Weimar Constitution

                           

Article 1The German Reich is a republic. State authority derives from the people.

Article 7The Reich is responsible for legislation in the areas 1. civil law 2. penal law 3. jurisdiction including the execution of sentences as well as judicial assistance between government offices 4. passport affairs and the registration of aliens 5. welfare for the poor and the migrants 6. press, clubs, assemblies 7. population policy, motherhood, baby, children and youth welfare 8. health care, veterinary affairs, protection of plants against diseases and parasites 9. labour legislation, insurance and protection of workers and employees as well as certification of employment 10. the establishment of institutions representing occupations within the Reich territory 11. welfare for combattants and their surviving dependants 12. the law of expropriation 13. the nationalization of natural resources, of economic enterprises, of the production, distribution and pricing of merchandise for the social economy 14. trade, measurements, the distribution of paper money, construction and stock markets 15. the sale of food as well as other goods of daily consumption 16. industry and mining 17. insurances 18. merchant shipping. ocean and coastal fishing 19. railways, inland navigation, motor vehicle traffic on land, water and in the air, the construction of overland roads, as far as these serve general traffic and national defense 20. theatres and cinemas

Article 114The rights of the individual are inviolable. Limitation or deprivation of individual liberty is admissible only if based on laws.

Article 118Every German is entitled, within the bounds set by general law, to express his opinion freely in word, writing, print, image or otherwise.

Article 137There is no state church.

The Weimar Constitution is very similar to the U.S Constitution bill of rights in which represented a democratic government. In the Weimar Constitution, the democratic system of proportional representation for elections allowed minor parties to get members into the Reichstag by getting enough votes. This system allowed the minor parties to disrupt democratic proceedings by making the party in power (democratic)  look incapable of maintaining power in its very seat of power. Even though the Weimar Constitution goes more in depth, both documents protected the rights of the individual. However, these rights of freedom were later lost when the Nazi party disrupted the democracy system as a result of the proportional representation. The reason I chose these articles and added similar rights from the U.S Constitution is to show how two governments can have similar fundamental principals but can have different outcomes.

                                                  The U.S Constitution Bill of Rights 

Article the third... Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Article the sixth... The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Article the twelfth... The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.