Max's election maps and assorted others

[Uhura's Mazda]

the RSF, the political wing of the Freiwirtschaft movement

It still really annoys me that they didn't call the party the 'Gesell-schaft'.

 

[Francisco Cojuanco]

Information on the former is scarce, and I honestly don't even know the basics of how it worked in this period

From what I got, the National Assembly was composed of the following:
10 members to be appointed by the King,
35 members (at least 3 of whom at any time should be women) elected by the House of Representatives on an STV basis,
15 members, 3 from each Development Region, elected by Electoral Colleges consisting of Chiefs and Deputy Chiefs of local government authorities generally, and members of district level local councils (with the proviso that until nationwide local government elections were conducted, the House delegations for each region was supposed to act as electoral colleges). This was also STV.

MNAs were elected/nominated in 3 different classes a la the US Senate, with the goal of having National Assembly elections every 2 years.

The National Assembly's actual functions seem very similar to the post-1911 House of Lords - they can propose, delay or amend legislation, but a sustained majority in the House could override the National Assembly via a joint sitting of the two houses, or, with supply bills, it appears simply wait out the National Assembly.

So the National Assembly is basically a chamber of sober second thought, but if a majority in the HoR wanted to pass something, they could eventually do it over the Upper House's objection.

Of course, any legislation still required Royal Assent, which may not always be forthcoming. Also the King was permitted to essentially issue Ordinances that constituted temporary legislation for a period of about six months or the next session of Parliament (after which it would lapse if Parliament failed to ratify it within 60 days of the commencement of its session).

Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal 2047 (1990) | Refworld

www.refworld.org

So it appears as far as I can tell that the main centers of political action under the 1990 Constitution were the House and the King.

 

[Ares96]

Here's 1953, which was the first election held after a big electoral reform that basically established the modern German electoral system - this is where the nationwide 5% threshold was first implemented, and where constituency and party-list votes were first cast separately. As such, it presents none of the hurdles of 1949 in recalculating the results, and I can show pretty much exactly what it would look like on the exact boundaries (adjusted only to avoid crossing state lines gratuitously) used during the Weimar era.

Nationwide results (comparisons are with OTL 1953, not with the 1949 Weimar calculations):
CDU 167 (-24)
SPD 132 (-19)
FDP 44 (-3)
CSU 40 (-12)
BHE 27 (+-0)
DP 15 (+-0)
KPD 10 (+10)
BP 8 (+8)
DRP 5 (+5)
Z 4 (+1)
GVP 2 (+2)
Total 454 (-33)

A lot of parties that missed the 5% threshold get representation here, as one would expect. The DP and Centre were given free run in a couple of constituencies each IOTL to bring them into the Bundestag (and make their continued existence entirely dependent on staying in the CDU's good graces, a fact Adenauer was not shy about exploiting), but even then there were only seven parties (counting the CSU) in the OTL Bundestag, whereas here we end up with eleven parties winning representation. The KPD sticks around, which has interesting implications given they were banned during this parliamentary term IOTL - although I can see it still happening even if they do have seats, since it's not like they and the SPD had anything close to a majority put together. We also get the Bayernpartei (which has its own Implications), the DRP (unfortunately), and most interestingly, the Gesamtdeutsche Volkspartei, a splinter off the CDU who rejected Adenauer's Atlanticist foreign policy and called for a united, disarmed Germany, win two seats, one in Düsseldorf-Ost (like the RSF before them, I guess Düsseldorf, Essen and/or Wuppertal just have enough strange centrist cranks) and one for their national list.

 

[Thande]

Can't think of much to say, but splendid work.

 

[Ares96]

IOTL, 1957 is the election that really established West Germany's two-and-a-half-party system. The only minor party to remain in the Bundestag were the DP, and as mentioned before, that was solely because of the seat-lending agreement they had with the CDU. By this point, the DP was basically just another faction within Adenauer's "Union" government, and by the next election most of their leadership had joined the CDU proper. The BHE, having no such agreement in place, narrowly missed the threshold with about 4.6% of the vote, but here they obviously do make it in with a pretty healthy delegation.

