States_of_Germany

qas: question: How many states are in Germany?
answers: text: sixteen

question: What is the German terms for states?
answers: text: Bundesland, or Land

question: Which cities are called Stadtstaaten, other than Bremen?
answers: text: Berlin and Hamburg

question: How many states are called "Flächenländer"?
answers: text: 13

question: The Free Hanseatic City of Bremen includes which cities?
answers: text: Bremen and Bremerhaven

question: How many federal states are in Stadtstaaten?

question: What are Bremen and Bremerhaven frequently called?

question: What does Flachenlander still have?

question: What city state contains the cities of Berlin and Hamberg?

question: What were the cities of Berlin and Hamberg formed from?

question: What kind of republic is Switzerland? 

question: What is one of the sixteen federal states of Germany?

question: What is one of Germany's constituent states?

question: What is the name of a state in Germany that is not a city-state?

question: Flachenlander is one of how many states in Germany?
context: Germany is a federal republic consisting of sixteen federal states (German: Bundesland, or Land).[a] Since today's Germany was formed from an earlier collection of several states, it has a federal constitution, and the constituent states retain a measure of sovereignty. With an emphasis on geographical conditions, Berlin and Hamburg are frequently called Stadtstaaten (city-states), as is the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, which in fact includes the cities of Bremen and Bremerhaven. The remaining 13 states are called Flächenländer (literally: area states).

qas: question: When was the Federal Republic of Germany created
answers: text: 1949

question: Which countries administrations was the Federal Republic of Germany previously under?
answers: text: American, British, and French

question: Which city was originally not a part of the Federal Republic of Germany?
answers: text: West Berlin

question: What was the Federal Republic of Germany created in the aftermath of?
answers: text: World War II

question: When was the Federal Republic of France created?

question: After what event was France created in 1949?

question: Which area was not officially a part of Bavaria?

question: Who was in control of West Berlin before WWII?

question: What state was officially not a part of Britain?

question: What was created in 1959 in Germany?

question: What is one of the administrations of the eastern states?

question: What was founded before World War II?

question: What area has always been a part of the Federal Republic of Germany?

question: Which war was the Federal Republic of Germany created before?
context: The creation of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949 was through the unification of the western states (which were previously under American, British, and French administration) created in the aftermath of World War II. Initially, in 1949, the states of the Federal Republic were Baden, Bavaria (in German: Bayern), Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse (Hessen), Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), North Rhine Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen), Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz), Schleswig-Holstein, Württemberg-Baden, and Württemberg-Hohenzollern. West Berlin, while officially not part of the Federal Republic, was largely integrated and considered as a de facto state.

qas: question: Which city did Baden, Württemberg-Baden, and Württemberg-Hohenzollern merge into?
answers: text: Baden-Württemberg

question: In what year did Baden, Württemberg-Baden, and Württemberg-Hohenzollern merge?
answers: text: 1952

question:  In 1957, the Saar Protectorate rejoined the Federal Republic as which city?
answers: text: Saarland

question: When did the German reunification take place?
answers: text: 1990

question: Why did a regional referendum in 1996 to merge Berlin with surrounding Brandenburg fail?
answers: text: failed to reach the necessary majority vote in Brandenburg

question: In 1957 what merged into Baden-Wurttemberg?

question: What did a majority of Berliners vote for in 1957?

question: What happened to the referendum in 1990 to merge East Berlin with Saxony?

question: In what year did the Brandenberg reunification take place?

question: What did the Baden Protectorate rejoin in 1990?

question: Which areas merged together in 1957?

question: When did Saarland leave the Federal Republic?

question: What states became Berlin in 1980?

question: What year did Baden split from Württemberg-Baden, and Württemberg-Hohenzollern

question: In 1980 which country was reunified?
context: In 1952, following a referendum, Baden, Württemberg-Baden, and Württemberg-Hohenzollern merged into Baden-Württemberg. In 1957, the Saar Protectorate rejoined the Federal Republic as the Saarland. German reunification in 1990, in which the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) ascended into the Federal Republic, resulted in the addition of the re-established eastern states of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania (in German Mecklenburg-Vorpommern), Saxony (Sachsen), Saxony-Anhalt (Sachsen-Anhalt), and Thuringia (Thüringen), as well as the reunification of West and East Berlin into Berlin and its establishment as a full and equal state. A regional referendum in 1996 to merge Berlin with surrounding Brandenburg as "Berlin-Brandenburg" failed to reach the necessary majority vote in Brandenburg, while a majority of Berliners voted in favour of the merger.

