are just like this? Members of parliament are elected by the federal states, and they represent the will of the local people. The government is born from the parliament and is also responsible to the parliament. Isn’t this equivalent to being responsible to all Germans?
This perception is actually wrong, because there is an opposition between political parties during the parliamentary elections. There are not only the ruling party in the parliament, but also the opposition party. Out of the principle of responsibility for voters, the government formed by the ruling party can only represent the part of German citizens who support them, and cannot represent the whole.
In this way, the power exercised by the government is not a power recognized by citizens across the country. Then, procedurally, these powers are not legal.
If you want to solve this problem, Germany needs to have someone who is above the power of the political party and can represent all citizens. And the German president is obviously such a person. In a sense, the German president is not a position, but a symbol of this country and an embodiment of the will of all Germans.
It is worth mentioning that the president representing all German citizens is not directly elected by citizens. Instead, it is indirectly elected by federal lawmakers and representatives of states. Although the "blind-box operation" of political parties is avoided to a certain extent, hidden dangers still exist. After all, the ruling party has a majority of parliamentarians, which has a great impact on the election results. This is undoubtedly a weakening of the general representation of the president.In contrast, direct election of citizens to president is undoubtedly the most correct way to choose procedurally.
So why doesn’t Germany allow citizens to directly elect president? This is actually derived from a historical lesson. After the end of the First World War , Germany abolished the monarchy and entered the Weimar Republic era. During this period, although Germany adopted the parliamentary system , the parliament could not become the only core of power of the country. Because the German president has a lot of power, he can confront the parliament, and even surpass the parliament in the later stages.
The German president during the "Weimar Republic" period had great powers. In administrative terms, he had the right to appoint and remove the prime minister and reorganize the cabinet; in military terms, he was the commander of the three armies and had the highest command power; in legislation, he supervised each other with the parliament, and had the power to dissolve the parliament and reconvene elections.
In short, the president at that time was the actual helmsman of Germany, and his power was even greater than that of the current prime minister. Therefore, the German president of that period was also called the "emperor in casual clothes."
The reason why the German president during the "Weimar Republic" period was so powerful is that direct election of citizens was the key. The German president at that time was elected directly by all citizens, and the parliament was also elected directly. When two institutions are elected directly by citizens, it means that both institutions are power centers.
From a legal perspective, the German president is on parliament. Because the president has power in many fields such as administration and military, his scope of authority is undoubtedly wider than that of parliament. In this way, the president's real power in Germany is actually greater than that of the parliament.
The German president during the "Weimar Republic" period was too powerful, which provided an opportunity for ambitious politicians, causing German politics to begin to develop towards dictatorship and dictatorship. This is one of the main reasons that led Germany to enter the abyss of World War II .
After World War II, in order to prevent the tragedy from happening again, Germany changed the direct election of the president to indirect election of . This not only reduces the president's influence, but also determines the core position of parliament's power. A government represented by the Prime Minister only needs to be responsible to the parliament, not to the president. Although such changes have weakened the president's real power, they have shaped Germany's long-term stable and effective political system.
In summary, the meaning of the German president's existence today is to represent German citizens and give power to government agencies to ensure the legitimacy of their power exercise. At the same time, he is away from politics and does not interfere with the existing administrative system, thereby ensuring his own transcendence. This is a manifestation of Western democracy. Although it does not have much practical effect, it does not hurt. There is better than nothing.
We might as well treat it as a mascot.
