Composition
The all-German Bundestag is composed of at least 598 Members, of whom 299 are elected in the constituencies and a further 299 via lists of candidates drawn up by the political parties in each Land or federal state (Section 1 of the Federal Electoral Act). In the 12th electoral term (1990-1994), the number of constituencies rose from 248 to 328 as a result of the increase in the size of the electoral area following the unification of Germany in 1990. Otherwise, the number of constituencies remains constant. Constituency boundaries, however, may be changed by law on the basis of proposals by a so-called boundaries commission (Section 3 of the Federal Electoral Act) in order to adapt constituencies to demographic changes. The number of Members elected via the parties' Land lists may, by contrast, be slightly higher in some cases as a result of so-called overhang mandates. Overhang mandates arise when, in a given Land, a party gains more direct constituency seats than it is entitled to on the basis of the number of second votes cast for it in that Land. Except for the overhang mandates, the number of seats each party gains in the Bundestag depends entirely on the number of second votes it obtains. In the 14th electoral term (1998-2002), the Bundestag had 13 overhang mandates; in the 15th electoral term (2002-2006) the Bundestag had 603 Members, i.e. there were 5 overhang mandates (4 SPD, 1 CDU/CSU).
On a point of historical interest, when Germany was still divided, the Members of the Bundestag from Berlin, which remained subject to four-power control, had a special status. They were not elected directly but by the Berlin House of Representatives in line with its party-political composition. They had no right to vote on legislation or in the election of the Federal Chancellor.
Print
version