The Key Features of the Weimar Constitution

The Key Features of the Weimar Constitution

The Weimar constitution worked better than the second Reich, which

reformed in 1918. The constitution was present for a number of years

in Germany, which reflected the effectiveness of the system. It was

under a far more democratic regime due to the change in the political

structure hence involving more elections due to the voting system that

was in power.

Firstly, the main key feature of the Weimar Republic was its new

electoral system. Part of the system is the introduction of

proportional representation that meant parties in the Riechtag would

gain seats depending upon the number of votes they got in the most

recent election. The consequence of this was that it brought a number

of parties together with the help of another key feature of the

constitution, the “Bill of Rights”. This meant that parties could

express their views, as the “Bill of Rights” was a law that gave

people the freedom of speech. This union made representation of many

opposing parties very open, which effectively made the Weimar

constitution more democratic. However P.R made it difficult for a lot

of parties to gain a majority of seats in the Reichstag, which made it

harder for one major party to take control of the country. This P.R

system made it a coalition government whereby the country is ruled by

many parties together having to make joint decisions, therefore made

it more difficult to compromise and lead to a weaker government

resulting to further elections, making the constitution unstable.

Furthermore Universal male suffrage enabled men over the age of 20 to

vote in an election. This included the upper, middle and working

classes, which made parties competitive. However as there were so

many parties only the ones with the most convincing views and issues

that effected the general population became major for example, the

Communists, Socialists and Democrats, which were aimed for, change and

equality.

Another key feature of the Weimar constitution was that the president