Voting has long been and will continue to be a carefully watched and highly contested institution. Democracy, government for/by the people, gives the average citizen the opportunity to participate in their nation’s political nature. In looking at the relatively high voter turnout in Imperial Germany, many hypotheses can be applied as to why so many citizens came out to vote. The reasons are quite simple; there was such a high voter turnout because for the first time citizens of Germany were given a voice in politics. It was the opposite of prisoner’s dilemma – they feared that if they didn’t vote, no one else would. Also helping voter turnout was high collective action among political groups that assured voter identification. Lastly, the fact that religious sects (Protestant and Catholic) wanted a government that they could peacefully coexist with. Therefore, they took on a more active role in politics and used parishioners as their own voice.

Before we delve into the intricacies of Imperial German voting, perhaps a brief history of the government is in order. The German Empire--often called the Second Reich to distinguish it from the First Reich, was based on t

The government needed the approval of the Bundesrat and the Reichstag to enact legislative proposals, and the Kaiser and his chancellor had many means of securing this approval. Conservative in nature, the Bundesrat was usually docile and needed little coaxing. Compliant in the early years of the empire, the Reichstag, by contrast, became less so with time. The easiest means of controlling the Reichstag was to threaten it with new elections in the hope of getting a legislative body more attuned to the intentions of the government. During elections the government campaigned for the parties it favored, sometimes cynically conjuring up fears of national catastrophe if particular parties won many seats. The government also bargained with parties, granting them what they sought in exchange for votes. A last means of taming the Reichstag was to spread rumors of a possible coup d'etat by the army and the repeal of the constitution and universal suffrage. This technique was used repeatedly in imperial Germany and could even frighten the conservative Bundesrat. However little many of the Reichstag members might like the empire's political order, the prospect of naked despotism pleased them even less.

As had been the tradition in Prussia, the Kaiser controlled foreign policy and the army through his handpicked ministers, who formed the government and prepared legislation. A chancellor, also selected by the Kaiser, who served in this post at the Kaiser’s pleasure and could be dismissed by him at any time, headed the government. The Bundesrat, also known as the Federal Council, represented Germany's princes; Prussians held about one-third of its seats. Conceived as an upper house to the Reichstag, the Bundesrat, like the Reichstag, was required to vote on legislation drawn up by the government before it became law. The Reichstag had no power to draft legislation. In addition, the government's actions were not subject to the Reichstag's approval, and the government was not drawn from the Reichstag, as is ordinarily the case in parliamentary democracies.

Many scholars argue that the reason there was such a high voter turnout in Imperial Germany was due to economic bargaining. This type of coercion effected voters of every race, religion and profession. Bosse

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