State Parliament (Germany)

In the federal system of the Federal Republic of Germany, the state parliaments embody the legislative power in the sixteen states. In thirteen of the sixteen German states, the state parliament is known as the Landtag (an old German term that roughly means state parliament). In the states Free Hanseatic City of Bremen and Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, the state parliament is called Bürgerschaft (Citizenry), in Berlin it is called Abgeordnetenhaus (House of Representatives).

Constitutional functions and powers

As the German constitution (Basic Law) defines the Federal Republic of Germany as a federation, each German state has its own constitution. The Basic Law gives the states a broad discretion to determine their respective state structure, only stating that each German state has to be a social and democratic republic under the rule of law and that the people in every state must have an elected representation, without giving further details (Article 28.1). This provision only excludes a constitutional monarchy (as the states have to be republics) and otherwise theoretically allows for a wide range of democratic forms of government. In practice, all states are parliamentary republics in which the legislative branch of government is assigned to an elected parliament and the executive branch of government is subject to parliamentary confidence. Since the abolition of the Bavarian Senate in 1999, which had previously been the upper house of a bicameral legislature, all sixteen state parliaments are unicameral.

Among the most important functions of the state parliaments are the election of the Minister-President (in some states also the cabinet ministers), the control of the state government and the adoption of state laws. They have no direct influence on federal legislation, but participate in the election of the President of Germany by electing state delegates to the Federal Convention.

Election process

Similar to federal elections, many states use a mixed-member proportional representation system in which each voter casts one vote for a constituency candidate and a second vote determines the proportional share of seats. However, this is not the case in all states, the main exception being Baden-Württemberg, which uses a complex first-past-the-post voting system in which seats are allocated to "lucky-loser" candidates in addition to the elected constituency candidates in order to establish proportionality. In all states there is a 5%-threshold which must be exceeded for a party to be considered in the proportional distribution of seats, although in Bremen it is sufficient to exceed the threshold in only one of the two cities that make up the state (Bremen City and Bremerhaven). The electoral system of some states also includes a basic mandate clause which allows parties to be taken into account in the proportional distribution of seats regardless of the 5%-threshold if they win a certain number of constituencies. As at the federal level, parties representing national minorities are excluded from both the 5%-threshold and the basic mandate clause. This provision is of particular importance in Schleswig-Holstein, where the SSW, a party which represents the minorities of Danes and Frisians, regularly participates in state elections.

In contrast to the Bundestag on federal level, most states have adopted legislative periods of five years, the only exception being Bremen, which still uses four-year-terms (a cross-party attempt to introduce five-year-terms was defeated in a referendum in 2017^[1]). Another difference to the Bundestag are the conditions for early new elections: While the Bundestag does not have the right of self-dissolution and can only be dissolved by the President of Germany (and even this only under certain conditions which are precisely defined in the Basic Law), the state parliaments have the right of self-dissolution (even if the procedure differs according to the state constitutions). In addition to this, some state constitutions also provide for an automatic dissolution of the parliament in certain parliamentary deadlock-situations and in some states, the parliament can also be dissolved by a referendum. Neither an automatic dissolution nor a dissolution by referendum has ever happened in any state, though. In October 2021, an attempt to bring about a referendum about the dissolution of the Bavaria state parliamtent failed; the request was supported by 204,135 citizens eligible to vote, thus clearly failing to meet the threshold of one million signatures of support necessary to call a referendum.

