The Politics of Brandenburg takes place within a framework of a federal

Federal republic

A federal republic is a federation of states with a republican form of government. A federation is the central government. The states in a federation also maintain the federation...

 parliamentary representative democratic republic

Republic

A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...

, where the Federal Government of Germany exercises sovereign rights with certain powers reserved to the states of Germany including Brandenburg

Brandenburg

Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...

. The three main parties are the centre leftist Social Democratic Party of Germany

Social Democratic Party of Germany

The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...

 (SPD), the leftist Left Party

Left Party (Germany)

The Party of Democratic Socialism was a democratic socialist political party active in Germany from 1989 to 2007. It was the legal successor to the Socialist Unity Party , which ruled the German Democratic Republic until 1990. From 1990 through to 2005, the PDS had been seen as the left-wing...

 and the rightist Christian Democratic Union

Christian Democratic Union (Germany)

The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...

.

Every five years, all Germans residing in the State over the age of 18 elect the members of the Landtag of Brandenburg

Landtag of Brandenburg

The Landtag of Brandenburg is the unicameral legislature of the state of Brandenburg in Germany.It has 88 members of parliament, currently belonging to four parties.-History:...

. This regional parliament

Parliament

A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...

 or legislature

Legislature

A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...

 then elects the Minister-President

Minister-President

A minister-president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments, in which a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government prevails, who presides over the council of ministers...

 and confirms the cabinet members.

List of minister presidents of Brandenburg

For earlier rulers, see List of rulers of Brandenburg

1. 1947 - 1949: Karl Steinhoff
   Karl Steinhoff
   Karl Steinhoff was a Minister-President of the German state of Brandenburg, then part of East Germany, and later served as East Germany's Minister of the Interior....
   
    (SED
   Socialist Unity Party of Germany
   The Socialist Unity Party of Germany was the governing party of the German Democratic Republic from its formation on 7 October 1949 until the elections of March 1990. The SED was a communist political party with a Marxist-Leninist ideology...
   
   , formerly SPD
   Social Democratic Party of Germany
   The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
   
   )
2. 1949 - 1952: Rudolf Jahn
   Rudolf Jahn
   Rudolf Jahn was a German politician and Minister-President of Brandenburg . He was born in Leipzig....
   
    (SED)
3. 1990 - 2002: Manfred Stolpe
   Manfred Stolpe
   Manfred Stolpe was Federal Minister of Transport, Building and Housing of the Federal Republic of Germany from 2002 until 2005. From 1990 until 2002 he was Premier of the State of Brandenburg.-Biography:...
   
    (SPD)
4. since 2002: Matthias Platzeck
   Matthias Platzeck
   Matthias Platzeck is a German politician. He has been Minister-President of Brandenburg since 2002 and party chairman of the SPD from November 2005 to April 2006.-Private life:...
   
    (SPD)

September, 2004 State Election

See also Elections in Germany

Elections in Germany

The following information deals with elections in Germany, including elections to the Bundestag , the Landtags of the various states, and local elections.-Election system:...

party	1999		2004		Difference
	%	S	%	S	%	S
Social Democratic Party of Germany Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...  (SPD)	39.3	37	31.9	33	-7.4	-4
The Left Party Left Party (Germany) The Party of Democratic Socialism was a democratic socialist political party active in Germany from 1989 to 2007. It was the legal successor to the Socialist Unity Party , which ruled the German Democratic Republic until 1990. From 1990 through to 2005, the PDS had been seen as the left-wing...  (Die Linke.)	23.3	22	28.0	29	+4.7	+7
Christian Democratic Union Christian Democratic Union (Germany) The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...  (CDU)	26.6	25	19.4	20	-7.2	-5
German People's Union German People's Union The German People's Union is a nationalist political party in Germany. It was founded by publisher Gerhard Frey as an informal association in 1971 and established as a party in 1987. Financially, it is largely dependent on Frey.... (DVU)	5.3	5	6.1	6	+0.8	+1
all others	5.5	0	14.6	0	+9.1	±0