qas: question: What is an entrenched constitutional principle in Germany?
answers: text: Federalism

question: In Germany, foreign affairs is under the exclusive purvey of what? 
answers: text: the federation

question: What is an example of what states retain authority over?
answers: text: culture

question: The states defend their interests at the federal level through what?
answers: text: the Bundesrat

question: Whose consent do the states need to make international treaties?
answers: text: the federal government

question: What is one of the entrenched legislative authorities of Bundesrat?

question: What is another word for foreign affairs?

question: What do the states have exclusive responsibility of?

question: What does German culture use to defend its interests at the federal level?

question: What areas do international relations also include?

question: Which political system is not used in Germany?

question: What is a topic that is the exclusive responsibility of the state?

question: What is the federal system is defended through?

question: What sole power do the states hold that require no consent of the federal government?

question: What do the states hold the exclusive power to negotiate? 
context: Federalism is one of the entrenched constitutional principles of Germany. According to the German constitution (called Grundgesetz or in English Basic Law), some topics, such as foreign affairs and defense, are the exclusive responsibility of the federation (i.e., the federal level), while others fall under the shared authority of the states and the federation; the states retain residual legislative authority for all other areas, including "culture", which in Germany includes not only topics such as financial promotion of arts and sciences, but also most forms of education and job training. Though international relations including international treaties are primarily the responsibility of the federal level, the constituent states have certain limited powers in this area: in matters that affect them directly, the states defend their interests at the federal level through the Bundesrat (literally Federal Council, the upper house of the German Federal Parliament) and in areas where they have legislative authority they have limited powers to conclude international treaties "with the consent of the federal government".

qas: question: What does the term Länder date back to?
answers: text: the Weimar Constitution of 1919

question: Before 1919 what were the German states called?
answers: text: Staaten

question: What does Bavaria refer to itself as?
answers: text: Freistaaten

question: How many free states are there in Germany?
answers: text: three

question: What are the two city-states in Germany?
answers: text: Hamburg and Bremen

question: What term dates back to the Basic Law Constitution of 1990?

question: What were the states of Saxony called before 1919?

question: What term is commonly used today for the Weimar Republic?

question: What two city-states are in Bavaria?

question: What term is the old-fashioned Hamberg term for constitution?

question: What year was the German Constitution written?

question: What were the constituent states of the German Empire called after 1919?

question: What term was used by the Basic Law of 1949?

question: What is the only state that is considered a city-state in Germany?

question: What term is used for the states that are not considered free states?
context: The use of the term Länder (Lands) dates back to the Weimar Constitution of 1919. Before this time, the constituent states of the German Empire were called Staaten (States). Today, it is very common to use the term Bundesland (Federal Land). However, this term is not used officially, neither by the constitution of 1919 nor by the Basic Law (Constitution) of 1949. Three Länder call themselves Freistaaten (Free States, which is the old-fashioned German expression for Republic), Bavaria (since 1919), Saxony (originally since 1919 and again since 1990), and Thuringia (since 1994). There is little continuity between the current states and their predecessors of the Weimar Republic with the exception of the three free states, and the two city-states of Hamburg and Bremen.

qas: question: What keeps being debated in Germany?
answers: text: delimitation of the federal territory

question: What does Gunlick remark that the German System of  dual federalism requires strong Länder to have other than the capacity to implement legislation?
answers: text: pay for it from own source revenues

question: How many proposals have failed so far?
answers: text: several

question: What keeps being debated in America?

question: What happens if there are too many regional governments?

question: What has failed so far in America?

question: How is the topic of coordination seen according to the public in America?

question: What does the system of regional government need in America?