Comparative table

State	Name	Election system	Threshold conditions	Seats	Term	Premature dissolution procedures
Baden-Württemberg^[2]	Landtag of Baden-Württemberg	first-past-the-post in 70 constituencies with at least 50 "lucky loser"-seats (Zweitmandate) at the administrative district level, in order to achieve proportional representation	5% of votes statewide	120+	5 years	-self dissolution (motion must be tabled by at least one quarter and accepted by at least two-thirds of members) -referendum (request must be made by at least one sixth of the state population eligible to vote and must be accepted by a majority of the population eligible to vote)
Free State of Bavaria	Landtag of Bavaria	mixed-member proportional representation with two votes (both votes counting towards proportional representation)	5% of votes statewide	180+	5 years	-self dissolution (simple motion sufficient) -referendum (request must be made by at least one million citizens eligible to vote and must be accepted by a simple majority) -automatic dissolution (if the Landtag fails to elect a Minister-President within four weeks after a vacancy occurred)
Berlin^[3]^[4]	House of Representatives of Berlin	mixed-member proportional representation with two votes	5% of second votes statewide or one constituency	130+	5 years	-self dissolution (motion must be accepted by two-thirds of members) -referendum (state constitution does not specify details)
Brandenburg	Landtag of Brandenburg	mixed-member proportional representation with two votes	5% of second votes statewide or one constituency	88+ (maximum of 110)	5 years	-self dissolution (motion must be accepted by two-thirds of members)
Free Hanseatic City of Bremen^[5]	Bürgerschaft of Bremen	Personalized proportional representation with cumulative voting and panachage (five votes) in two separate voting areas (Bremen City and Bremerhaven)	5% of votes in one of the two voting areas	87 (72 for Bremen City and 15 for Bremerhaven)	4 years	-self dissolution (motion must be tabled by at least one third and must be accepted by at least two-thirds of members) -referendum (request must be made by at least one fifth of the state population eligible to vote and must be accepted by a majority of the population eligible to vote)
Free Hanseatic City of Hamburg	Bürgerschaft of Hamburg	Personalized proportional representation with cumulative voting and panachage on state level and in multi member constituencies (10 votes: 5 for state lists, 5 for constituency candidates)	5% of state list-votes	121+	5 years	-self dissolution (motion must be tabled by at least one quarter and must be accepted by a majority of members)
Hesse	Landtag of Hesse	mixed-member proportional representation with two votes	5% of second votes statewide	110+	5 years	-self dissolution (motion must be accepted by a majority of members)
Lower Saxony	Landtag of Lower Saxony	mixed-member proportional representation with two votes	5% of second votes statewide	135+	5 years	-self dissolution (the state constitution defines two scenarios for a self dissolution: [A] one third of members may table a motion of self dissolution, which must be accepted by two-thirds of members present, who have to equal at least a majority of all members [Art. 10]. [B] Nonwithstanding variant A, the Landtag may dissolve itself with a majority of members, if it has failed to elect a Minister-President within 21 days after a vacancy occurred – alternatively it may elect a Minister-President with a plurality of votes [Art. 30])
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	mixed-member proportional representation with two votes	5% of second votes statewide	71+	5 years	-self dissolution (the state constitution defines two scenarios for a self dissolution: [A] one third of members may table a motion of self dissolution, which must be accepted by two-thirds of members [Art. 42.2]. [B] Nonwithstanding variant A, the Landtag may dissolve itself with a majority of members, if it has failed to elect a Minister-President within 28 days after a vacancy occurred – alternatively it may elect a Minister-President with a plurality of votes [Art. 30])
North Rhine-Westphalia	Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia	mixed-member proportional representation with two votes	5% of second votes statewide	181+	5 years	-self dissolution (motion must accepted by a majority of members)
Rhineland-Palatinate	Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate	mixed-member proportional representation with two votes	5% of second votes statewide	101+	5 years	-self dissolution (simple motion) -automatic dissolution (if a motion of no confidence against the Minister-President has been successful and the Landtag fails to elect a new office-holder within four weeks)
Saarland	Landtag of Saarland	proportional representation with one vote, which counts both for a list in a multi member constituency and a state list	5% of votes statewide	51(+?)^[a]	5 years	-self dissolution (motion must be accepted by two-thirds of members) -automatic dissolution (if a motion of no confidence against the Minister-President has been successful and the Landtag fails to elect a new office-holder within four weeks)
Free State of Saxony	Landtag of Saxony	mixed-member proportional representation with two votes	5% of second votes statewide or two constituencies	120+	5 years	-self dissolution (motion must be accepted by two-thirds of members) -automatic dissolution (if the Landtag fails to elect a Minister-President within four months after a vacancy occurred)
Saxony-Anhalt	Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt	mixed-member proportional representation with two votes	5% of second votes statewide	83+	5 years	-self dissolution (the state constitution defines two scenarios for a self dissolution: [A] one fourth of members may table a self dissolution motion, which has to be accepted by two-thirds of members. This is however not possible during the first six months of a legislative period [Art. 60]. [B] Nonwithstanding variant A, the Landtag may dissolve itself with a majority of members, if it has failed to elect a Minister-President on the first two ballots – alternatively it may elect a Minister-President with a plurality of votes on the third ballot [Art. 65.2])
Schleswig-Holstein	Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein	mixed-member proportional representation with two votes	5% of second votes statewide or one constituency	69+	5 years	-self dissolution (motion must be accepted by at least two-thirds of members)
Free State of Thuringia	Landtag of Thuringia	mixed-member proportional representation with two votes	5% of second votes statewide	88+	5 years	-self dissolution (motion must be tabled by at least one third and must be accepted by at least two-thirds of members) -automatic dissolution (if the Minister-President has lost a confidence motion and the Landtag fails to elect a new Minister-President within 21 days)

