22. What form of state does Germany have?

Answer options

1. Monarchy
2. Dictatorship
3. Republic
4. Principality

Explanation

Germany is a republic; the republican form of state follows from the very designation Federal Republic, from the principle of popular sovereignty (Art. 20(2) Basic Law), and is expressly required for the Länder by Art. 28(1). Constitutionally, Germany is also a democratic and social federal state (Art. 20(1)) with a parliamentary system of government. The monarchical form ended in 1918 with the Kaiser’s abdication, leading through the Weimar Constitution (1919) to a republican tradition consolidated by the Basic Law since 1949. Core structural principles, including democracy, the rule of law, and federalism, are specially entrenched via the eternity clause in Art. 79(3).