question: What is a settled question in Germany?

question: Why are there calls for territorial changes?

question: What was Arthur B. Gunlicks not in favor of?

question: What is one argument for increasing the number of Lander?

question: What changes have been successfully implemented in Germany?
context: A new delimitation of the federal territory keeps being debated in Germany, though "Some scholars note that there are significant differences among the American states and regional governments in other federations without serious calls for territorial changes ...", as political scientist Arthur B. Gunlicks remarks. He summarizes the main arguments for boundary reform in Germany: "... the German system of dual federalism requires strong Länder that have the administrative and fiscal capacity to implement legislation and pay for it from own source revenues. Too many Länder also make coordination among them and with the federation more complicated ...". But several proposals have failed so far; territorial reform remains a controversial topic in German politics and public perception.

qas: question: The Holy Roman Empire comprised of how many petty states? 
answers: text: more than 300

question: The number of territories was greatly reduced during what?
answers: text: the Napoleonic Wars

question: A North German Federation under Prussian hegemony replaced what confederation?
answers: text: the German Confederation

question: How much of the population did Prussia control?
answers: text: 62%

question: How much of the land did Prussia control?
answers: text: 65%

question: What has a long tradition in the history of the Holy Roman Empire?

question: From 1796-1814 how many petty states were part of Germany?

question: After the Napoleonic Wars how many states formed the North German Federation?

question: When was the Holy Roman Empire dissolved?

question: What was the Holy Roman Empire replaced with?

question: What is a recent political tradition in Germany?

question: How many states did Germany have by 1796?

question: What year was the Congress of Rome held?

question: Under who was the German Confederation formed?

question: What kind of cities did the 25 states of the new German Empire have?
context: Federalism has a long tradition in German history. The Holy Roman Empire comprised many petty states numbering more than 300 around 1796. The number of territories was greatly reduced during the Napoleonic Wars (1796–1814). After the Congress of Vienna (1815), 39 states formed the German Confederation. The Confederation was dissolved after the Austro-Prussian War and replaced by a North German Federation under Prussian hegemony; this war left Prussia dominant in Germany, and German nationalism would compel the remaining independent states to ally with Prussia in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, and then to accede to the crowning of King Wilhelm of Prussia as German Emperor. The new German Empire included 25 states (three of them, Hanseatic cities) and the imperial territory of Alsace-Lorraine. The empire was dominated by Prussia, which controlled 65% of the territory and 62% of the population. After the territorial losses of the Treaty of Versailles, the remaining states continued as republics of a new German federation. These states were gradually de facto abolished and reduced to provinces under the Nazi regime via the Gleichschaltung process, as the states administratively were largely superseded by the Nazi Gau system.

qas: question: Who redrew Germany's internal borders after World War II?
answers: text: Allied military governments

question: No single state comprised of how much of the population after World War II?
answers: text: 30%

question: After WWII how many states initially remained in Germany?
answers: text: seven

question: Former German territory that lie east of the Oder-Neisse Line went under which countries administration?
answers: text: Polish or Soviet administration

question: How many made to establish new states in the territories  lying east of the Oder-Neisse Line?
answers: text: no attempts

question: Who was responsible for changing Prussia's internal borders?

question: What did no single Rhineland make up more of in population or territory?

question: In the beginning how many states were left in Prussia after WWII?

question: Under who's administration were the occupation powers east of the Oder-Neisse Line?

question: What was not abandoned in territory east of Prussia until after WWII?

question: What was redrawn during the allied occupation after WW I

question: Who redrew internal borders after WW I?

question: What place comprised 30% of territory after WW II?

question: Who did the territory belong to that was west of the Oder-Neisse Line?

question: When were attempts to abandon sovereignty made?
context: During the Allied occupation of Germany after World War II, internal borders were redrawn by the Allied military governments. No single state comprised more than 30% of either population or territory; this was intended to prevent any one state from being as dominant within Germany as Prussia had been in the past. Initially, only seven of the pre-War states remained: Baden (in part), Bavaria (reduced in size), Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse (enlarged), Saxony, and Thuringia. The states with hyphenated names, such as Rhineland-Palatinate, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saxony-Anhalt, owed their existence to the occupation powers and were created out of mergers of former Prussian provinces and smaller states. Former German territory that lie east of the Oder-Neisse Line fell under either Polish or Soviet administration but attempts were made at least symbolically not to abandon sovereignty well into the 1960s. However, no attempts were made to establish new states in these territories as they lay outside the jurisdiction of West Germany at that time.

