[Etheryte]

Out of curiosity, doesn't Germany have the equivalent of a constitutional watchdog? For example in Estonia, the president fills this role (as do some other constitutions, but the president is a good example in this context). The president is otherwise a purely ceremonial figurehead in Estonia, but one functional role they fill is that before any new bill becomes law, they have to sign off on it and declare it's constitutional. If they find it not to be, they can send it back to the parliament (or to the highest national court, depending on the circumstances).

[joker99]

We do, pretty much the same as your situation. However, it doesn't happen very often that the Bundespräsident actually does this. Their role is almost purely ceremonial and I could count the cases on one hand where they used this power. Some legal professionals argue, that this check is basically a ceremonial one as well.

[tomrod]

If one thing I've learned the past decade, it is that "ceremonial" functions can be disrupted by people who don't respect the precedent.

[edgyquant]

Can you give an example where this has been the case? That a ceremonial monarch or executive is now an active participant in government?

[tomrod]

One striking example is the "ceremonial" activity that, in the US, the Vice President counts the electors votes to certify the election for the next President. This was interrupted in 2021 by ne'er-do-wells who thought they would overthrow a legitimate election, having been fed a lot of baloney from a lot of sources.

In both the example above and this example, what was taken as "ceremonial" (especially since the advent of much, much better forms of communication than what was available the 1790s) was still the the lawful course. Our systems of government are held together by the belief in and affinity to perform duty according to precedent.

[jackvalentine]

The former Prime Minister of Australia had the Governor General (a largely ceremonial role) secretly swear him in to multiple ministries without the knowledge of the incumbent minister, the parliament or the public. The Governor General didn’t publicise these appointments. The PM then used his new ministerial powers a couple of times.

The convention expected was the GG would announce these appointments, he didn’t and put out a statement when it was found out that literally said “oh yeah not my job sorry you thought it was”

https://www.gg.gov.au/about-governor-general/media/statement...

[prottog]

Politics in the Lucky Country are really mind-boggling sometimes.

[jackvalentine]

That book came out 60 years ago and is still spot on.

[nielsole]

https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/hintergrund-bundespraesi...

A list of seven rejected laws. I think there was one more in the last decade.

[PeterisP]

An oversight mechanism doesn't have to be used often in order to be effective - even if it's not used, the fact that it is there acts as a check and balance because then others don't try to submit outrageous things which will be rejected.

[hutzlibu]

Next to the Bundespräsident who plays the same role as yours, we even have a whole court dedicated to it, the Bundesverfassungsgericht. And occasionally they do indeed good work.