^ The electoral system of Saarland has a regulatory gap for the (unlikely but theoretically possible) case that a party is proportionally entitled to more seats in the multi member constituencies than would be the case on state level. The election law code does not state, whether this would lead to overhang or even compensation seats or whether the relevant party would lose its entitlement to the overhang mandates.^[6]

List of state parliaments

	Name	Legislative period	Diagram	President	Last election	Next election^[7]
Baden-Württemberg	Landtag	17th	19 58 18 42 17	Muhterem Aras Alliance 90/The Greens since 11 May 2016	2021	2026
Baden-Württemberg	Landtag	17th	Government (100) Alliance 90/The Greens (58) CDU (42) Opposition (54) SPD (19) FDP (18) AfD (17)	Muhterem Aras Alliance 90/The Greens since 11 May 2016	2021	2026
Free State of Bavaria	Landtag	19th	17 32 85 37 32	Ilse Aigner CSU since 5 November 2018	2023	2028
Free State of Bavaria	Landtag	19th	Government (122) CSU (85) Free Voters (37) Opposition (81) AfD (32) Alliance 90/The Greens (32) SPD (17)	Ilse Aigner CSU since 5 November 2018	2023	2028
Berlin	Abgeordnetenhaus	19th	21 34 34 52 16 2	Cornelia Seibeld CDU since 16 March 2023	(2021) 2023^[a]	2026
Berlin	Abgeordnetenhaus	19th	Government (86) CDU (52) SPD (34) Opposition (73) Alliance 90/The Greens (34) The Left (21) AfD (16) Non-inscrits (2)	Cornelia Seibeld CDU since 16 March 2023	(2021) 2023^[a]	2026
Brandenburg	Landtag	8th	32 14 12 30	Ulrike Liedtke SPD since 25 September 2019	2024	2029
Brandenburg	Landtag	8th	SPD (32) AfD (30) BSW (14) CDU (12) The government-formation has not yet been concluded	Ulrike Liedtke SPD since 25 September 2019	2024	2029
Free Hanseatic City of Bremen	Bürgerschaft	21st	10 27 10 5 24 9 2	Antje Grotheer SPD since 29 June 2023 (second term) 27 March 2019–3 July 2019 (first term)	2023	2027
Free Hanseatic City of Bremen	Bürgerschaft	21st	Government (47) SPD (27) Alliance 90/The Greens (10) The Left (10) Opposition (40) CDU (24) Bündnis Deutschland (9) FDP (5) Non-inscrits (2)		2023	2027
Free Hanseatic City of Hamburg	Bürgerschaft	22nd	12 53 33 15 6 4	Carola Veit SPD since 23 March 2011	2020	2025
Free Hanseatic City of Hamburg	Bürgerschaft	22nd	Government (86) SPD (53) Alliance 90/The Greens (33) Opposition (37) CDU (15) The Left (12) AfD (6) Non-inscrits (4)	Carola Veit SPD since 23 March 2011	2020	2025
Hesse	Landtag	21st	23 22 8 52 28	Astrid Wallmann since 31 May 2022	2023	2028
Hesse	Landtag	21st	Government (75) CDU (52) SPD (23) Opposition (58) AfD (28) Alliance 90/The Greens (22) FDP (8)	Astrid Wallmann since 31 May 2022	2023	2028
Lower Saxony	Landtag	19th	57 24 47 18	Hanna Naber SPD since 8 November 2022	2022	2027
Lower Saxony	Landtag	19th	Government (81) SPD (57) Alliance 90/The Greens (24) Opposition (65) CDU (47) AfD (18)	Hanna Naber SPD since 8 November 2022	2022	2027
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	Landtag	8th	9 34 5 5 12 14	Birgit Hesse SPD since 22 May 2019	2021	2026
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	Landtag	8th	Government (43) SPD (34) The Left (9) Opposition (36) AfD (14) CDU (12) Alliance 90/The Greens (5) FDP (5)	Birgit Hesse SPD since 22 May 2019	2021	2026
North Rhine-Westphalia	Landtag	18th	56 39 12 76 11 1	André Kuper CDU since 1 June 2017	2022	2027
North Rhine-Westphalia	Landtag	18th	Government (115) CDU (76) Alliance 90/The Greens (39) Opposition (80) SPD (56) FDP (12) AfD (11) Non-inscrits (1)	André Kuper CDU since 1 June 2017	2022	2027
Rhineland-Palatinate	Landtag	18th	39 9 6 31 6 6 4	Hendrik Hering SPD since 18 May 2016	2021	2026
Rhineland-Palatinate	Landtag	18th	Government (55) SPD (39) Alliance 90/The Greens (9) FDP (6) Opposition (46) CDU (31) AfD (6) Free Voters (6) Non-inscrits (4)	Hendrik Hering SPD since 18 May 2016	2021	2026
Saarland	Landtag	17th	29 19 3	Heike Becker SPD since 25 April 2022	2022	2027
Saarland	Landtag	17th	Government (29) SPD (29) Opposition (22) CDU (19) AfD (3)	Heike Becker SPD since 25 April 2022	2022	2027
Free State of Saxony	Landtag	8th	6 10 7 15 41 40 1	Alexander Dierks CDU since 01 October 2024	2024	2029
Free State of Saxony	Landtag	8th	CDU (41) AfD (40) BSW (15) SPD (10) Alliance 90/The Greens (7) The Left (6) Non-inscrits (1) The government-formation has not yet been concluded	Alexander Dierks CDU since 01 October 2024	2024	2029
Saxony-Anhalt	Landtag	8th	12 9 6 7 40 23	Gunnar Schellenberger CDU since 6 July 2021	2021	2026
Saxony-Anhalt	Landtag	8th	Government (56) CDU (40) SPD (9) FDP (7) Opposition (41) AfD (23) The Left (12) Alliance 90/The Greens (6)	Gunnar Schellenberger CDU since 6 July 2021	2021	2026
Schleswig-Holstein	Landtag	20th	12 14 4 5 34	Kristina Herbst CDU since 07 May 2022	2022	2027
Schleswig-Holstein	Landtag	20th	Government (48) CDU (34) Alliance 90/The Greens (14) Opposition (21) SPD (12) FDP (5) SSW (4)	Kristina Herbst CDU since 07 May 2022	2022	2027
Free State of Thuringia	Landtag	8th	12 6 15 23 32	Thadäus König CDU since 28 September 2024	2024	2029
Free State of Thuringia	Landtag	8th	AfD (32) CDU (23) BSW (15) The Left (12) SPD (6) The government-formation has not yet been concluded	Thadäus König CDU since 28 September 2024	2024	2029

