German Constitution Research Articles

The Development of the Executive Power in Germany

The broad use of the “dictatorial” powers granted by the German constitution to the president and the widespread popular demand for constitutional and administrative reform are the two dominant themes of political discussion in Germany today. Both are centered in the problem of what place the executive power occupies, and should occupy, in the German constitutional order. In this age of dictatorship and national concentration, the question is by no means peculiar to Germany. But the German situation contains a number of unusual features which it is the object of this paper to make more vivid and understandable. To this end, I shall first sketch the earlier history of a rather independent executive, then show the place of the executive power in the ordinary parliamentary system of the Weimar constitution, and finally discuss the emergence of a more independent executive under the presidential emergency power.

Publication of Treaties (Germany) Case.

Treaties — Operation and Enforcement of — German Constitution — Effect of Publication in the Journal of Laws — Function of Publication — Deposit of Ratifications.

High Treason (Treaty of Versailles in Germany) Case.

International Law — Relation to Municipal Law — German Law and the Treaty of Versailles — Article 4 of the German Constitution — Effect of Treaties upon Individuals — Alleged Violation of the Treaty of Versailles by Germany — Publication by German Subject — High Treason — The State’s Right of Self-Defence — How far Limited by International Treaties.

Württemberg and Prussia v. Baden.

Rivers — Rights and Duties of States which are Members of Federal States — Analogy with International Rivers — Interference with Natural Flow of — Duty to Maintain the Bed of the River in Proper Condition — Applicability of International Law — Relations between Member States — Article 4 of the German Constitution

Reparations Levy (Aliens in Germany) Case.

332Aliens — Liability to Taxation — Taxation for War Purposes — Distinguished from Taxation for Defraying a War Indemnity — Relation of International Law to Municipal Law — Article 4 of the German Constitution — Nationality of Companies — Interpretation of Commercial Treaties.

Tenth Year of New German Constitution

Tenth Year of New German Constitution

The New German Constitution in Theory and Practice

The New German Constitution in Theory and Practice

The German Constitution: A Bibliography

LES etudes theoriques concernant la nature du nouveau Reich et les principes generaux de la Constitution weimarienne sont naturellement legion,'' comments one of the best of the theorists of the new German Constitution in the course of his own bibliography. The only objection which any future bibliographer might make to this statement is as to the studied moderation of the term legion. One need only point out that the list of books, pamphlets, and periodical articles dealing with the Revolution and the new Constitution printed by Walter Jellinek in the Jahrbchs des oflentlichen Rechts der Gegenwart (Vol. IX) in i92o-a little more than two years after the outbreak of the Revolution-filled no less than eight pages. The present bibliography makes no claim to completeness. It seeks merely to present a selection of the more important materials available in French, English, and German, for the study of the Constitution of August iith, I9I9. For the sources of this instrument the student must go farafield. The German Revolution of November, I9I8, was the total collapse of an old system rather,than the victory of a new. As a result, the new structure built on the ruins of the old was a more or less hasty compromise between the Weltanschauungen of a variety of different groups. In the National Assembly at Weimar the Catholic Centre, the Democrats, awnd the SocialDemocrats had between them an overwhelming majority, but neither were their views in accord with each other, nor could any one of them fulfil its programme without outside support. And even within the parties themselves, so unexpectedly had the Revolution come, there was no whole-hearted agreement as to the detailed application of their basic principles. Trained as they were in the essentially fruitless opposition of the Reichstag, they were ill-prepared for the great constructive task that lay ahead of them. A striking feature of the Constitution is that although through

The New German Constitution. By René Brunet. Translated from the French by Joseph Gollomb. Foreword by Charles A. Beard. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1922. Pp. xiv, 339.)

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The New German Constitution

The New German Constitution

The Salient Points in the German Constitution of 1919

The Salient Points in the German Constitution of 1919

The new german constitution

AbstractIn the new republican constitution of Germany written at Weimar last year are to be found the initiative, referendum, recall, proportional representation and municipal home rule! All, however, being more or less Germanized.

The New German Constitution

To understand the real nature of the government which now, under its new constitution, is attempting to guide the German nation through the perils of reconstruction is indeed a baffling problem. We are as yet too close to the events which brought it into existence and clothed it with constitutional forms to attempt their evaluation or to determine their significance. The revolution was so unlike what we should have expected as necessary to shift the ultimate power in the state from a narrow military and landed oligarchy to the masses of the people, that a doubt forces itself upon us as to its genuineness. The war, with its shattering of national ideals, its appalling toll of life, the grinding misery which it imposed, and the insuperable financial bondage to which it condemned the nation for an indefinite future, might account for a thorough popular disillusionment which would sweep the nation into the current of democracy. But if this were the case, we would expect a general enthusiasm for the new government, an evident popular sense of the passing of the dark night of autocratic rule and a joy in the light of a new and happier day.This is exactly what does not exist. There are three classes in Germany today. The first, who constitute only a small minority, are the nationalists and militarists who are bitterly opposed to the republic, and even now are agitating at every favorable opportunity for the restoration of the monarchy in its old form. The second class are likewise a comparatively small minority. They are the revolutionaries, the Spartacists with some of the Independent Socialists, who are just as strongly opposed to the government, using wherever possible the instruments of direct action to inaugurate the revolution which they believe has not yet been achieved. The vast mass of the nation appear to be utterly indifferent with respect to forms of government.

German Democracy at the Cross Roads : The Old and New German Constitutions

German Democracy at the Cross Roads : The Old and New German Constitutions

Some Reflections on the German Constitution

Some Reflections on the German Constitution

Germany’s Form of Government

Essay| June 01 1917 Germany’s Form of Government: The Constitutional Fabric which President Wilson Says must be Altered Walter S. Smoot Walter S. Smoot The war message of President "Wilson indicated that the United States would make no peace with Germany until its present system of autocracy was overthrown. What constitutes that system is explained herewith by Mr. Smoot, in an analysis of the German Constitution prepared for Current History Magazine. Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Current History (1917) 6_Part-1 (3): 516–521. https://doi.org/10.1525/curh.1917.6P1.3.516 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Walter S. Smoot; Germany’s Form of Government: The Constitutional Fabric which President Wilson Says must be Altered. Current History 1 September 1917; 6_Part-1 (3): 516–521. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/curh.1917.6P1.3.516 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentCurrent History Search This content is only available via PDF. © 1917 by The Regents of the University of California1917 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.