Convention by consensus: constitutional conventions in Germany

Abstract

Consensus is the outstanding hallmark of constitutional conventions in Germany—consensus often leads to their creation, and consensus is what they all promote through their operation. It is often assumed that constitutional conventions are mostly a British thing, but this article identifies five German constitutional conventions and two further ones that are possibly emerging. They assuredly do not have quite such an important role as they do in the UK, but in Germany, constitutional conventions control appointments to important posts and also the making of international treaties that affect the states’ powers. The two emerging conventions concern presidential assent to legislation and the identity of the chancellor in coalition governments.