Politics of North Rhine-Westphalia

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The politics of North Rhine-Westphalia takes place within a framework of a federal parliamentary representative democratic republic. The two main parties are the Centre-right Christian Democratic Union and the Centre-left Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).

Contents

North Rhine-Westphalia uses mixed member proportional representation in the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. [1] Every five years the citizens of North Rhine-Westphalia secretly vote in a general election to elect least 181 members of the Landtag. [1] First-past-the-post voting determines 128 of the minimum 181 members of the Landtag. The remaining seats available to each party is determine by the party-list proportional representation. [1] only parties who win at least 5% of the votes cast may be represented in parliament. [1]

History of politics in North Rhine-Westphalia

From 1966 to 2005, North Rhine-Westphalia was continuously governed by the Social Democrats or SPD-led governments. The 2005 state election granted the CDU an unexpected victory. Their top candidate Jürgen Rüttgers formed a coalition government with the FDP. With the result of the 2010 state elections, this government lost its majority in parliament. After many coalition talks, SPD and the Greens have agreed on a minority government.

Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia

Legislation

The task of legislating is split between the Landtag and the Bundestag. [1] The Bundestag is responsible for all matters which directly affect Germany as a whole. States can only participate in this area through the Bundesrat. [1] The Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia is responsible for cultural matters, the education system, matters of internal security, i.e. the police, building supervision, health supervision and the media within North Rhine-Westphalia. [1] The Landtag may enact laws as long as the Bundestag does not make use of its right to legislate. [1]

The Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia, the parliamentary parties and groups consisting of at least 7 members of parliament have the right to table legal proposals to the Landtag for deliberation. [1] In consultation with the Ältestenrat, the President of the Landtag places the draft bill on the plenary session's agenda. [1] Firstly, the minister responsible, or one of the members who is filing the bill, introduces it to the plenary session and justifies the reasons for introducing it. [1] During this First Reading, if the bill is politically sensitive, there is usually a fundamental debate about the law. [1] Normally, the debate ends with the draft bill being referred to the overall control of the appropriate expert committee and, if necessary, being referred to other committees as well, which may also become involved in the advisory process. [1]

This is when the detailed work begins for the experts in the individual parliamentary parties. [1] External expert witnesses are often brought in to evaluate the legal proposals. They provide statements during what are known as "hearings" and make their contribution to the process of arriving at a decision which is right and proper. [1] Preparations for the expert committees also take place in the parliamentary party working groups. [1] The weekly parliamentary party meetings are a forum for exchanging information between committee members and other Members of Parliament. [1]

The draft bill is examined down to the last detail in a small group, before appearing for a second time on the agenda of the plenary session, when it is debated afresh on the basis of the committee report. [1] Every Member of Parliament now has another opportunity to table amendments. [1] In this Second Reading, once members have decided which tabled amendments to accept, it is usual for the final vote concerning the law to take place. [1]

Constitutional changes and budgetary laws are debated in three Readings. [1] For other proposed legislation, a parliamentary party or a quarter of all members of parliament can apply for there to be a Third Reading and, if necessary, further committee consultations. [1]

The law passed by the Landtag is delivered to the Minister-President, who, together with the ministers involved, is required to sign it and announce it in the Law and Ordinance Gazette. [1] When the law comes into force is normally determined by the legislation itself, most usually the day after its announcement. [1]

Election results

Since the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany, the election results in the state have been:

State election results from 1947 to 2022
Year SPD CDU FDP Grüne AfD OtherGovernment
194732.0%37.6%6.0% KPD 14.0%
Zentrum 9.8%
Other 0.8%
CDU–SPD–KPD–Z
195032.3%36.9%12.1%Zentrum 7.5%
KPD 5.5%
Other 5.7%
CDU–Z
195434.5%41.3%11.5%Zentrum 4.0%
Other 8.7%
CDU–FDP–Z
SPD–FDP–Z
195839.2%50.5%7.1%3.2%CDU
196243.3%46.4%6.9%3.4%CDU–FDP
196649.5%42.8%7.4%0.3%SPD–FDP
197046.1%46.3%5.5%2.1%SPD–FDP
197545.1%47.1%6.7%1.1%SPD–FDP
198048.4%43.2%4.98%3.0%0.4%SPD
198552.1%36.5%6.0%4.6%0.8%SPD
1990 50.0%36.7%5.8%5.05%2.5%SPD
1995 46.0%37.7%4.0%10.0%2.3%SPD–Grüne
2000 42.8%37.0%9.8%7.1%3.3%SPD–Grüne
2005 37.1%44.8%6.2%6.2%3.5%CDU–FDP
2010 34.5%34.6%6.7%12.1% Linke 5.6%
Other 5.5%
SPD–Grüne (minority)
2012 39.1%26.3%8.6%11.3% Pirates 7.8%
Other 6.9%
SPD–Grüne
2017 31.2%33.0%12.6%6.4%7.4%9.4%CDU–FDP
2022 26.7%35.7%5.9%18.2%5.4%8.2%CDU–Grüne

