I know that Germany has two Leaders, a President(Horst Köhler) and a Chancellor(Gerhard Schröder). I know that the President is the head of State while the Chancoller is the head of the government, but I’m not quite sure what that means.
It seems Schroder has a lot more decision making power when it comes to laws and such, and is mentioned in the news a lot more then Kohler. Kohler, I’ve heard, does more diplomatic work with other nations.
So what are the duties/resposibilites/powers of each position?
I’m not German, but my understanding is that the Bundespräsident has less power than Queen Elizabeth II. He is head of state and recieves ambassadors, visiting dignitaries, goes on state visits, on the advice of the Bundeskanzler.
Chancellor: head of the executive branch (of government, in British terminology)
President: head of the state
Chancellor: overtly party political - usually (but not necessarily) also elected leader of his party. Unlimited in how party political he wants to be. In policy, limited by what the parliamentary coalition that has elected him will get him away with.
President: expected to be above party politics. His party membership usually regarded as inactive during his term of office. Can speak out for changes of policy (in this he has considerably more latitude than e.g. the British monarch) but if he’d be too party political in that he’d destroy the moral standing of his office - in that case he could continue to speak all he wants but wouldn’t be listened to.
Chancellor: elected by parliamentary majority (can be superseded at any time by parliament electing another chancellor; no reasons for that motion need be given i.e. it’s not an impeachment for cause.)
President: elected by an electoral college composed of all federal parliament members and of electors nominated by the federal states’ governments
Chancellor: fourth in formal precendence (I think - did not find a quote just now), after President, President of the Bundesrat (states’ chamber), President of the Bundestag (lower chamber). I don’t know if the presidents of the highest federal courts fit in before or after the chancellor.
President: first in formal precendence.
President: deputy but not successor is president of the Bundesrat (state chamber). Succeeded in case of death etc. by a newly elected president.
Chancellor: deputy but not successor is vice chancellor (a member of the Cabinet; at present foreign secretary Joschka Fischer). Succeeded in case of death etc. by a newly elected chancellor.
Chancellor: presides over the Cabinet, sets its overall policies and could overrule decisions of federal ministers regarding their department (but that’s a power rarely overtly exercised). Commands the armed forces in a formal state of war (in peace the highest commander is the secretary of defence)
President: representative of the state on ceremonial national and international occasions, right of clemency re convictions in federal courts (rare, as most criminal trials end up in state-level courts), right to confer federal honours (i.e. orders).
The President must countersign federal laws and sign appointments of federal officials and officers before these can take effect. This is mainly considered a reserve power, i.e. the president may not second-guess parliament (re laws) and the executive (re appointments) in every instance but rather act as a backstop against egregiously unconstitutional or morally wrong decisions. It’s not an equivalent of the US President’s legislative veto (which I understand can be exercised entirely at his discretion, and for purely party political reasons), rather the degree of unconstitutionality required for the President to refuse to sign a law would be much higher than the degree required for the Constitutional Court to strike the law down after the President has duly (alleging constitutional doubts if necessary) signed it.
In any Parliamentary form of government, the person in the premiership heads the day-to-day operation of the government. The head of state embodies the sovereignty of the nation, acts ceremonially, and has certain reserve powers invoked in emergency situations (as, for example, when the mechanism for choosing a premier locks up).
In the Presidential system, the head of government and the head of state are occupied by the same person. In the French system, the Presidency has more powers than in the parliamentary but defers to the premier for day-to-day operations.
The Chancellor is, for historical reasons, the title given to the person who is in the premiership in Germany.
Americans generally see the duties of the head of state as purely ceremonial, and the person as a figurehead. This is not the case, though it may appear so on any random day.