The constitution of 1949, promulgated on October 7 of that year to coincide with the founding of the republic, was based on a parliamentary-democratic model. In fact, however, the various parliamentary-democratic provisions of the 1949 constitution did not hinder the emergence of a centralized and authoritarian political order under the hegemony of the SED. The original intentions of the constitution, framed under the specific historical conditions of the "antifascist democratic order" of 1945-49 (as SED historians refer to it), were simply altered over the years to incorporate changing realities. Thus, while many of the rights and guarantees of the original document were retained, a number of subsequent legal additions were made at the initiative of the SED with the concurrence of the People's Chamber.

Data as of July 1987

NOTE: The information regarding Germany (East) on this page is re-published from The Library of Congress Country Studies and the CIA World Factbook. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Germany (East) CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Germany (East) CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK should be addressed to the Library of Congress and the CIA.