Chapter 07 — Political & Constitutional Role
What the Basic Law asks of a President
The Federal President is Germany's head of state but not its head of government. The office's formal powers are limited by design — a lesson drawn from the Weimar Republic. Its influence rests on legitimacy, judgement and the power of the spoken word.
Diagram of the constitutional organs
Register of powers
The President in the Basic Law
| Article | Provision | In Steinmeier's tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Art. 54 | Election by the Federal Convention for five years; one consecutive re-election. | Elected 2017, re-elected 2022; not eligible again in 2027. |
| Art. 56 | Oath of office before the assembled Bundestag and Bundesrat. | Sworn in at a joint session on 22 March 2017. |
| Art. 58 | Orders and directions require the countersignature of the Chancellor or the competent minister. | Shapes the President's non-partisan role; political initiative lies with the government. |
| Art. 59 | Represents the Federation in international law and concludes treaties on its behalf. | State visits, receptions of heads of state, accreditation of ambassadors. |
| Art. 60 | Appoints and dismisses federal judges, federal civil servants and officers; right of pardon. | Routine exercise throughout both terms. |
| Art. 63 | Proposes the candidate for Chancellor to the Bundestag; appoints the elected Chancellor. | Proposed Merkel (2018), Scholz (2021) and Merz (2025). |
| Art. 68 | May dissolve the Bundestag within 21 days if the Chancellor loses a vote of confidence. | Dissolved the Bundestag on 27 December 2024. |
| Art. 82 | Signs and promulgates federal laws enacted in accordance with the Basic Law. | Withheld signature in 2020 from a hate-crime law pending constitutional correction. |
Three cases
The powers in practice
Forming a government
After the collapse of exploratory talks on a CDU/CSU–FDP–Green coalition in November 2017, Steinmeier declined to move quickly towards new elections and instead urged all parties capable of governing to reconsider. He held talks with the party leaders, including the SPD leadership, which had ruled out a further grand coalition.
The SPD reversed course, a coalition agreement was concluded and Angela Merkel was elected Chancellor for a fourth term on 14 March 2018 — almost six months after the election, the longest government formation in the Federal Republic up to that point.
Examining a law
The President's office examined the law to combat right-wing extremism and hate crime after the Federal Constitutional Court had ruled against far-reaching powers to access subscriber data. Steinmeier decided not to sign the law in that form and asked, in a letter to the Bundesrat, for the necessary corrections to be made quickly.
The episode illustrated the President's limited but real power of review: he may decline to sign a law he considers clearly unconstitutional. After the legislature adopted the corrections, the law entered into force in 2021.
Dissolving the Bundestag
The SPD–Green–FDP coalition broke apart on 6 November 2024. Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a vote of confidence on 16 December. On 27 December 2024 Steinmeier dissolved the Bundestag under Article 68 and set the election for 23 February 2025.
After the election he proposed Friedrich Merz to the Bundestag. Merz failed to win a majority in the first ballot on 6 May 2025 — a first in the Federal Republic — but was elected in a second ballot the same day, and Steinmeier appointed him Chancellor.