Since 1993, the parliament of the federal state of Berlin has resided in the carefully restored building of the former Prussian state parliament. As from the 14th electoral period (1999), the House of Representatives is made up of at least 130 members (plus possible extra members due to the proportional representation system). Parties with less than five per cent of the votes are excluded unless a candidate gains a direct seat. The parliament is in office for four years, but it can be ended prematurely by a two thirds majority of the members or a referendum. Bills are debated in parliament in at least two readings, and they are passed by a simple majority. Changes to the constitution need a majority of two thirds of all members. Changes in the constitution which affect the provisions for public petitions and referendums must also be put to a referendum. Sessions of the parliament and its committees are always open to the public.

The government of the federal state of Berlin is made up of the Governing Mayor and eight Senators. The House of Representatives elects the Governing Mayor, and he then proposes the Senators who are elected individually. The House of Representatives can reject the Senate or individual Senators by a majority of its members. Thus, only the people’s representatives can dismiss the Senators. The members of the Senate each discharge their tasks on their own responsibility. The Governing Mayor defines the guiding principles of the work of the federal state government, but to do so he needs the approval of the Senate. The Berlin Town Hall is the seat of the Governing Mayor and the Senate Chancellery.

The administration is sub-divided into the central administration and the borough administrations. The central administration mainly consists of the Senate administrations, which are the highest public bodies of the federal state. The central administration decides on matters of principle and on the planning and control of the development of the city as a whole. A list of areas of responsibility defines the respective tasks of the Senate and borough administrations. Supplementary public authorities such as the President of Police, the fire brigade and the judicial authorities are directly under the central administration. The central administration is the supervisory body for the further education institutions and the public corporations owned by the federal state. To cope with the tasks of a modern metropolis which is the seat of the national parliament and government, Berlin is reforming its administration at all levels. The central pillar of the reform under the motto “administration enterprise” is economic feasibility and realistic funding. In the competition between locations, the administration of Berlin must become more streamlined, performance-oriented, citizen-oriented and transparent. The reorganisation consists of several stages and should be completed in 2004. A change in the constitution in March 1998 opened the way for a new arrangement of the Berlin boroughs (area reform), a new division of tasks between the Senate and the boroughs (functional reform) and a reduction in the size of the parliament and government in future legislative periods.