Characteristics Of The Weimar Constitution

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“The Weimar constitution was not democratic, nor did it provide the basis for stable government.” Assess the validity of this view. The Weimar constitution was forced into creation by the German desire to sign an armistace with the Allied forces after significant defeats on the Western front. Not only were the Allies demanding a democratic governing style in Germany, but there was also a strong desire to move away from the autocratic state that had existed under the Kaiser. Although the new constitution outwardly appeared to be democratic, there were several internal factors that severely undermined the democratic integrity of the new constitution, and made it almost indistinguishable from its autocratic predecessor. At first glance, the new …show more content…

This hugley undermined the democratic integrity of the constitution; after all, the Germany had just forced one autocratic leader out of office, only for a new one to take his place. Although these powers were only meant to be used in times of emergency, Ebert used them 136 times during his six years as President. Many of the times, his reason for using them was simply to pass a law that he particulary wanted, but was unable to get through the Reichstag because proportional representation had given such significant representation to such a large number of ideologically opposing political parties. The use of thse powers showed that, even though he disagreed with the way in which he reached the office of President (ie. he had been placed there after the revolutionary actions of both Prince Max, the Chancellor, and Philip Scheidemann, his right-hand man), he was still happy enough to sue his power and authority in very undemocratic, and indeed positively autocratic, …show more content…

Not only did it give far too much representation to small and often politically extreme parties, but it aslo created too much of a political schism within the Reichstag, which made it very difficult for it to work together in order for it to pass laws (hence why Ebert used Article 48 so many times.) Although a far more democratic electoral system than, for example, the United Kingdom’s First-Past-The-Post system, the use of proportional representation meant that the parties that were elected by the people were not actully able to work for the betterment of their voters, because of thedisjointed and fragile poltical climate of the

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