Bundesrat

That looks relatively straightforward.

So th- um, state governments also get a say in policy through the upper house of the Bundesrat.

Will these wins amount to any substantial change at that level, or what other ways can the AfD in particular affect German policy other than just by the fact that they've had these big wins and that psyches people out?

Yeah.

So you're, you're right.

The federal states are represented in the Bundesrat, the upper chamber.

But I think in these cases, that's unlikely to be a channel of direct influence simply because all of the states that we've been talking about are relatively small, and votes in the Bundesrat are apportioned according to the size of the state.

So even if the AfD does, for example, end up figuring out how to form a government in Saxony-Anhalt, it simply wouldn't have the numbers to have much of an influence on legislation.

It has a population of around two million people.

Each of Germany's 16 states are represented in Bundesrat, Germany's second powerful parliamentary chamber, the upper chamber.

There has been concern about intelligence sharing to the Bundesrat if AfD had representatives there.

The Minister of Defense, Boris Pistorius, has asked to exclude AfD from briefings due to concerns that confidential information is being passed to the Russians.

Concerns have been raised in the EU Parliament and Thuringia that the AfD is using their respective position to share information to Russia.

He has the supreme direction of foreign affairs, both diplomatic and commercial, and at home appoints the imperial functionaries.

He sanctions the bills approved by the Bundesrat, or Federal Council, and passed by the Reichstag.

He dispenses the executive power and imposes his sovereign will through the medium of a chancellor.

This ministerial figure represents the Emperor in the Reichstag and assumes the responsibility for the acts of the government.

This nominal responsibility is entirely unlike that of a minister in a parliamentary country, for it does not bind him at all in relation to parliament, but only in relation to his master, and also, in a certain measure, whatever some may allege, to public opinion.

The Chancellor, however, holds a plurality of dignities and functions.

He is jack-of-all-trades to the monarchy, President of the Prussian Ministry, President of the Bundesrat, and Imperial Minister for Foreign Affairs.

These complex duties might well prove too exacting for a genuine statesman, how much more so for a mere politician.

That's an issue that isn't there at the state.

State governments are basically implementing policies made at the federal level, which they participate in through the Bundesrat.

But still, their competences are much bigger at the implementation than in the policy making.

And on when you go to the federal level, a chancellor with a foreign policy, there would be very little way to limit his power in a minority government.

And I'll be talking about that as well during this episode.

one other thing i should point out tomorrow in germany that's tomorrow sunday the 20th of september 2026 germany will have two state parliamentary elections two of them one of them will be in the state of berlin and then the other one is in another state which of course i cannot pronounce even though i was able to speak German at one point in my life and read it really well but I can't remember the pronunciation of this other state in Germany that is holding its state parliamentary elections for the Bundesrat which is the state government in The country of Germany, 16 states in the country of Germany and two of those states tomorrow hold their elections in Parliament, parliamentary elections.

So we'll be watching that very closely.

I will be watching that very closely.

And of course, you know, just a couple of weeks ago, there was a state election for the Bundesrat in the state of Saxony-Anhalt.

And that particular state, of course, produced the AFD's first win in a state parliamentary election.

since World War II, when there had not been a fascist party in power since, of course, until Hitler, of course, since Hitler until the AFD did it just a couple of weeks ago in the state of Saxony-Anhalt.

There are lots of potential scenarios, but all of them seem to end with the AfD getting its first prime minister in Germany, 16 federal states.

These federal states have huge powers, um, and the AfD controlling one with, you know, and powers to influence things like healthcare and education at ho- at home in Saxony-Anhalt, but also to be a, a, to be just sort of a stick in the spokes of federal politics because all of the federal states meet in the Bundesrat, which is the upper house, and they can delay or hold back or throw out legislation.

So yeah, they have a, a foot in the door.

So Saxony-Anhalt is in the former East Germany, which is the stronghold of the AfD, but increasingly not the only place where it, it gains significant support.

The

Bundesrat.

Yeah, the Bundesrat level.

And that would be quite interesting to see.

I think part...