^ On 16 November 2022, the Constitutional Court of Berlin declared the 2021 Berlin state election invalid due to irregularities. The election had to be repeated with the same lists and candidates within 90 days, resulting in a repeat election on 12 February 2023. Since this was a repeat election, the legislative period continues as scheduled and the next regular Berlin state election will be held in 2026.

Groupings

References

[7] The electoral system of Saarland has a regulatory gap for the (unlikely but theoretically possible) case that a party is proportionally entitled to more seats in the multi member constituencies than would be the case on state level. The election law code does not state, whether this would lead to overhang or even compensation seats or whether the relevant party would lose its entitlement to the overhang mandates.^[6]

[9] On 16 November 2022, the Constitutional Court of Berlin declared the 2021 Berlin state election invalid due to irregularities. The election had to be repeated with the same lists and candidates within 90 days, resulting in a repeat election on 12 February 2023. Since this was a repeat election, the legislative period continues as scheduled and the next regular Berlin state election will be held in 2026.

[1] "Volksentscheid und Bundestagwahl: So hat Bremen abgestimmt – WESER-KURIER". 25 September 2017.

[2] "Verfassung des Landes Baden-Württemberg".

[3] "Verfassung von Berlin – Abschnitt III: Die Volksvertretung". March 2016.

[4] "Wahlsystem der Abgeordnetenhauswahl 2016 in Berlin".

[5] "Wahlsystem der Bürgerschaftswahl 2019 in Bremen (#HBWahl)".

[6] "Regelungslücke im saarländischen Landeswahlgesetz".

[8] "Wahltermine in Deutschland (2021, 2022 usw.)".

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