elections: Bundestag - last held on 27 September 2009 (next to be held no later than autumn 2013); note - there are no elections for the Bundesrat; composition is determined by the composition of the state-level governments; the composition of the Bundesrat has the potential to change any time one of the 16 states holds an election
election results: Bundestag - percent of vote by party - CDU/CSU 33.8%, SPD 23%, FDP 14.6%, Left 11.9%, Greens 10.7%, other 6%; seats by party - CDU/CSU 239, SPD 146, FDP 93, Left 76, Greens 68
Judicial branch:
Federal Constitutional Court or Bundesverfassungsgericht (half the judges are elected by the Bundestag and half by the Bundesrat)
Political parties and leaders:
Alliance '90/Greens [Claudia ROTH and Cem OZDEMIR]; Christian
Democratic Union or CDU [Angela MERKEL]; Christian Social Union or
CSU [Horst SEEHOFER]; Free Democratic Party or FDP [Guido
WESTERWELLE]; Left Party or Die Linke [Lothar BISKY and Oskar
LAFONTAINE]; Social Democratic Party or SPD [Franz MUENTEFERING]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
other: business associations and employers' organizations; religious, trade unions, immigrant, expellee, and veterans groups
International organization participation:
ADB (nonregional member), AfDB (nonregional member), Arctic Council
(observer), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS, CDB, CE,
CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, G-20, G-5, G-7, G-8, G-10,
IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS,
IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU,
ITUC, MIGA, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW,
OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, Schengen Convention, SECI (observer), SICA
(observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMIL, UNMIS,
UNOMIG, UNRWA, UNWTO, UPU, WADB (nonregional), WCO, WEU, WFTU, WHO,
WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC