comparison and contrast of US and German executive branches

                                                 Steve Rice

                                                 Political Science 90

                                                 Computer Project

The German system of government is often referred to as a ôChancellor

democracyö owing to the powers and responsibilities of the Federal Chancellor, head of

federal government. The Chancellor is directly elected by the bundestag, GermanyÆs

parliament, upon the proposal of a candidate from the Federal President, currently Prof.

Dr. Roman Herzog. The Chancellor is the only member of the government elected by the

parliament and he alone is accountable to it. The Chancellor chooses the federal

ministers that will compose the cabinet and proposes them to the President for

appointment or dismissal. He also determines the number of ministers and their

responsibilities.

The guidelines of government policy are set by the Chancellor, placing

him in a particularly strong position in government. That the Chancellor is accountable to

parliament is evidenced by the inclusion of the ôconstructive vote of no confidenceö in

the Basic Law. A vote of no confidence in the the current Chancellor must also be a vote

of confidence for a successor. It was in this way that the current Chancellor, Dr. Helmut

Kohl, was elected in 1982.

The chancellor