Basic Thought of Democracy (3): Federation, Länder and municipalities in the Federal Republic of Germany - Germany / Federal Republic of Germany 1983 - 80 Pfennig

The stamp is intended to draw the public's attention to the interaction between the federal government, the federal states and the municipalities in the Federal Republic of Germany in fulfilling state tasks. It follows the series entitled "Basic Thoughts of Democracy", which began in 1981 with the three special stamps "Rechtsstaat", "Separation of Powers" and "Volks sovereignty", and the "Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany" stamp block issued last year. The three regional authorities operate within the framework of the basic public order of the Federal Republic of Germany, as standardized in the Basic Law (GG). Important provisions in this regard are Articles 20 (1), 28 (2), 30, 50 and 79 (3) Basic Law. Article 20 (1) contains the constitutional principle that the Federal Republic of Germany is a federal state. The Basic Law assumes a two-tier state structure, namely a division of statehood between the federal and state levels. However, municipalities belonging to the internal order of the Lander are guaranteed local self-government by Article 28 (2): "Municipalities must be guaranteed the right to regulate all affairs of the local community in accordance with the law." Fulfilling the federal state principle, the Basic Law regulates the responsibilities between the federal government and the federal states for the three state powers of legislation, administration and jurisdiction. According to the general clause on jurisdiction contained in Article 30, the exercise of state powers and the discharge of state functions are the responsibility of the Länder, unless the Basic Law makes or permits otherwise. For the field of legislation, the Basic Law has assigned the federal government a dominant role. In particular, the federal government has the competence for foreign affairs and for large parts of economic, social and tax law. On the other hand, the Länder essentially retain the areas of municipal and police law as well as education and the arts. However, the Länder are protected by Article 50 GG on the Federal Council participation in the legislation and administration of the federal government. You can therefore significantly influence federal legislative proposals. In terms of administration, according to the system of the Basic Law, the emphasis is clearly on the Länder. As a rule, they are also responsible for the execution of federal laws, whereby they have the right to have federal laws enforced by municipalities. In the area of ​​jurisprudence, there is a separate regulation for the Federal Constitutional Court and the federal courts, which are at the head of the individual branches of the judiciary, which are formed in the lower and middle courts of the courts of the countries. Unmistakable, however, is an increasing preponderance of the federal government over the countries. In order to come closer to the goal of the uniformity of living conditions throughout the Federal Republic, the Federal Government has over time, with the help of the Länder, more and more responsibilities, e.g. in the field of environmental protection, drawn to itself. In addition, the idea of ​​a "cooperative federalism" has resulted in numerous forms of cooperation between the federal government and the states. Of particular importance here are the joint tasks according to Articles 91a and 91b, which are subsequently enshrined in the Basic Law and which provide for joint planning and financing in certain areas, such as higher education and coastal protection. The countries also cooperate with each other in many ways. An outstanding example of this is the Standing Conference. For reasons of stability policy, cooperation between the federal government, the federal states and the municipalities in the field of budgetary economics is also mandatory. Thus, e.g. the financial planning of federal, state and local governments is coordinated by the Financial Planning Council. The federal government, the eleven countries and the approximately 10,000 municipalities are thus involved in their activities in a variety of ways - as expressed by the stamp. (Text: Federal Council, Press Office, Bonn)