Party strength in the Landtag

Election yearTotal
seats
Seats won
CDU SPD FDP DZP Grüne AfD Other
1947 2169264122028 [a]
1950 2159368261612 [b]
1954 2009076259
1958 2001048115
1962 200969014
1966 200869915
1970 200959411
1975 200959114
1980 20195106
1985 2278812514
1990 237891221412
1995 2318910824
2000 231881022417
2005 18789741212
2010 1816767132311 [c]
2012 2376799222920 [d]
2017 1997269281416
2022 1957656123912

Legislative compositions

State election results maps

Constituencies in the Landtag

Cologne Administrative District


Düsseldorf Administrative District


Münster Administrative District


Detmold Administrative District


Arnsberg Administrative District

Constituencies in the Bundestag

NoConstituencyMember2021Voters20172013200920052002199819941990
86 Aachen I Oliver Krischer Grüne 176,306CDUCDUCDUSPDSPD SPD CDU CDU
87 Aachen II Claudia Moll SPD226,420SPDCDU CDU SPDSPDSPDSPD SPD
88 Heinsberg Wilfried Oellers CDU192,346CDUCDUCDUCDUCDUCDUCDU CDU
89 Düren Thomas Rachel CDU199,656CDUCDUCDUCDUSPD SPD CDU CDU
90 Rhein-Erft-Kreis I Georg Kippels CDU249,035CDUCDU CDU SPDSPDSPDSPD SPD
91 Euskirchen – Rhein-Erft-Kreis II Detlef Seif CDU249,198CDUCDUCDUCDUCDUCDUCDU CDU
92 Cologne I Sanae Abdi SPD190,630 CDU SPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPD SPD
93 Cologne II Sven Lehmann Grüne 242,483CDUCDUCDUSPDSPD SPD CDU CDU
94 Cologne III Rolf Mützenich SPD204,539SPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPD SPD
95 Bonn Katrin Uhlig Grüne 230,215SPDSPDSPDSPD SPD CDUCDU CDU
96 Rhein-Sieg-Kreis I Elisabeth Winkelmeier-Becker CDU238,627CDUCDUCDUCDUSPD SPD CDU CDU
97 Rhein-Sieg-Kreis II Norbert Röttgen CDU216,063CDUCDUCDUCDUCDUCDUCDU CDU
98 Oberbergischer Kreis Carsten Brodesser CDU206,640CDUCDUCDUCDUCDU SPD CDU CDU
99 Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis Hermann-Josef Tebroke CDU217,193CDUCDUCDUCDUCDUCDUCDU CDU
100 Leverkusen – Cologne IV Erwin Rüddel SPD209,102SPDSPDSPDSPD SPD Created for 2002 election
101 Wuppertal I Helge Lindh SPD202,528SPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPD SPD
102 Solingen – Remscheid – Wuppertal II Ingo Schäfer SPD220,204CDUCDUCDUSPDSPDSPD SPD CDU
103 Mettmann I Klaus Wiener CDU203,030CDUCDUCDUCDUSPD SPD CDU CDU
104 Mettmann II Peter Beyer CDU160,175CDUCDUCDUSPDSPD SPD CDU CDU
105 Düsseldorf I Thomas Jarzombek CDU220,827CDUCDUCDUCDUSPD SPD CDU CDU
106 Düsseldorf II Andreas Rimkus SPD190,102CDUCDU CDU SPDSPDSPDSPD SPD
107 Neuss I Hermann Gröhe CDU213,250CDUCDUCDUCDU SPD CDUCDU CDU
108 Mönchengladbach Günter Krings CDU185,185CDUCDUCDUCDUCDU SPD CDU CDU
109 Krefeld I – Neuss II Ansgar Heveling CDU200,048CDUCDUCDUCDU CDU Created for 2002 election
110 Viersen Martin Plum CDU227,166CDUCDUCDUCDUCDUCDUCDU CDU
111 Kleve Erwin Rüddel CDU224,463CDUCDUCDUCDUCDUCDUCDU CDU
112 Wesel I Daniel Rinkert SPD206,270CDUCDU CDU SPDSPDSPDSPD SPD
113 Krefeld II – Wesel II Jan Dieren SPD175,852 CDU SPDSPDSPD SPD Created for 2002 election
114 Duisburg I Bärbel Bas SPD163,394SPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPD SPD
115 Duisburg II Mahmut Özdemir SPD155,265SPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPD SPD
116 Oberhausen – Wesel III Dirk Vöpel SPD199,156SPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPD SPD