Nationwide results (as before, comparison with OTL and not the previous election):
CDU 187 (-28)
SPD 154 (-15)
CSU 50 (-5)
FDP 36 (-5)
GB/BHE 22 (+22)
DP 16 (-1)
FU 4 (+4)
"Others" 4 (+4)
Total 473 (-14)

The "others" listed show a bit of an issue with this election, which is that the spreadsheet lumps all parties not previously represented together. The largest party in that category by far was the DRP, and I'm reasonably sure it would've been them winning both of the constituency seats they win here, and they did get enough votes nationwide for four seats, so I'm comfortable labelling the "others" elected as DRP members on the map. It does potentially mean they ride the coattails of the other minor parties, many of which were not far-right nutters, but since this bloc as a whole would've been entitled to five nationwide levelling seats if it weren't for the national list threshold (basically, a party's national list could never be awarded more seats than that party had won in constituencies - the closest thing the Weimar electoral system had to a threshold), I think we can assume those three "lost" seats represent the other minor parties.

Other than them, the only minor party that may need explaining is the Federalist Union (makes a great abbreviation). Back in 1949, the Centre and BP delegates had formed a joint faction in the first Bundestag under that name, and after the BP lost representation and the Centre fell out with the CDU, they decided to join forces again for the 1957 election in hopes of crossing the threshold when pooling their votes. They drew from completely different regions, so for all intents and purposes the arrangement wasn't that different from that of the CDU/CSU. The new alliance only got 0.9% of the vote, which obviously got them nowhere IOTL, but their votes were clustered enough in Bavaria that they get four seats here. I can imagine one of the two national list seats would've gone to the Centre.

 

[Thande]

IOTL, 1957 is the election that really established West Germany's two-and-a-half-party system. The only minor party to remain in the Bundestag were the DP, and as mentioned before, that was solely because of the seat-lending agreement they had with the CDU. By this point, the DP was basically just another faction within Adenauer's "Union" government, and by the next election most of their leadership had joined the CDU proper. The BHE, having no such agreement in place, narrowly missed the threshold with about 4.6% of the vote, but here they obviously do make it in with a pretty healthy delegation.

Nationwide results (as before, comparison with OTL and not the previous election):
CDU 187 (-28)
SPD 154 (-15)
CSU 50 (-5)
FDP 36 (-5)
GB/BHE 22 (+22)
DP 16 (-1)
FU 4 (+4)
"Others" 4 (+4)
Total 473 (-14)

The "others" listed show a bit of an issue with this election, which is that the spreadsheet lumps all parties not previously represented together. The largest party in that category by far was the DRP, and I'm reasonably sure it would've been them winning both of the constituency seats they win here, and they did get enough votes nationwide for four seats, so I'm comfortable labelling the "others" elected as DRP members on the map. It does potentially mean they ride the coattails of the other minor parties, many of which were not far-right nutters, but since this bloc as a whole would've been entitled to five nationwide levelling seats if it weren't for the national list threshold (basically, a party's national list could never be awarded more seats than that party had won in constituencies - the closest thing the Weimar electoral system had to a threshold), I think we can assume those three "lost" seats represent the other minor parties.

Other than them, the only minor party that may need explaining is the Federalist Union (makes a great abbreviation). Back in 1949, the Centre and BP delegates had formed a joint faction in the first Bundestag under that name, and after the BP lost representation and the Centre fell out with the CDU, they decided to join forces again for the 1957 election in hopes of crossing the threshold when pooling their votes. They drew from completely different regions, so for all intents and purposes the arrangement wasn't that different from that of the CDU/CSU. The new alliance only got 0.9% of the vote, which obviously got them nowhere IOTL, but their votes were clustered enough in Bavaria that they get four seats here. I can imagine one of the two national list seats would've gone to the Centre.

View attachment 77167

What's the colour shade in the seat to which the line for 5. Suedniedersachen is going to?

 

[Ares96]

What's the colour shade in the seat to which the line for 5. Suedniedersachen is going to?

DP, less than one percent. I realised just after posting this that I’ve forgotten to change the shades in the key for all of them, I’ll get to that in a bit.

 

[SultanArda]

Can I ask about what changes could happen in Germany due to this electoral system?
Perhaps more bones thrown to the DP to gain their support, as from what I understand at least, they are not as dependent on the CDU/CSU here than they were in our timeline, which can lead to small changes happening in the framework of the Germany we know today?
(And more details on other changes will be nice too )

 

[Ares96]

Can I ask about what changes could happen in Germany due to this electoral system?
Perhaps more bones thrown to the DP to gain their support, as from what I understand at least, they are not as dependent on the CDU/CSU here than they were in our timeline, which can lead to small changes happening in the framework of the Germany we know today?
(And more details on other changes will be nice too )

I can't really speculate too wildly, this isn't really meant to be a proper WI. There are a lot of developments from one election to the next that wouldn't make sense if West Germany actually used this electoral system, and so if I was trying to make actual AH out of this, I would imagine every election from 1953 onwards would look quite different from OTL. But if we play with the idea that these elections actually happen in succession and actually yield these results, then as you say, the CDU/CSU is going to have a harder time corralling the parties to their right. I imagine there'd be more serious attempts by groups to the left of the SPD to break through as well, especially after the Godesberg Programme is adopted.

