Bundestag, Bundesrat, and Bundespräsident: Who Does What?

The Deutscher Bundestag is the only federal organ directly elected by the people (Art. 38 Grundgesetz). Everything else in the federal architecture — the Bundeskanzler, the federal judges, even the Bundespräsident — derives its legitimacy, directly or indirectly, from this election [1].

Composition after electoral reform (starting with the 2025 federal election)#

Until 2021 the Bundestag had a statutory baseline of 598 seats but routinely ballooned to over 700 via Überhangs- und Ausgleichsmandate. The 20th Bundestag elected in September 2021 reached 736 seats, the largest in German history [2].

In March 2023 the Bundestag passed a reform of the Bundeswahlgesetz that abolishes Überhangmandate and caps the chamber at a firm 630 seats from the 2025 election onwards. The Bundesverfassungsgericht confirmed the reform as largely constitutional on 30 July 2024 (2 BvF 1/23), while striking down the elimination of the Grundmandatsklausel [3][4]. Key features of the new system:

• Erststimme — you vote for a direct candidate in one of 299 Wahlkreise. Under the new seat-allocation mechanism introduced by the amended Bundeswahlgesetz, winning the Erststimme no longer automatically guarantees a seat: only as many direct winners per party enter parliament as the party's Zweitstimme share supports (Zweitstimmendeckung). Note that the precise implementation of this mechanism — and certain aspects of its constitutionality — remained subject to ongoing political and legal debate following the BVerfG's July 2024 ruling; the court resolved the central constitutional questions but left some implementation details open to further legislative and judicial scrutiny.
• Zweitstimme — you vote for a party list at Land level. This vote determines how many of the 630 seats each party receives nationally.
• 5-Prozent-Hürde — a party must clear 5% of nationwide Zweitstimmen to enter parliament, with the Grundmandatsklausel exception restored by the BVerfG: a party winning at least 3 direct mandates enters proportionally even below 5%.

What the Bundestag actually dös#

Under the Grundgesetz the Bundestag has four main functions (Wahlfunktion, Gesetzgebungsfunktion, Kontrollfunktion, Artikulationsfunktion) [5]:

1. Elects the Bundeskanzler (Art. 63 GG) — on proposal of the Bundespräsident, by absolute majority (Kanzlermehrheit).
2. Passes federal laws (Art. 77 GG) — in three Lesungen; bills can originate in the government, in the Bundesrat, or in the Bundestag itself (minimum: one fraction or 5% of MPs).
3. Controls the executive — through Kleine and Große Anfragen, Aktuelle Stunden, and binding Untersuchungsausschüsse (Art. 44 GG), which have strong investigative powers, including the power to compel testimony and documents within constitutional limits.
4. Passes the federal budget (Art. 110 GG) — the Königsrecht des Parlaments.

The Bundestag also elects half of the 16 judges of the Bundesverfassungsgericht (the other half is elected by the Bundesrat, each with a two-thirds supermajority — Art. 94 GG).

Fractions and committees#

A Fraktion requires at least 5% of the Bundestag's members. Fractions — not individual MPs — control speaking time, committee seats, and most procedural rights. The permanent committees (Ausschüsse) mirror the ministries and do the real legislative work; plenary sessions are mostly the visible tip of the iceberg. For the 20th Bundestag (2021–2025) there were 24 such committees, but the exact number changes from legislative term to term — consult the official Bundestag committee list for the current term [6].

A parliamentary, not presidential, system#

Unlike the United States, Germany's executive is inside the parliament. The Bundeskanzler and the ministers must be able to command a Bundestag majority at all times; losing a constructive vote of no-confidence (Art. 67 GG) removes the Kanzler immediately. This coupling is the defining feature of a parlamentarisches Regierungssystem.

Sources#

[1] Grundgesetz, Artikel 38, 63, 67, 77, https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/gg (Tier 1 — primary law).

[2] Deutscher Bundestag, Sitzverteilung im 20. Deutschen Bundestag, https://www.bundestag.de (Tier 1).

[3] Bundestag, Änderung des Bundeswahlgesetzes vom 8. Juni 2023, BGBl. I Nr. 147 (Tier 1).

[4] Bundesverfassungsgericht, Urteil vom 30. Juli 2024, 2 BvF 1/23, https://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de (Tier 1).

[5] Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, Aufgaben des Bundestages, https://www.bpb.de (Tier 1 — official civic education authority).

[6] Deutscher Bundestag, Ausschüsse des Bundestages, https://www.bundestag.de/ausschüsse (Tier 1 — consult for the current legislative term).