The Politics of Lower Saxony 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 democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

representative democratic republic, where the

Federal Government of Germany The Federal Cabinet or Federal Government (german: link=no, Bundeskabinett or ') is the chief executive body of the Federal Republic of Germany. It consists of the Federal Chancellor and cabinet ministers. The fundamentals of the cabinet's or ...

exercises sovereign rights with certain powers reserved to the states of Germany including

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

. Since 1948 politics in the state has been dominated by the rightist Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the leftist

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

. Lower Saxony was one of the origins of the German

environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

movement in reaction to the state government's support for underground

nuclear waste Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. Radioactive waste is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, rare-earth mining, and nuclear weapons ...

disposal. This led to the formation of the

German Green Party Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (fo ...

in 1980.

Prime Minister

The Prime Minister of Lower Saxony (german: Ministerpräsident) is the

head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, ...

of Lower Saxony. The current Prime Minister is

Stephan Weil Stephan Weil (born 15 December 1958) is a German politician and the leader of the Social Democratic Party in Lower Saxony. On 20 January 2013, the SPD and the Green party won the 2013 Lower Saxony state election by one seat. On 19 February 2013, ...

Election results

In the most recent state election in 2013, the ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU) held on to its position as the leading party in the state, despite losing votes and seats. The CDU's coalition with the Free Democratic Party (FDP) however lost its majority to a coalition of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the Party Alliance 90/The Greens (The Greens). They have since ruled in a coalition with a one-vote majority. The election saw the exit out of the state parliament of the leftist The Left party, which had gained representation for the first time in 2008.

References

{{Politics of Germany by state