qas: question: How many states did West Germany have at its founding?
answers: text: eleven

question: What was West Berlin under the sovereignty of?
answers: text: Western Allies

question: Which state was West Berlin apart of?
answers: text: neither a Western German state nor part of one

question: When did the Saarland form?
answers: text: 1957

question: How many states was Germany reduced to in 1952
answers: text: 1952

question: When South Baden was formed in 1952, how many states were there?

question: What were the number of states reduced to in Saar Protectorate in 1949?

question: What states merged to form Saarland in 1952?

question: Who was South Baden under the authority of?

question: What kind of status did Saarland have when integrated with West Germany?

question: How many states did West Germany add after it's founding in 1952?

question: When was East Germany founded?

question: When was the Saar Protectorate given to the French?

question: What are referred to as the 'new states'?

question: What German state did West Berlin fall under?
context: Upon its founding in 1949, West Germany had eleven states. These were reduced to nine in 1952 when three south-western states (South Baden, Württemberg-Hohenzollern, and Württemberg-Baden) merged to form Baden-Württemberg. From 1957, when the French-occupied Saar Protectorate was returned and formed into the Saarland, the Federal Republic consisted of ten states, which are referred to as the "Old States" today. West Berlin was under the sovereignty of the Western Allies and neither a Western German state nor part of one. However, it was in many ways de facto integrated with West Germany under a special status.

qas: question: What was the German constitution later amended to say about the citizens of the 16 states?
answers: text: had successfully achieved the unity of Germany

question: Article 23, before it was rephrased allowed what?
answers: text: "any other parts of Germany" to join

question: Which state was Article 23 used to reintegrate? 
answers: text: Saar Protectorate

question: The amended article 23 now defines the participation of the Federal Council and what else?
answers: text: the 16 German states

question: What was amended to signify that Basic Law no longer applied to the German people?

question: How was article 23 rephrased to reintegrate the Saar Protectorate?

question: What was used as a model for German Reunification in 1980?

question: Which article does the Federal Council define?

question: How many states are a part of the German Union?
context: Later, the constitution was amended to state that the citizens of the 16 states had successfully achieved the unity of Germany in free self-determination and that the Basic Law thus applied to the entire German people. Article 23, which had allowed "any other parts of Germany" to join, was rephrased. It had been used in 1957 to reintegrate the Saar Protectorate as the Saarland into the Federal Republic, and this was used as a model for German reunification in 1990. The amended article now defines the participation of the Federal Council and the 16 German states in matters concerning the European Union.

qas: question: What has been discussed since the Federal Republic was founded in 1949?
answers: text: new delimitation of the federal territory

question: What have experts advocated in regards to delimitation?
answers: text: a reduction of the number of states

question: What is propagated by the richer states as a means to avoid or reduce fiscal transfers?
answers: text: Territorial reform

question: Since when has the delimitation of state territories been discussed?

question: Who advocated an increase in the number of states?

question: Which public discussions had far-reaching appeal?

question: Why do poorer states propagate territorial reform?

question: What advantage is it for richer states if territorial reform is enacted? 
context: A new delimitation of the federal territory has been discussed since the Federal Republic was founded in 1949 and even before. Committees and expert commissions advocated a reduction of the number of states; academics (Rutz, Miegel, Ottnad etc.) and politicians (Döring, Apel, and others) made proposals –  some of them far-reaching –  for redrawing boundaries but hardly anything came of these public discussions. Territorial reform is sometimes propagated by the richer states as a means to avoid or reduce fiscal transfers.

