Our equivalent of a senate is manend with representatives of the state governments - they do always vote according to the state government's line and are exchanged with a change of power in that state.Originally Posted by Surferbeetle
The recent election destroyed Merkel's majority in the Bundesrat (~senate).
This means that the German federal government cannot push federal bills into law* if those laws incurr additional responsibilities on the states (that would give the Bundestag the right to be included in the process).
This is not going to be relevant for defence or foreign policy.
*: (The Bundestag ~congress is usually loyal to the government because the government is almost always a coalition project that the parliamentarians agreed to as well)
Besides; Germans are always unsatisfied with a government that's not reforming or active in times of crisis. This means that conservatives are always unpopular in such times because they're the embodiment of "no real reform". <- my political opinion
The greater problem is at this time the junior coalition partner, the FDP (liberals, most pro-business party in Germany). The did some horrendous things and their chairman is an opposition politician (has led the FDP in opposition for about a decade) who's apparently useless as minister (he's foreign minister).
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