One thing I think is really notable is that (bearing in mind I apparently don't have spreadsheets for 1961 or 1965, so those are going to take a bit longer to do unless I can find them) there's not a single election from 1949 until, I think, 1976 where the far right (as in everyone to the right of the CDU/CSU) is without representation in the Bundestag. With this in mind, and especially if there are situations where the CDU/CSU become actively dependent on them for support, it's going to be a lot harder to propagate the idea that West Germany has atoned for its sins and cleared itself of ex-Nazi influence.

 

[msmp]

One thing I think is really notable is that (bearing in mind I apparently don't have spreadsheets for 1961 or 1965, so those are going to take a bit longer to do unless I can find them) there's not a single election from 1949 until, I think, 1976 where the far right (as in everyone to the right of the CDU/CSU) is without representation in the Bundestag. With this in mind, and especially if there are situations where the CDU/CSU become actively dependent on them for support, it's going to be a lot harder to propagate the idea that West Germany has atoned for its sins and cleared itself of ex-Nazi influence.

Given it didn't really start to do that in terms of the national conversation until Willy Brandt took power, I think this is a very safe conclusion to draw. I don't know that it would be as bad as say, Austria or Spain in terms of significant political forces denying that the prior regime was bad at all, but it would definitely be a much longer and more painful process than it was even IOTL.

Also, as always, great maps and writeups! I had forgotten the FDP had occasional success in winning a handful of constituencies.

 

[Alex Richards]

I think if this system was actually in place I can see the Zentrum/Bayern Partei alliance surviving by being the 'safe' alternative to the Union for many.

I can definitely see them absorbing the modern FW vote for example.

 

[Ares96]

Oh, and since I mentioned it the other day, here's as far as I've been able to get in mapping the 1963 Volkskammer election. I don't know if the 1950 and 1954 elections used local constituencies at all or if they were a single national list, whereas the 1958 electoral law mentions constituencies but doesn't describe them, and unlike later laws, verfassungen.de doesn't have the ordinance establishing them.

None of the lists of members I've seen bother to list where each member was elected from, which I think makes a degree of sense, but I think it might be interesting to see which front parties were given seats where. Of course, voteshares don't really matter because the National Front got 99.95% of the votes according to the official tally.

 

[Ares96]

A wild thing I just realised: when the Saarland was reunited with West Germany in 1957 in time to vote in that year's Bundestag election, that was the first time most of it had voted in a free and fair all-German (well, covering areas beyond the Saarland) election since 1919.

 

[msmp]

A wild thing I just realised: when the Saarland was reunited with West Germany in 1957 in time to vote in that year's Bundestag election, that was the first time most of it had voted in a free and fair all-German (well, covering areas beyond the Saarland) election since 1919.

This is one of many reasons the Saar is one of my favorite areas of study professionally. It's really wild how such a small piece of land (relatively speaking) went through such political turmoil in the 20th century, even by comparison to other contested areas in Europe.

Have you ever looked into the (very much contested and, if not outright rigged, then hardly free-and-fair) reunification referendum in 1935? It makes the Anschluß plebiscite look downright respectable in terms of how it was carried out.

 

[Thande]

Oh, and since I mentioned it the other day, here's as far as I've been able to get in mapping the 1963 Volkskammer election. I don't know if the 1950 and 1954 elections used local constituencies at all or if they were a single national list, whereas the 1958 electoral law mentions constituencies but doesn't describe them, and unlike later laws, verfassungen.de doesn't have the ordinance establishing them.

None of the lists of members I've seen bother to list where each member was elected from, which I think makes a degree of sense, but I think it might be interesting to see which front parties were given seats where. Of course, voteshares don't really matter because the National Front got 99.95% of the votes according to the official tally.

View attachment 77257

I will reiterate my point that projects like this are worryingly similar to mapping (most) US state legislatures - you go to all that effort to get all the crinkly borders and numbers right, and then realise that 90% of the seats are just filled in with the unopposed colour anyway.

