Political Rights: 1
Civil Liberties: 1
Status: Free
Population: 82,600,000
GNI/Capita: $23,560
Life Expectancy: 78
Religious Groups: Protestant (34 percent), Roman Catholic (34 percent), Muslim (3.7 percent), other (28.3 percent)
Ethnic Groups: German (92 percent), Turkish (2 percent), other (6 percent)
Capital: Berlin


Overview

Germany, which held a temporary seat on the UN Security Council, was prominent on the world stage in 2003 as it stood with France and Russia in opposing the U.S.and British-led war in Iraq. The stance, espoused vociferously by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, significantly strained relations with the United States. However, it was popular in Germany, where most citizens opposed the war. Having won reelection in September 2002, Schroeder soon saw his poll ratings decline sharply as the economy continued to falter. However, he subsequently began to gather the will for controversial reforms, particularly of the labor market, that might boost economic growth. Germany has also come under censure from the European Union (EU) for admitting it will breach the euro-zone's excessive-deficit ceiling for the second straight year.

The modern German state emerged in 1871 out of the fragmented Germanic states that existed until that point. Defeated in World War I, and again more devastatingly in World War II, Germany was divided into two states – the capitalist and democratic Federal Republic in the west and the Communist German Democratic Republic in the east – during the ensuing Cold War. In 1989, the Berlin Wall keeping East Berliners from fleeing west was opened, and in 1990, East Germany was absorbed into the Federal Republic. Despite more than a decade of massive subsidies, eastern Germany remains considerably poorer than the rest of the country, with higher levels of unemployment. This economic situation is seen to have contributed to higher levels of support for political groups on the far right and far left in the former East.

The current government, a coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Green Party, was first elected in 1998, with the SPD's Schroeder as chancellor. The government's first term was marked by slow economic growth (just 0.6 percent and 0.2 percent in the 2001 and 2002), and the SPD's poll ratings languished late in 2002. However, Schroeder's vocal opposition to the war in Iraq played well with voters, and the coalition parties bested the opposition alliance of the Christian Democratic Party and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) in the September 22, 2002 legislative elections.

Poll ratings sank quickly again after the election, however, and the SPD, the main coalition party, lagged well behind the CDU/CSU in 2003. The primary reason may be dissatisfaction with the economy, especially with the stubbornly high unemployment rate of around 10 percent. Schroeder began to tackle this issue in earnest with labor-market reforms in 2002. His proposals have included making it easier for firms to fire workers, encouraging the creation of part-time and lower-wage "mini-jobs," and cutting benefits to the unemployed if they prove unwilling to move to take a job or to take an available job. The labor unions, which have traditionally been a major supporter of the SPD, reacted angrily and threatened to strike. However, the collapse of a major unrelated strike by the IG Metall metalworkers' union in eastern Germany weakened the unions in general. Moreover, the chancellor has the tacit support of the opposition CDU/CSU for the core of his reforms, which he needs because the CDU/CSU has a majority in the upper house of parliament.

Relations with the EU were strained over budget deficits in 2003. Member states that adopt the euro as their currency must pledge to run budget deficits of no more than 3 percent of gross domestic product or face heavy fines. Though this rule itself is largely a German creation, Germany breached the ceiling in 2002 and projected that it would do so again in 2003. Though it has been repeatedly warned by the European Commission (the EU's executive), there have been no fines levied.

As a result of Germany's opposition to the Iraq war, relations with France tightened, while relations with the United States suffered. Germany held the chairmanship of the UN Security Council during many of the key debates leading up to the war, and the foreign minister, the pacifist Green Party's Joschka Fischer, played a prominent role. After the war, Germany tentatively sought to improve relations with the United States by, for example, offering to train Iraqi police in Germany. It declined to send peacekeepers to Iraq, but in a mollifying move, it bolstered its presence in Afghanistan.

Political Rights and Civil Liberties

Germans can change their government democratically. The constitution provides for a lower house (Bundestag) elected by a mixture of proportional representation and single-member districts, to be reelected at least every four years. The chancellor must control a majority in the Bundestag. The upper house, the Bundesrat, represents the states, and it must approve of much key legislation, including economic bills. Its members are delegates from the individual state governments, and each state's delegation must vote as a block. The head of state is a largely ceremonial federal president, chosen by the parliament. Germany is strongly federal; state governments have considerable authority over areas such as education and policing, as well as substantial powers to tax and spend.

Political pluralism in Germany has been constrained by laws restricting the far-left and far-right. The Communist Party of Germany was banned in the Federal Re public in 1956. However, the former ruling East German Communist Party, now renamed the Party of Democratic Socialism, is a legal and democratic, if far-left, party that has participated in state governments. Several far-right parties, hostile to immigration and the EU, receive a small share of the vote. One, the German People's Union, caused consternation by winning 13 percent of the vote in a state election in Saxony-Anhalt in 1998, but it has been kept out of government at both the federal and state levels. Moreover, the alteration of asylum laws has undercut basic support for such parties, which together won less than 3 percent of the vote in 2002 and no seats in parliament. Nazism is illegal, but the government's attempts to ban the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party were hung up in court when it was revealed that many of those testifying against the party were government agents.

Germany's government is accountable through open debates in parliament that are covered widely in the media. The government is free of pervasive corruption and was ranked number 16 out of 133 countries in Transparency International's 2003 Corruption Perceptions Index.

Freedom of expression is protected in the Basic Law (the constitution), and the media are largely free and independent. However, it remains illegal to advocate Nazism or deny the Holocaust. German authorities have sought to prosecute Internet users outside Germany posting Nazi propaganda aimed at Germany, although this will be technically impossible to prosecute.

The Constitutional Court ruled in March that surveillance of journalists' phone calls could be deemed legal in "serious" cases (on a case-by-case basis) by judges. The lack of a definition of "serious" is a cause for concern to the media watchdog group Reporters Sans Frontieres, which fears that the vagueness of the word invites abuse.

Freedom of belief is protected under law. Religions that fulfill certain requirements have the status of a "corporation under public law," and the government collects taxes from church members on the churches' behalf, for a fee. However, Germany has taken a strong stance against the Church of Scientology, which it deems an economic organization rather than a religion. Major parties deny membership to Scientologists, and the group has been under surveillance by government intelligence agencies. The Jehovah's Witnesses were denied public law corporation status in 1997 for failing to demonstrate "indispensable loyalty" to the democratic state, but this ruling was overturned on church-state separation grounds by the high court in 2000. However, the case was still under review by the courts, which have expressed concern that the Jehovah's Witnesses' child-rearing practices do not conform to international human rights law. Academic freedom is respected.

Civic groups and NGOs may operate without hindrance, and the right of peaceful assembly is not infringed, except in the case of outlawed groups such as those advocating Nazism or opposing Germany's democratic order. Trade unions, farmers' groups, and business confederations are free to organize, and they have traditionally played a strong role in Germany's consensus-based policy-making system. However, unions have weakened in recent years.

The judiciary is independent, and the rule of law prevails. The Federal Constitutional Court vets the compatibility of laws with the Basic Law. In addition to having its own provisions, Germany is a party to the European Convention on Human Rights. Prison conditions are adequate, with two isolated cases of abuse reported in 2003. Anti-immigrant sentiment led to attacks on members of ethnic minorities.

Women's rights are strongly protected, with generous maternity policies and anti-discrimination laws, though the latter do not prevent some wage discrimination. There are six women in the fourteen-member federal cabinet. Limited gay partnership rights are permitted.

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