117 Mülheim – Essen I Sebastian Fiedler SPD182,895SPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPD SPD
118 Essen II Dirk Heidenblut SPD156,298SPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPD SPD
119 Essen III Matthias Hauer CDU190,335CDU CDU SPDSPDSPDSPDSPD SPD
120 Recklinghausen I Frank Schwabe SPD165,193SPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPD SPD
121 Recklinghausen II Erwin Rüddel SPD186,413SPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPD SPD
122 Gelsenkirchen Markus Töns SPD168,496SPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPD SPD
123 Steinfurt I – Borken I Jens Spahn CDU202,388CDUCDUCDUCDU CDU Created for 2002 election
124 Bottrop – Recklinghausen III Michael Gerdes SPD199,344SPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPD SPD
125 Borken II Anne König CDU201,102CDUCDUCDUCDUCDUCDUCDU CDU
126 Neuwied Marc Henrichmann CDU194,695CDUCDUCDUCDUCDUCDUCDU CDU
127 Steinfurt III Anja Karliczek CDU195,513CDUCDUCDUSPDSPDSPD SPD CDU
128 Münster Maria Klein-Schmeink Grüne 233,953CDUCDUCDUSPD SPD CDUCDU CDU
129 Warendorf Henning Rehbaum CDU208,754CDUCDUCDUCDUCDUCDUCDU CDU
130 Gütersloh I Ralph Brinkhaus CDU234,177CDUCDUCDUCDUCDUCDUCDU CDU
131 Bielefeld – Gütersloh II Wiebke Esdar SPD243,059SPDSPD CDU SPDSPDSPDSPD SPD
132 Herford – Minden-Lübbecke II Stefan Schwartze SPD226,894SPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPD SPD
133 Minden-Lübbecke I Achim Post SPD201,888SPDCDU CDU SPDSPDSPDSPD SPD
134 Lippe I Jürgen Berghahn SPD224,415 CDU SPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPD SPD
135 Höxter – Gütersloh III – Lippe II Christian Haase CDU172,435CDUCDUCDUCDUCDUCDUCDU CDU
136 Paderborn Carsten Linnemann CDU231,534CDUCDUCDUCDUCDUCDUCDU CDU
137 Hagen – Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis I Timo Schisanowski SPD201,594SPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPD SPD
138 Neuwied Axel Echeverria SPD175,283SPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPD SPD
139 Bochum I Axel Schäfer SPD202,393SPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPD SPD
140 Herne – Bochum II Michelle Müntefering SPD173,939SPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPD SPD
141 Dortmund I Jens Peick SPD206,727SPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPD SPD
142 Dortmund II Sabine Poschmann SPD199,317SPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPD SPD
143 Unna I Oliver Kaczmarek SPD194,493SPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPD SPD
144 Hamm – Unna II Michael Thews SPD231,226SPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPD SPD
145 Soest Hans-Jürgen Thies CDU231,811CDUCDUCDUCDUCDU SPD CDU CDU
146 Hochsauerlandkreis Friedrich Merz CDU200,496CDUCDUCDUCDUCDUCDUCDU CDU
147 Siegen-Wittgenstein Volkmar Klein CDU207,672CDUCDUCDUSPDSPD SPD CDU CDU
148 Olpe – Märkischer Kreis I Florian Müller CDU203,350CDUCDUCDUCDUCDUCDUCDU CDU
149 Märkischer Kreis II Paul Ziemiak CDU 195,816SPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPDSPD SPD

See also

Notes

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 "The Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia". Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia . Retrieved 11 April 2011.