qas: question: When did the debate on delimitation begin in Germany?
answers: text: 1919

question: Who was the father of the Weimar Constitution?
answers: text: Hugo Preuss

question: How many states was the German Reich to divided into?
answers: text: 14

question: Until 1933 how many configurations in the German states occurred? 
answers: text: four

question: When did Pyrmont join Prussia?
answers: text: 1922

question: When did the debate on the new constitution began?

question: Who was the father of the German Constitution?

question: Who drafted a plan to divide the German territory into 14 unequal states?

question: What made it impossible to enable new delimitation in article 18?

question: What could be decided with a simple majority of votes?
context: The debate on a new delimitation of the German territory started in 1919 as part of discussions about the new constitution. Hugo Preuss, the father of the Weimar Constitution, drafted a plan to divide the German Reich into 14 roughly equal-sized states. His proposal was turned down due to opposition of the states and concerns of the government. Article 18 of the constitution enabled a new delimitation of the German territory but set high hurdles: Three fifth of the votes handed in, and at least the majority of the population are necessary to decide on the alteration of territory. In fact, until 1933 there were only four changes in the configuration of the German states: The 7 Thuringian states were merged in 1920, whereby Coburg opted for Bavaria, Pyrmont joined Prussia in 1922, and Waldeck did so in 1929. Any later plans to break up the dominating Prussia into smaller states failed because political circumstances were not favorable to state reforms.

qas: question: When did the Nazi Party seize power?
answers: text: January 1933

question: What happened to the Länder as they lost importance during the Nazi regime?
answers: text: They became administrative regions

question: on January 1, 1934, Mecklenburg-Schwerin was united with which state?
answers: text: Mecklenburg-Strelitz

question: When did the Greater Hamburg Act occur?
answers: text: April 1, 1937

question: Which Prussian province did Lübeck become a part of?
answers: text: Schleswig-Holstein

question: Who seized power in January of 1934?

question: Why did the Lander increase in power after 1933?

question: What act allowed the reduction of the area for the united Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz?

question: Who gained their independence in 1937?

question: When did Schleswig-Holstein become a part of the Prussian province?
context: After the Nazi Party seized power in January 1933, the Länder increasingly lost importance. They became administrative regions of a centralised country. Three changes are of particular note: on January 1, 1934, Mecklenburg-Schwerin was united with the neighbouring Mecklenburg-Strelitz; and, by the Greater Hamburg Act (Groß-Hamburg-Gesetz), from April 1, 1937, the area of the city-state was extended, while Lübeck lost its independence and became part of the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein.

qas: question: In the revision of Article 29, what was a binding provision for a new delimitation of the federal territory?
answers: text: the Federal Territory must be revised

question: How much of the population must have been in favor of the revision?
answers: text: one tenth

question: What was required in each territory or part of a territory whose affiliation was to be changed? 
answers: text: a referendum

question: Which paragraph stated that reorganization should be completed within three years after the Basic Law had come into force?
answers: text: paragraph 6

question: Who addressed an issue if the premiers came to an agreement?

question: Which article was used to avoid a provision for new delimitation of territory?

question: People were allowed to petition for a revision as long as they had what?

question: What fraction of people voted in Bundestag elections?

question: Who could introduce a bill even if the affected territories did not vote for a change?
context: As the premiers did not come to an agreement on this question, the Parliamentary Council was supposed to address this issue. Its provisions are reflected in Article 29. There was a binding provision for a new delimitation of the federal territory: the Federal Territory must be revised ... (paragraph 1). Moreover, in territories or parts of territories whose affiliation with a Land had changed after 8 May 1945 without a referendum, people were allowed to petition for a revision of the current status within a year after the promulgation of the Basic Law (paragraph 2). If at least one tenth of those entitled to vote in Bundestag elections were in favour of a revision, the federal government had to include the proposal into its legislation. Then a referendum was required in each territory or part of a territory whose affiliation was to be changed (paragraph 3). The proposal should not take effect if within any of the affected territories a majority rejected the change. In this case, the bill had to be introduced again and after passing had to be confirmed by referendum in the Federal Republic as a whole (paragraph 4). The reorganization should be completed within three years after the Basic Law had come into force (paragraph 6).

