The politics of

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

takes place within a framework of a

federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...

representative democratic Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy, is a type of democracy where elected people represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies function as some type of represe ...

republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

, where the Federal Government of Germany exercises sovereign rights with certain powers reserved to the states of Germany including Rhineland-Palatinate. The state has a multi-party system where the two main parties are the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the center-left

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...

(SPD). Every five years, all Germans residing in the State over the age of 18 elect the members of the

Rhineland-Palatinate Landtag The Rhineland-Palatinate Landtag is the state diet of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Article 79, Section 1 of the Rhineland-Palatinate constitution provides: "The Landtag is the supreme organ of political decision-making, el ...

. This regional

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

then elects the

Minister-President A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. It ...

and confirms the cabinet members. Rhineland-Palatinate is the only German Bundesland to have a cabinet minister for

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

growing (''ministry of economy, traffic, agriculture and winegrowing'')

List of Minister-presidents of Rhineland-Palatinate

*June 13, 1947 - July 9, 1947:

Wilhelm Boden Wilhelm Boden (5 March 1890 – 18 October 1961) was a German lawyer, civil servant and politician ( Centre Party & CDU). From 1946 to 1947 he was the first Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate. He contributed substantially to the rebuild ...

, CDU *1947 - 1969:

Peter Altmeier Peter Altmeier (12 August 1899 – 28 August 1977) was a German politician ( Zentrum, later CDU). From 1947 to 1969, he was the Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate. He served as the President of the Bundesrat In Germany, the Preside ...

, CDU *1969 - 1976: Helmut Kohl, CDU *1976 - 1988:

Bernhard Vogel Bernhard Vogel (; born 19 December 1932) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He was the 4th Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate from 1976 to 1988 and the 2nd Minister President of Thuringia from 1992 to 2003. ...

, CDU *1988 - 1991:

Carl-Ludwig Wagner Carl-Ludwig Wagner (9 January 1930 – 27 July 2012) was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union. Wagner was born in Düsseldorf, but later lived in Eitelsbach, a part of Trier. After his Abitur 1949 in Trier he studied law at t ...

, CDU *1991 - 1994: Rudolf Scharping,

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...

*1994 - 2013:

Kurt Beck Kurt Beck (born 5 February 1949) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), who served as the 7th Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate from 1994 to 2013 and as the 55th President of the Bundesrat in 2000/01. In May 2006, ...

*2013 - incumbent Malu Dreyer,

Latest election

In the election, the SPD suffered large loss, falling by 10% of the vote and winning only one seat more than the Christian Democratic Union. The main winners were

Alliance '90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a Green politics, green List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens ...

, who surged to over 15% of the vote, having failed to even break through the 5%

threshold Threshold may refer to: Architecture * Threshold (door), the sill of a door Media * ''Threshold'' (1981 film) * ''Threshold'' (TV series), an American science fiction drama series produced during 2005-2006 * "Threshold" (''Stargate SG-1''), ...

in 2006. In 2011, however, the

Free Democratic Party Free Democratic Party is the name of several political parties around the world. It usually designates a party ideologically based on liberalism. Current parties with that name include: *Free Democratic Party (Germany), a liberal political party in ...

failed to break through 5%, and thus lost the 10 seats they'd won in 2006. Landtagswahl 2021 Rheinland-Pfalz Erststimmenergebnis

{{Politics of Germany by state