 

[Ares96]

So the upper house of the old German Imperial legislature had, confusingly to modern eyes, been called the Bundesrat. Like the present-day institution of the same name, it was composed of representatives sent directly by the governments of the various states - at the time, this meant they were technically personal representatives of the state's monarch, but the different states varied in how personal they were and to what extent the monarch had to follow recommendations from the state legislature. Either way, the idea of representing the states at the federal level and giving them a direct stake in legislation was still seen as useful by the founders of the Weimar Republic, and when they drew up a provisional form of government in February 1919, it included a "Committee of States " (Staatenausschuss) intended to continue this principle. The Committee included 56 mandates, compared to 61 in the old Bundesrat, and these were mostly, sort of, assigned proportionally to the states based on population. Obviously, many of the smaller states ended up overrepresented just to get a single vote, and the changing borders of Germany at this time meant things were always going to be a bit dicey. Also because of the aforementioned border flux, the Republic of German Austria's government was given a single representative in the Committee, which was intended to be expanded if and when Austria was included in the permanent constitution. Of course, the Treaties of Versailles and Saint-Germain-en-Laye forced Germany and Austria to desist from any attempt at merging, and this ensured Austria would never again get to participate in a democratic all-German institution.



That's not to say there were no quirks in the Reichsrat (as the permanent institution ended up being named) worth mention. From 1921 onwards, the vote count was increased to 66, and Prussia decided its 26 seats would be divided into halves to more adequately represent that state's regional diversity and quasi-federal nature. Half of them would continue to represent the Prussian state government in Berlin, while the other half - conveniently, exactly one each - would be assigned to the provincial authorities, including the city of Berlin's magistrate. This basic structure continued in place, with occasional slight changes in vote weight, until the Reichsrat was dissolved in 1934 as part of the Gleichschaltung process intended to turn Germany into a unitary state under Hitler's totalitarian leadership.




As mentioned, Prussia was itself a semi-federal state within the German federation, and it had its own upper house to represent the provincial authorities and mirror the Reichsrat on the national level. Dubbed the Staatsrat, this was a new creation of the republican government, replacing the House of Lords of the old Prussian Landtag, and it was modelled pretty closely on the Reichsrat. Its 79 votes were distributed between the provinces and Berlin according to population, with every province except Hohenzollern guaranteed at least three votes. Like the rest of the Prussian state government, the Staatsrat was dominated throughout its existence by the Weimar Coalition, and its president for most of that time was the Mayor of Cologne, one Konrad Adenauer. Because of his vehement anti-Prussian sentiment (and in spite of his generally conservative beliefs), Adenauer was a particular focus of hatred for the revolutionary right, and the Staatsrat was quickly prorogued after the Preußenschlag in July 1932. The fact that both Adenauer and Otto Braun were dismissed without successors being named meant that the attempted dissolution of the Landtag in February 1933 could not be approved in the legal fashion, but this hardly fazed the authorities then in place, and the new elections (held under deeply suspect circumstances alongside the Reichstag elections in March 1933) returned an outright majority for the Nazis, who proceeded to abolish the Staatsrat in its current form and turn it into an advisory body consisting of appointed and ex officio members. This, in turn, technically lasted right up to 1945, but like the Prussian government as a whole it was essentially powerless, having been superceded by the Gauleiter system on the one hand and by Hitler's absolute authority in Berlin on the other.

 

[Thande]

Very thorough work Max. One of those things I've never stopped to wonder about. That first map including Austria is a prime candidate for the Things That Look Like AH But Aren't thread.

 

[Ares96]

Very thorough work Max. One of those things I've never stopped to wonder about. That first map including Austria is a prime candidate for the Things That Look Like AH But Aren't thread.

I really think it’s less crazy of them than including a representative from Alsace-Lorraine.

 

[Ares96]

The beginning of a new insane death march project: the railways of Cornwall as of circa 1914. Excluding industrial branch lines, of which there were quite a few (mainly serving either tin mines or harbours), and with some compromises made compared to the Swedish map given how many more lines there were in the UK. In particular, I'm omitting the names of junctions unless they served an actual community, although a) this is a bit arbitrary based on available space, and b) I'm thinking of just removing the stations altogether where they're not named, so by no means is this the final design.

 

[Alex Richards]

Well that's certianly ambitious.