| − | Germany has a President as [[Head of State]]. However, his political power is small and his position is mostly representative. Although the president has to sign every law, and has the right to refuse signature on constitutional grounds, few president have ever used this right. The president is elected by a joint assembly of the federal parliament and an evenly strong group of electors, who are selected by the state parliaments. The actual political power and head of government is the Chancellor ("Bundeskanzler"). The current Chancellor is [[Angela Merkel|Dr. Angela Merkel]]. The current government <ref>http://www.bundesregierung.de</ref> is a coalition between the two largest parties, the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democrats (SPD). | + | Germany has a President as [[Head of State]]. However, his political power is small and his position is mostly representative. Although the president has to sign every law, and has the right to refuse signature on constitutional grounds, few president have ever used this right. The president is elected by a joint assembly of the federal parliament and an evenly strong group of electors, who are selected by the state parliaments for a five year term, and he can be re-elected once. The actual political power and head of government is the Chancellor ("Bundeskanzler"). The current Chancellor is [[Angela Merkel|Dr. Angela Merkel]]. The current government <ref>http://www.bundesregierung.de</ref> is a coalition between the two largest parties, the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democrats (SPD). |