To What Extent Was Germany a Parliamentary Democracy in the Years 1900-1914?

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To what extent was Germany a parliame ntary democracy in the years 1900-1914? In the years 1900-1914, Germany was a parliamentary democracy due to the concessions and the laws that were being introduced that benefitted the growing working class. The definition of a parliamentary democracy is that there should be people who are elected to represent the country and the elected body should have more power. Though, there are clear signs that despite of all of the laws and the responsibilities given to certain groups, the Kaiser still had the ultimate power and control over Germany and the Chancellor still had overriding power of the Reichstag. Arguments to agree with the statement is that Germany did have a voting system and this was done on universal suffrage for all males over the age of 25, which was exactly the same in countries such as Britain and France and arguably better than America who discriminated against racial minorities. These votes were for the election of members to the Reichstag, which did contain power over the defence and annual budget which was the most significant federal government expenditure. Also, though the Reichstag could be dissolved by the Kaiser, it could not be dissolved indefinitely and it had the right to hold elections after its dissolution. This shows that the Reichstag would always have a voice over political issues in Germany even if the Kaiser elected to dissolve it, showing that Germany was a parliamentary democracy to a small extent. Pressure groups also existed in Germany at the time, which shows that the German public had a certain amount to freedom of speech. These pressure groups were often met with a response from the government, with The German Colonial League, The Pan German League and the Navy League all being responded to with the policies of Weltpolitik and Flottenpolitik, which expanded Germany’s foreign affairs
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