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The German Bundesrat (literally "Federal Council"; ) is a legislative body〔 that represents the sixteen ''Länder'' (federal states) of Germany at the national level. The Bundesrat meets at the former Prussian House of Lords in Berlin. Its second seat is located in the former West German capital of Bonn. The Bundesrat participates in legislation, alongside the Bundestag, the directly elected representation of the people of Germany, with laws affecting state competences and all constitutional changes requiring the consent of the body. For its similar function, it is often described as an upper house of parliament along the lines of the US Senate, the Canadian Senate or the British House of Lords. The German constitution, however, does not define the Bundesrat and the Bundestag as the upper and lower houses of a bicameral legislature. Officially, it is generally referred to as a "constitutional body" alongside the Bundestag, the Federal President, the Federal Cabinet and the Federal Constitutional Court.〔http://www.bundesrat.de/cln_161/nn_6898/DE/struktur/struktur-node.html?__nnn=true〕 ''Bundesrath'' (from 1901 on: Bundesrat, according to a general spelling reform) was the name of similar bodies in the North German Confederation (1867) and the German Empire (1871). Its predecessor in the Weimar Republic (1919–1933) was the Reichsrat. The political makeup of the Bundesrat is affected by changes in power in the states of Germany, and thus by elections in each state. Each state delegation in the Bundesrat is essentially a representation of the state government and reflects the political makeup of the ruling majority or plurality of each state legislature (including coalitions). == History == The German Bundesrat was first founded, together with the German Empire, in 1871, replacing a body of the same name and with the same functions in the North German Confederation. Under the Weimar Constitution, 1919, it was replaced by the Reichsrat (1919–1934). Whilst appointed by state governments just as today, the delegates of the original Bundesrat—as those of the Reichsrat—were usually high-ranking civil servants, not cabinet members. The original Bundesrat was very powerful; every bill needed its consent, equaling it to the popularly elected Reichstag. It could also, with the Emperor's agreement, dissolve the Reichstag. The Reichsrat of the Weimar Republic had considerably less influence, since it could only veto bills—and even then be overruled by the Reichstag. However, overruling the Reichsrat needed a majority of two-thirds in the Reichstag, which consisted of many parties differing in opinion. So, in most cases, bills vetoed by the Reichsrat failed due to the lack of unity among the Reichstag's constituent parties. The Bundesrat met in the same building as the Reichstag and Bundestag from 1871 until 2000, when it moved into the Old Prussian House of Lords in Berlin. The composition of the Bundesrat, 1871–1919, was as follows: 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bundesrat of Germany」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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