(9) While this isn't quite what
@Rufus proposed for Germany, it does hold a number of similarities so I feel I should give kudos for some of the inspiration. I think that this is probably the best set of reforms Germany could have secured at the time and given the political climate. This reform answers many of the critiques and problems most people had with the German system at the time, at least to some degree, while also protecting conservative and monarchical interests to some extent. By moving to a federal indirect voting system, the system becomes considerably harder for populist parties to secure federal power - be they left or right wing - while greatly strengthening the status quo. At the same time, the direct proportional elections at a state and local level means that there are places for popular will to find itself expressed which, when coupled with the relatively power held by the state and local levels in the Imperial system mean that these are actually pretty significant avenues to power. Perhaps the most important point here is that this opens up the Prussian Kingdom from the iron grip previously held by the conservatives in the region with the end of the Prussian Franchise - which will have some interesting consequences.
I‘m honored that you took some inspirations from my ideas. So i assume the members of the
Reichstag are elected in similar fashion to the way Senators were elected in the US prior to the passing of the 17th amendment in 1913, where they were elected by the state legislatures, instead of popular vote (except that in this case the German state parliaments vote for lists of candidates rather than individuals, i guess)? In that case, what is the constitutional role of the
Bundesrat now? It was the representation of the German states, but the
Reichstag has more or less taken that role now, with its members being elected by the state legislatures, which makes the
Bundesrat somewhat superfluous. Will it be abolished, or changed into something else? I could see it being transformed into the representative body of the German ruling houses – a German House of Lords, basically, something which Germany didn‘t have before (at least not on the federal level).
You also mentioned that the franchise in Germany was extended on the local and state level, in addition to the constitutional reforms on the federal level. But what about the constitutions of the German states? Were there reforms there as well, other than extension of the franchise? Because none of the German states were parliamentary democracies as we know them today, not even the more liberal ones. Prussia especially is very important, since it has always been the conservative stronghold within Germany, and is by far the largest of the German states, not to mention that Wilhelm is also King of Prussia. Before the war the conservatives were vastly overrepresented in the Prussian parliament thanks to the Prussian electoral system – they must have known that any large scale electoral reform would collapse their numbers. However, i would argue that an even more important issue would actually be the Prussian
Herrenhaus, which was the kingdom‘s Upper House and basically the Prussian equivalent to the British
House of Lords, with most of its members being appointed by the King or having inherited their seat, but with much more power compared to the
House of Lords. It was through the
Herrenhaus that the King/Kaiser could basically veto anything he wanted in Prussia, and though Prussia in Germany as a whole.
If the reforms on the federal level were a compromise, then the same would probably be true for Prussia. In fact, the kingdom is large enough that one could implement constitutional and electoral reforms similar to the ones on the federal level – meaning that the Prussian provinces (Schleswig-Holstein, Brandenburg, Hanover, Silesia, the Rheinland etc.) might get their own regional parliaments, each of which then elects the members of the Prussian
Landtag. This way the more rural eastern provinces, which were always the main powerbase for the conservatives, would retain some influence on Prussian politics (like the smaller and more rural states in the US are intentionally overrepresented in the Senate). In return, the power of the
Herrenhaus is somewhat reduced, though it would remain the representative body of the Prussian aristocracy. Otherwise – if only the electoral system is changed, but nothing else – you would have a Prussian parliament dominated by Social Democrats and Liberals (at least for now), but without much power compared to the
Herrenhaus and the King, which would be a state of affairs that won‘t satisfy anyone.
Regarding the other political reforms in Germany, you mentioned in another update that monarch and
Reichstag now have a roughly equal amount of influence over the government. How exactly is the chancellor selected from now on? Is he elected by the Reichstag, or still appointed by the Kaiser, except that the Reichstag now has the ability to ‚unelect‘ him through a vote of no confidence? I assume the latter, otherwise it wouldn‘t really be ‚equal‘. Is the relationship between the various rulers of the German states and their respective heads of government (
Ministerpräsidenten) similar then?
Finally, what is meant by
direct proportional representation single transferable voting? That‘s a lot of words, lol. I assume that‘s just a fancy way to describe a proportional system where one votes for a party or a list of candidates, instead of a single candidate?
