After the Second World War, the new Federal Republic of Germany adopted a mixed electoral system that combined party list proportional representation with single-member district representation. This system requires that Germans cast two votes in national elections--the so-called first vote (Erststimme), which goes to elect a constituency member of Parliament (M.P.) for the district, and the second, and more important, vote (Zweitstimme), which goes to a political party. The second vote determines the overall partisan composition of the Bundestag.
At present (thirteenth election period) there are 668 members of the Bundestag--326 directly elected constituency representatives, 326 members elected from party lists, and 16 representatives serving 'surplus' seats (Ueberhangmandate). Surplus seats are the result of parties winning more districts than their percentage of the vote would entitle them. There are a number of reasons for surplus seats, but one of the major reasons for these seats is malapportioned districts due to a failure to redistrict to reflect population shifts
Redistricting Procedures
At the beginning of each parliamentary term, the president of Germany, in accordance with Article 3 of the German Electoral Law, nominates an independent standing Electoral Districts Commission (Wahlkreiskommission). The task of this commission is to report on population changes and developments in electoral districts, and to put forward recommendations on how to redistrict to accommodate these changes.
The Electoral Districts Commission, or EDC, is selected at the beginning of each parliamentary term. The president of the Federal Statistical Bureau is usually chosen to preside over the commission. In addition, a judge of the Federal Court of Administration, and five more members, usually high level administrative state functionaries, are selected to serve on the commission.
The EDC is required to follow five rules for electoral redistribution. They are as follows:
- state borders must be observed;
- the population of an electoral district should not vary more than plus or minus 25 percent from the overall average population of electoral districts--if the population deviation exceeds plus or minus 33 percent, redistricting is mandatory;
- the number of electoral districts assigned to each state should be in proportion to its relative population size;
- an electoral district should be one coherent area;
- the boundaries of communities, counties and independent cities should be observed.
The commission has fifteen months to complete its report and present its findings to the Ministry of the Interior. The report of the commission contains the current population of the electoral districts and recommendations for reallocating district seats and modifying district boundaries. The EDC puts forward several alternative plans for redistricting so that Parliament has more than one option available when deciding how, if at all, to redraw the constituencies.
Participation of Other Institutions
The EDC produces its report with input from a number of other institutions. Members of the Ministry of the Interior take part in EDC meetings. The commission is in contact with state governmental employees responsible for electoral procedures in all of the states. Furthermore, each state has the opportunity to present its position on any of the commission's recommendations.
The Role of the Parliament
The Parliament makes the final decision as the whether to redistrict and what redistricting plan to adopt. After reading the EDC report, and debating the subject, Parliament votes on whether to accept any of the EDC recommendations. Unless there are population deviations greater than 33 percent, Parliament is not required to accept any of the EDC proposals. In fact, Parliament has frequently decided not to make any changes. Although there have been some boundary changes within states, there have been no reallocation of seats in western Germany since 1980.
History of Redistricting in Germany
The EDC makes recommendations with regard to redistricting approximately every four years. The following indicates what actions the Parliament ultimately took when presented with EDC recommendations:
- First Report of the EDC in 1958: Parliament took no action;
- Report of 1962: Recommendations accepted by Parliament;
- Reports of 1966 and 1970: Parliament took limited action;
- Report of 1973: EDC recommended reallocation of seats to states, which was rejected by Parliament; redistricting within states was partially accepted by Parliament;
- Report of 1978: EDC recommendations partially accepted;
- Report of 1982: No major recommendation made by EDC because Parliament was dissolved; there were two changes made due to population deviations in excess of 33 percent;
- Report of 1984: EDC recommendations to redistrict boundaries partially accepted;
- Report of 1988: Minor changes only because census numbers were not yet available;
- Report of 1992: EDC recommendations were not accepted, except for boundary changes required because of deviations in excess of 33 percent and major redistricting in Berlin;
- Present Report: States argue that there should be no redistricting because there will be a major redistricting in 2002 (see below).
Report of the EDC for the Thirteenth Term of the Bundestag
The Commission Review that began in 1995 has suggested major changes in the redistribution of districts. These changes are warranted for four reasons:
1. The allocation of districts has not changed since 1980 in the old states, and since 1990 in the new states, although major population changes had taken place. After unification, the old districts remained the same while thirteen new districts were added in East Berlin and another sixty-seven in the five new states. Parliament not only rejected reallocation recommendations in 1983, 1987 and 1990, but rejected the EDC recommendation for a united Germany in 1994. The parliament has only reacted to the EDC recommendations when the population variation has been greater than 33 percent and changes are required by law.
2. The national election of 1994 resulted in sixteen surplus seats (Ueberhangmandat) in Parliament. There are certainly several factors leading to surplus seats, but one of the major reasons is the unbalanced distribution of electoral districts due to massive changes of population sizes in various states.
3. As of December 31, 1994, three electoral districts deviated more than 33 percent from the average constituency size. Several more are coming very close to that limit, and further changes in population sizes are expected.
4. County reforms initiated prior to 1994 in the new states also suggest a need for modification of electoral districts.
However, in June 1995, the Bundestag decided to reduce the size of the legislature by up to 100 seats starting at the fifteenth term, which, if everything proceeds normally, would begin in 2002. To prepare, a reform commission has been established. This reform commission, responding to claims by members of the various parties that neither the electorate nor the parties and candidates should be expected to put up with major change in constituencies in 1998 when a complete redistricting effort will occur in 2002, has opted for changing only the constituencies that exceed the 33 percent limit. The majority of state governments have concurred with this sentiment. Therefore, redistricting will probably be limited to changes mandated by extreme deviations.
The EDC has continued to argue that redistricting is necessary. At the thirteenth term, sixteen surplus seats occurred, and at least some of these seats have been due to unevenly populated constituencies. Unless the populations of legislative districts are equalised, bias in the election results may continue due to an uneven number of members. The EDC has calculated the sizes of the existing constituencies and presented in great detail the observed and expected distribution of constituencies by states. They have concluded that a major redistricting is required under the guidelines they are obliged to follow.
However, given the position of the reform committee, and the arguments of many of the state governments and political parties, the EDC has offered a number of possible redistricting plans. The EDC has recommended that the states of Berlin, Hessia, and Lower Saxony each be given one supplementary seat, Baden-Wuerttemberg two seats, and Bavaria three supplementary seats; while Hamburg, Northrhine-Westfalia, the Saarland and the five new states should each be required to give up one seat.
Conclusion
Redistricting in Germany is more or less enforced by law. Under certain conditions, mandatory changes are required and there is very little leeway for political maneuvering. Because the EDC is an independent organ and there are set rules that it must follow when making recommendations for redistricting, gerrymandering is virtually impossible.
State governments, however, especially if they are to lose a seat, and members of Parliament do not particularly like changes in district lines. New districts could make it more difficult for incumbent legislators to win; they could change the balance of power in a state; and/or they could lead to the loss of a party seat. Therefore, Parliament often simply accepts only those changes that are mandated by law, retaining the status quo as much as possible. In 2002, however, a major redistricting is unavoidable. District populations are likely to be equalised, and this could well result in a decrease in the number of surplus seats.
