How does Germany's government work?

Answer 1

Like many countries, the government of Germany has two different offices for its Head of State and actual Head of Government.

The Head of StateThe Head of State of Germany is the President, or to use its official German variant, the Bundespräsident. The incumbent President at the time of typing this answer is 'Joachim Gauck'. In Germany as it stands now, the President is almost no more than a ceremonial figurehead, although the office does hold some reserve powers held in Article 81 of the Basic Law (the Constitution of Germany) in case of political instability (likely a safeguard against demagogic leaders becoming dominant, especially after the Third Reich and fall of the Weimar Republic). The Head of GovernmentThe Head of Government in Germany is known as the Chancellor of Germany, usually simplified to Chancellor. It's official German variant is the Bundeskanzler which is in itself simplified to Kanzler. At the time of typing the incumbent Chancellor is 'Angela Merkel' of the CDU/CSU (Christian Socialist Union in Bavaria and the Christian Democratic Union in Germany bar Bavaria). This office is widely considered to be the countries effective leader, with the Länder subordinate. The office is also invested with a lot of power to make policy.

With a few exceptions, the Chancellor is usually the Chairman of his or her party and must hold a majority in the Bundestag (the Lower House). The Chancellor will also determine his or her own cabinet, the approval of parliament is not needed and the amount of cabinet ministers the Chancellor can appoint is theoretically limitless.