How Does the Principle of Вђ?consensusвђ™ Manifest Itself in the Political System of the Federal Republic of Germany (frg)?

How does the principle of �consensus’ manifest itself in the political system of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG)?

In Arend Lijpharts Patterns of Democracy (1999, 34), he describes the �consensus’ model of democracy as a model that tries to share, disperse, and restrain power as opposed to the Westminster-style majoritarian model, which aims to concentrate power in the hands of the majority. This essay will analyse the Federal Republic of Germany and aim to show to what extent the principle of �consensus’ is manifested in its political system, focusing on the constitution, electoral system, Federalism and the legislative.

Constitutional rigidity and strong judicial review are two elements of the principle of �consensus’ and both of these are manifested in the FRG’s political system (Lijphart, 1999, 40-41). The FRG’s �Basic Law’, named as such in order to emphasize the provisional and transitional character of the West German state after World War Two, can be described as a constitutional democratic theory mainly of European and American traditions, creating a human-rights based democracy underpinned by a high degree of power sharing, separation of powers, a competitive party system, the rule of law, federalism, the commitment to social policy and the openness of the constitution to the delegation of sovereignty to international and