qas: question: In what negotiation did France offer to establish the independent Saarland?
answers: text: Paris Agreements

question: In the 23 October 1955 Saar Statute referendum, what percentage opposed the formation of the Saarland?
answers: text: 67.7%

question: What was the Saar Statute referendum voter turnout?
answers: text: 96.5%

question: Which political figure supported the Saar Statute referendum?
answers: text: Chancellor Konrad Adenauer

question: The rejection of the plan by the Saarlanders was interpreted as support for the Saar to do what?
answers: text: join the Federal Republic of Germany.

question: What did France offer in the French agreements of 1954?

question: Who was under the auspices of the Eastern European Union?

question: By what percentage did the Saar Statute referendum pass?

question: What referendum was passed by the electorate?

question: Which German Chancellor was against the Saar Statute referendum?
context: In the Paris Agreements of 23 October 1954, France offered to establish an independent "Saarland", under the auspices of the Western European Union (WEU), but on 23 October 1955 in the Saar Statute referendum the Saar electorate rejected this plan by 67.7% to 32.3% (out of a 96.5% turnout: 423,434 against, 201,975 for) despite the public support of Federal German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer for the plan. The rejection of the plan by the Saarlanders was interpreted as support for the Saar to join the Federal Republic of Germany.

qas: question: Paragraph 6 of Article 29 states that a referendum, in the event of a successful petition should be held within how many years?
answers: text: three

question: What did the Hesse state government due when the May 5, 1958 deadline passed?
answers: text: filed a constitutional complaint

question: When was the Hesse state government's complaint dismissed?
answers: text: July 1961

question: On what grounds was the Hesse state government's complaint dismissed
answers: text: exclusively federal matter

question: Which article claimed if a petition was successful there was no need for a referendum?

question: Which government filed a request to change their constitution? 

question: By who was the Hesse state government's complaint heard?

question: Why did the constitutional court decide to hear the Hesse State complaint?

question: Who did the court tell they had a requirement to bind territorial revisions?
context: Paragraph 6 of Article 29 stated that if a petition was successful a referendum should be held within three years. Since the deadline passed on 5 May 1958 without anything happening the Hesse state government filed a constitutional complaint with the Federal Constitutional Court in October 1958. The complaint was dismissed in July 1961 on the grounds that Article 29 had made the new delimitation of the federal territory an exclusively federal matter. At the same time, the Court reaffirmed the requirement for a territorial revision as a binding order to the relevant constitutional bodies.

qas: question: What did Chancellor Willy Brandt propose in his  28 October 1969 address?
answers: text: Article 29 of the Basic Law as a binding order

question: Where did Chancellor Willy Brandt make his  28 October 1969 address?
answers: text: Bonn

question: An expert commission was established under which chairman?
answers: text: Werner Ernst

question: When did the expert commission deliver its report?
answers: text: the district of Germersheim

question: Which state would the district of Germersheim be a part of?
answers: text: Baden-Württemberg

question: Which chancellor proposed that article 29 should no longer be a binding order?

question: Who established an expert commission to discuss article 29?

question: When was an expert commission established?

question: What was the proposal for a single new state in the South?

question: What area was suggested should be separated from Hesse?
context: In his investiture address, given on 28 October 1969 in Bonn, Chancellor Willy Brandt proposed that the government would consider Article 29 of the Basic Law as a binding order. An expert commission was established, named after its chairman, the former Secretary of State Professor Werner Ernst. After two years of work, the experts delivered their report in 1973. It provided an alternative proposal for both northern Germany and central and southwestern Germany. In the north, either a single new state consisting of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Bremen and Lower Saxony should be created (solution A) or two new states, one in the northeast consisting of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg and the northern part of Lower Saxony (from Cuxhaven to Lüchow-Dannenberg) and one in the northwest consisting of Bremen and the rest of Lower Saxony (solution B). In the Center and South West either Rhineland-Palatinate (with the exception of the Germersheim district but including the Rhine-Neckar region) should be merged with Hesse and the Saarland (solution C), the district of Germersheim would then become part of Baden-Württemberg.

