-Grundgesetz (Basic Law) is the constitution -- Article 1: Human dignity is inviolable
-Bundestag (lower house) elected every 4 years, Bundesrat (upper house) represents 16 states
-Chancellor (Bundeskanzler) is head of government, President (Bundespraesident) is head of state
-Gewaltenteilung: Legislative (Bundestag), Executive (Government), Judicial (Courts)
-Federal Constitutional Court is in Karlsruhe, NOT Berlin
-Voting: universal, direct, free, equal, secret -- age 18+
-16 Bundeslaender, each with own Landtag and Ministerpraesident
-EU founding member (1957), Euro currency, Schengen area, NATO member
-Basic rights (Articles 1-19): speech, religion, assembly, press, equality, property, asylum