Parliamentary Democracy Essay

1144 Words5 Pages
Parliamentary democracy refers to a democratic system of government in which the party which has the largest amount of support from the electorate and the greatest representation in the Reichstag becomes the executive, therefore accurately representing the opinions of the majority of the population. During the period 1900-1914, Germany’s political landscape witnessed extraordinary changes in which typical features associated with a parliamentary democracy- such as significant and influential pressure group activity and universal suffrage- were present. It can however be argued that this period also represented a time in which the German Reichstag did not truly represent the population due to archaic and corrupt voting system for Prussia which saw votes disproportionately given and the role of all the chancellors- in particular Von Bulow- during this time, which saw unelected officials yielding greater influence than that of the Reichstag. The extent to which Germany was accurately an parliamentary democracy is the subject of controversy due to the many contrasting features of the political system- Germany may have had many features where an “parliamentary democracy” can be boasted, but there are also just as many contrasting points which expose the system as being corrupt and broken. One of the most significant points in favour of Germany being a parliamentary democracy is the fact that it practiced universal suffrage. Following the unification of Germany in January 1871, Bismarck introduced universal male suffrage for elections to the Imperial Parliament (called the Reichstag), which were conducted through the use of secret ballot. This is clearly an example of Germany acting as a parliamentary democracy because it allowed people of all classes to vote, meaning that every layer of society had the opportunity to be able to be represented. The use of the secret
Open Document