qas: question: Which article stipulates that the structure of each Federal State's government must "conform to the principles of republican, democratic, and social government, based on the rule of law"?
answers: text: Article 28

question: Most states are governed by what figure?
answers: text: Ministerpräsident

question: What are most state legislatures called?
answers: text: Landtag

question: How is the Minister President chosen?
answers: text: a majority vote among the Landtag's members

question: Who does Minister-President choose to run state agencies?
answers: text: a cabinet

question: What principles does the basic law suggest that Germany is not required to conform to?

question: Who is the federal government in Germany governed by?

question: What is the name of the federal legislative body?

question: What relationships differ between parliamentary republics and federal systems?

question: Who chooses the cabinet in the Landtag?
context: The Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany, the federal constitution, stipulates that the structure of each Federal State's government must "conform to the principles of republican, democratic, and social government, based on the rule of law" (Article 28). Most of the states are governed by a cabinet led by a Ministerpräsident (Minister-President), together with a unicameral legislative body known as the Landtag (State Diet). The states are parliamentary republics and the relationship between their legislative and executive branches mirrors that of the federal system: the legislatures are popularly elected for four or five years (depending on the state), and the Minister-President is then chosen by a majority vote among the Landtag's members. The Minister-President appoints a cabinet to run the state's agencies and to carry out the executive duties of the state's government.

qas: question: What are the governments in Berlin, Bremen and Hamburg called?
answers: text: Senate

question:  What is the government called in the three free states of Bavaria, Saxony, and Thuringia?
answers: text: the State Government

question: What did Bavaria's government have before 2001?
answers: text: a bicameral parliament

question: How many people are in the executive branch senate in Berlin?
answers: text: eight

question: The parliament in Berlin is called what?
answers: text: Abgeordnetenhaus

question: What kind of government did Bavaria have after 2001?

question: What state has an appointed Landtag?

question: What is the Landtag of Bavaria made up of?

question: How many representatives are on the Senate of the legislative branch in Berlin?

question: What common name are the ministers in Berlin, Bremen and Hamburg called?
context: The governments in Berlin, Bremen and Hamburg are designated by the term Senate. In the three free states of Bavaria, Saxony, and Thuringia the government is referred to as the State Government (Staatsregierung), and in the other ten states the term Land Government (Landesregierung) is used. Before January 1, 2000, Bavaria had a bicameral parliament, with a popularly elected Landtag, and a Senate made up of representatives of the state's major social and economic groups. The Senate was abolished following a referendum in 1998. The states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg are governed slightly differently from the other states. In each of those cities, the executive branch consists of a Senate of approximately eight, selected by the state's parliament; the senators carry out duties equivalent to those of the ministers in the larger states. The equivalent of the Minister-President is the Senatspräsident (President of the Senate) in Bremen, the Erster Bürgermeister (First Mayor) in Hamburg, and the Regierender Bürgermeister (Governing Mayor) in Berlin. The parliament for Berlin is called the Abgeordnetenhaus (House of Representatives), while Bremen and Hamburg both have a Bürgerschaft. The parliaments in the remaining 13 states are referred to as Landtag (State Parliament).

qas: question: What are the districts of Germany considered?
answers: text: administrative districts

question: Every state, other than the free states, consist of districts called what?
answers: text: "rural districts"

question: How many urban districts are in Bremen?
answers: text: two

question: Berlin and Hamburg are states and what else at the same time?
answers: text: urban districts

question: What districts do every state, including, Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen have?

question: What are towns and cities with districts called?

question: What are Berlin and Humburg not considered to be, because they are states?

question: How many rural districts are in Bremen?

question: Every state including free states consist of what?
context: The Districts of Germany (Kreise) are administrative districts, and every state except the city-states of Berlin, Hamburg, and Bremen consists of "rural districts" (Landkreise), District-free Towns/Cities (Kreisfreie Städte, in Baden-Württemberg also called "urban districts", or Stadtkreise), cities that are districts in their own right, or local associations of a special kind (Kommunalverbände besonderer Art), see below. The state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen consists of two urban districts, while Berlin and Hamburg are states and urban districts at the same time.

