The politics of Bavaria takes place within a framework of a federal parliamentary representative democratic republic, where the Federal Government of Germany exercises sovereign rights with certain powers reserved to the states of Germany including Bavaria.
The state has a multiparty system dominated by the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU). Bavaria has long been a bastion of conservative politics in Germany, with the Christian Social Union has won every election of the state parliament since 1946 and having almost a monopoly on power. Every Minister-President since 1957 has been a member of this party. On the other hand the bigger and more liberal, or rather social democratic, cities, especially Munich, have been governed for decades by the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) until recently the second biggest party. In 2018 the Alliance 90/The Greens which have been represented in the state parliament since 1986, became the second biggest political party in the Landtag and in 2020 the biggest party in the Munich City Council. 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. This was initiated bottom-up by an association called Mehr Demokratie (More Democracy). This is a grass-roots organization which campaigns for the right to citizen-initiated referendums. In 1997 the Bavarian Supreme Court aggravated the regulations considerably (e.g. by introducing a turn-out quorum). Nevertheless, Bavaria has the most advanced regulations on local direct democracy in Germany. This has led to a spirited citizens’ participation in communal and municipal affairs – 835 referendums took place from 1995 through 2005.
Constitution
The Constitution of Bavaria was enacted on 8 December 1946. It is the fourth constitutional document in Bavarian history after the Constitution of 1808, the Constitution of the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1818 and the Bamberg Constitution of 1919.
The Bavarian State Parliament
Bavaria has a unicameral Landtag, or state parliament. The 180 members of the Landtag (plus additional overhang and leveling seats) are elected for a period of five years by universal suffrage. The Landtag may dissolve itself with a majority vote of its legal number of members or be dissolved by means of a state-wide referendum.
Until December 1999, there was also a Senat, or Senate, whose members were chosen by social and economic groups in Bavaria, but following a referendum in 1998, this institution was abolished.
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.
The Bavarian State Government
Bavaria Cabinet since 12 November 2018
The Bavarian State Government is the supreme executive authority of the state. It consists of the Minister-President of Bavaria and up to 17 state ministers and state secretaries. The Minister-President as head of government is elected for a period of five years by the Landtag. With the approval of the Landtag he appoints and dismiss the members of the State Government.
The State Government is composed of the: State Chancellery () Ministry of the Interior, for Sport and Integration () Ministry for Housing, Construction and Transport () Ministry of Justice () Ministry for Education and Culture () Ministry for Science and Art () Ministry of Finance and for Home Affairs () Ministry for Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy () Ministry for Environment and Consumer Protection () Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Forestry () Ministry for Family, Labour and Social Affairs () Ministry for Health and Care () Ministry for Digital Affairs ()
Bavaria state elections
Electoral system
Bavaria uses mixed-member proportional representation to elect its members of the Landtag. Party representation is not apportioned statewide, the distribution of seats takes place separately within the seven administrative districts (), which are referred to in the constitution as constituencies (Wahlkreise). The constituencies are divided into electoral districts (Stimmkreise) in which one member is directly elected. The number of single member districts is about half the number of seats in the constituency.
Since the 2018 state election seats and single member districts are distributed as follows: