Political institutions
Click any node. The diagram shows who elects whom and what each body does.
Bundestag
~736 MdB · 4-year term
Currently in officeJulia Klöckner (CDU) — President of the Bundestag since March 2025
Watch & listen
About
The federal parliament — Germany's main legislative body, elected directly by the people.
How it actually works
The Bundestag sits in the Reichstagsbuilding in Berlin and is the heart of German democracy. It debates and passes federal laws, decides the federal budget, and supervises the government — most visibly through Question Time (Fragestunde) and committee hearings.
After each election, the Bundestag's first job is to elect the Bundeskanzler/in by absolute majority. From then on, the cabinet only stays in office as long as that majority holds. A constructive vote of no confidence (konstruktives Misstrauensvotum) is the only way to remove a chancellor mid-term — and the opposition must already have a successor lined up.
The 2025 electoral reform shrinks the Bundestag back to a target of 630 seats, ending the overhang/balance-seat inflation that pushed it past 700.
Main functions
- Passes federal laws
- Elects the Bundeskanzler/in
- Controls the government & budget
- Provides half of the Bundesversammlung
Quick facts
- Seats: target 630 (post-2025 reform), formerly 736
- Term: 4 years, can be dissolved early by the Bundespräsident
- Quorum: absolute majority elects the Kanzler
- Sits in the Reichstag building, Berlin
- Public sessions — anyone can watch from the visitor tribune