qas: question: Local associations of a special kind are an amalgamation of one or more Landkreise with what?
answers: text: one or more Kreisfreie Städte

question: What do local associations replace?
answers: text: administrative entities at the district level

question: What are local associations  intended to implement?
answers: text: simplification of administration

question: What is the association a district-free city or town and its urban hinterland typically grouped into?
answers: text: Kommunalverband besonderer Art

question: What does a Kommunalverband besonderer Art require?
answers: text: the issuing of special laws

question: Who created an amalgamation at the state level?

question: What do district level associations replace?

question: Why are district level associations created?

question: To who are special laws by a district issued?

question: What purpose is district level administration?
context: Local associations of a special kind are an amalgamation of one or more Landkreise with one or more Kreisfreie Städte to form a replacement of the aforementioned administrative entities at the district level. They are intended to implement simplification of administration at that level. Typically, a district-free city or town and its urban hinterland are grouped into such an association, or Kommunalverband besonderer Art. Such an organization requires the issuing of special laws by the governing state, since they are not covered by the normal administrative structure of the respective states.

qas: question: Every rural district is subdivided into what?
answers: text: municipalities

question: Every urban district is what in its own right?
answers: text: municipality

question: How many municipalities are there?
answers: text: 12,141

question: What is the smallest administrative unit in Germany?
answers: text: a municipality

question: What are town rights called?
answers: text: Stadtrechte

question: What are only rural districts divided into?

question: What are urban districts not allowed to be?

question: How many districts are there in Germany?

question: What rights do cities and towns give up if they are a municipality?

question: What special rights does a city have nowadays along with the right to be called a city?
context: Municipalities (Gemeinden): Every rural district and every Amt is subdivided into municipalities, while every urban district is a municipality in its own right. There are (as of 6 March 2009[update]) 12,141 municipalities, which are the smallest administrative units in Germany. Cities and towns are municipalities as well, also having city rights or town rights (Stadtrechte). Nowadays, this is mostly just the right to be called a city or town. However, in former times there were many other privileges, including the right to impose local taxes or to allow industry only within city limits.

qas: question: Municipalities have how many major policy responsibilities?
answers: text: local governments can justify

question: What article grants the municipalities "the right to regulate on their own responsibility all the affairs of the local community within the limits set by law.
answers: text: Article 28(2)

question: Under Article 28(2) local governments can justify what?
answers: text: a wide range of activities

question: What is one way municipalities develop the economic infrastructure?
answers: text: development

question: Who have three major policy responsibilities?

question: What is federal government responsible for administering? 

question: Programs run by the state or federal government typically relate to what?

question: Local governments are limited by which article?

question: What guarantees state and federal governments their rights?
context: The municipalities have two major policy responsibilities. First, they administer programs authorized by the federal or state government. Such programs typically relate to youth, schools, public health, and social assistance. Second, Article 28(2) of the Basic Law guarantees the municipalities "the right to regulate on their own responsibility all the affairs of the local community within the limits set by law." Under this broad statement of competence, local governments can justify a wide range of activities. For instance, many municipalities develop and expand the economic infrastructure of their communities through the development of industrial trading estates.

qas: question: What was territorial revision considered in southeastern Germany?

question: What road is the border between the French and American zones?

question: Which article did not allow the division of territory comprising Baden?

question: What goes into effect if an agreement under article 29 is reached?

question: Which state did not agree, so was not included in the December 1951 referendum?
context: In southwestern Germany, territorial revision seemed to be a top priority since the border between the French and American occupation zones was set along the Autobahn Karlsruhe-Stuttgart-Ulm (today the A8). Article 118 stated "The division of the territory comprising Baden, Württemberg-Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern into Länder may be revised, without regard to the provisions of Article 29, by agreement between the Länder concerned. If no agreement is reached, the revision shall be effected by a federal law, which shall provide for an advisory referendum." Since no agreement was reached, a referendum was held on 9 December 1951 in four different voting districts, three of which approved the merger (South Baden refused but was overruled as the result of total votes was decisive). On 25 April 1952, the three former states merged to form Baden-Württemberg.