GERMANY VS.

USA
By: Rachel Dinsmore

Government/Constitution
Germany
President: Joachim Gauck
Elected (5 year terms)
Must be 40 years old and cannot

be a member of the federal

government of any other state
Bundestag their law making
body
Unicameral system
598 seats in Bundestag
Freedom of speech? Yes
Freedom of Religion? Yes
Right to bear arms? Not part of
Constitution.

USA
President: Barack Obama
Elected (4 year terms)
Must be 35 and a natural born
citizen.
Congress
Unicameral system
535 seats in Congress
Freedom of speech? Yes
Freedom of religion? Yes
Right to bear arms? Yes

Political Parties
Germany
The Parliament of Germany, the

Bundestag, has a plural multiparty system, with two major

parties, the Social Democratic
Party of Germany (SPD) which is
more welcome to change while
the Christian Democratic Union
(CDU) is more conservative.

United States
The US is a multi-party system,

with two major parties, the

Republicans and Democrats.
The Republicans or more
conservative while the
Democrats are more Liberal.

Elections and Voting

Germany
Must be 18
Citizen of Germany

United States

Cannot have spent more than

Must be 18

45 years in jail
Presidential elections are every
5 years
Elections for Bundestag are
held every 4 years.

Citizen of US
Cannot have committed a

felony.
Presidential elections every 4
years.
House elections every 2 years
Senate elections every 5 years

Taxes and Government Finance

Germany
Income taxes are a large part of

the German tax system.

This and the taxing of
businesses and healthcare are
the main income of the country.
Comparable system to the US.

United States
The U.S. tax system is set up on

both a federal and state level.

There are several types of
taxes: income, sales, capital
gains, etc.

Law
Germany (2013)
Crime levels: ranked 77th
Capital punishment: ranked 7th
Total crimes: 6.51 million

United States (2013)

Overall lower crime rate and

Crime levels: ranked 30th (two

punishment rate then the US.

times worse than Germany.)

Capital punishment: ranked 1st
Total crimes: 11.88 million

Current relations
As allies in NATO, the United States and Germany work side by

side to maintain peace and freedom. U.S. and German troops work
together effectively in NATO and UN operations worldwide due in
part to the joint training and capacity-building performed at U.S.
military installations in Germany. The two countries have extended
their diplomatic cooperation into military cooperation by
maintaining peacekeeping efforts in the Balkans and working
together to encourage the evolution of open and democratic states
throughout central and eastern Europe. Germany has been an
integral part of the UN-mandated International Security Assistance
Force in Afghanistan. German and U.S. maritime forces also are
deployed to combat piracy off the Horn of Africa. Following the
September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States,
Germany has been a reliable U.S. ally in efforts against terrorism.