Politics of Bavaria

Bavaria has long been a bastion of conservative politics in Germany, with the Christian Social Union having won every election of the state parliament since 1946 and having a near monopoly on power.

From the historical point of view, older Bavaria was one of the most liberal, predominantly Roman Catholic states until the rather rural areas of Swabia and Franconia were added in 1814/15 at the Congress of Vienna.

In 1995 the Bavarians decided to introduce direct democracy on the local level in a referendum.

In 1997 the Bavarian Supreme Court aggravated the regulations considerably (e.g. by introducing a turn-out quorum).

This has led to a spirited citizens’ participation in communal and municipal affairs – 835 referendums took place from 1995 through 2005.

The 180 members of the Landtag[1] (plus additional overhang and leveling seats) are elected for a period of five years by universal suffrage.

The Landtag resides in the Maximilianeum, a building rich in tradition built on the banks of River Isar by King Maximilian II in the 19th century.

Party representation is not apportioned statewide, the distribution of seats takes place separately within the seven administrative districts (Regierungsbezirke), which are referred to in the constitution as constituencies (Wahlkreise).

[3] The constituencies are divided into electoral districts (Stimmkreise) in which one member is directly elected.

The CSU won an absolute majority of the seats in the Landtag, while the FDP, a coalition party in the outgoing Bavarian government, did not receive enough votes to enter the new parliament.

The CSU had its worst result since the Adenauer era, and lost its majority in the Landtag for the first time in 46 years.