Author Archives: Gilbert

Eternal articles and judical review

One of the most famous features of the Basic Law is its eternity clause in article 79 (official translation, emphasis mine): Article 79 (1) This Basic Law may be amended only by a law expressly amending or supplementing its text. … Continue reading

Posted in Politics | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Half-hearted federalism

As the name might imply, the Federal Republic of Germany has constituent states. Federalism, of course, has many advantages. It keeps decisions closer to the people, allows laboratories for experimentation, etc. In theory most Germans agree with this, but when … Continue reading

Posted in Politics | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Half-hearted federalism

“Capital punishment is abolished.”

Those are the simple words of article 102 of the Basic Law. Nowadays most developed countries have abolished capital punishment and many have done so constitutionally. But in 1949 constitutional abolition was still unusual. We Germans tend to over-idealize this … Continue reading

Posted in Politics | Tagged , , | Comments Off on “Capital punishment is abolished.”

How to choose a head of state

In my last post I approved of the German constitution’s design choice to have an apolitical head of state. Once that design choice is made the question is how to choose that head of state. The obvious first idea is … Continue reading

Posted in Politics | Tagged , , | Comments Off on How to choose a head of state

The two-headed Leviathan

In my last post I argued against the parliamentary system. If I got my will, the absence of a stable majority in parliament would no longer mean a constitutional crisis. That would make the president’s reserve powers dispensable. But there … Continue reading

Posted in Politics | Tagged , | Comments Off on The two-headed Leviathan

Nominal and actual power in the parlimentary system

When the United States or even France elect a president it is big news.  The election of the German president not so much. That is, of course, because, at least in normal times, the German president doesn’t hold significant power. … Continue reading

Posted in Politics | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Nominal and actual power in the parlimentary system

Nothing is quite as permanent as a provisional arrangement

The German title of the German constitution is Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Literally translated, that would be the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany. There is a German word for constitution (Verfassung) and previous constitutions were titled … Continue reading

Posted in Politics | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Constitution blogging day in view of tomorrow’s presidential election

Tomorrow (Sunday, March 18, 2012) the 15th Federal Convention will elect Joachim Gauck president of Germany. As I already threatened when there were speculations about his predecessors resignation, I’m seizing the opportunity to talk about the German constitution, the Grundgesetz. … Continue reading

Posted in Politics | Tagged , | Comments Off on Constitution blogging day in view of tomorrow’s presidential election

New series: Fourier analysis and intuition

Looking at my posts so far, I haven’t been talking about math yet. So today I’m starting a new series on my favorite part of math: Fourier analysis. Now please my dear readers (both of you), don’t run away!  This … Continue reading

Posted in Math | Tagged , | Comments Off on New series: Fourier analysis and intuition

What’s a secular argument?

Many people believe everyone supporting a policy should have a secular reason to do so. Deferring, for the moment, the question if that is a sensible expectation, I wonder how we decide whether an argument is secular. I acknowledge one … Continue reading

Posted in Arguments | Tagged , | 2 Comments