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Enabling act

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:''This article is about the German law passed in 1933 at the beginning of the Nazi Germany Third Reich. For other laws of that name see Enabling act.'' The '''Enabling Act''' ('':de:Ermächtigungsgesetz Ermächtigungsgesetz'' in German language German) was passed by Germany's parliament (the ''Reichstag (institution) Reichstag'') on March 23, 1933. It was the second major step after the Reichstag Fire Decree through which the Nazism Nazis obtained dictatorship dictatorial powers using largely legal means. The Act enabled Chancellor Adolf Hitler and his cabinet to enact laws without the participation of the ''Reichstag''. The formal name of the Enabling Act was ''Gesetz zur Behebung der Not von Volk und Reich'' ("Law to Remedy the Distress of the People and the Reich").

Enabling Act text
As with most of the laws passed in the process of ''Gleichschaltung'', the Enabling Act is quite short, considering its consequences. It is therefore reproduced in full in German and English: {| border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" | width="50%" style="background:#efefef;" valign="top" align="center" | '''Gesetz zur Behebung der Not von Volk und Reich''' | width="50%" style="background:#ffdead;" valign="top" align="center" | '''Law to Remedy the Distress of the People and the Reich''' |- | width="50%" style="background:#efefef;" valign="top" align="left" | Der Reichstag hat das folgende Gesetz beschlossen, das mit Zustimmung des Reichsrats hiermit verkündet wird, nachdem festgestellt ist, daß die Erfordernisse verfassungsändernder Gesetzgebung erfüllt sind: | width="50%" style="background:#ffdead;" valign="top" align="left" | The Reichstag (institution) Reichstag has enacted the following law, which has the agreement of the Reichsrat (Germany) Reichsrat and meets the requirements for a constitutional amendment, which is hereby announced: |- | width="50%" style="background:#efefef;" valign="top" align="center" | '''Artikel 1''' | width="50%" style="background:#ffdead;" valign="top" align="center" | '''Article 1''' |- | width="50%" style="background:#efefef;" valign="top" | Reichsgesetze können außer in dem in der Reichsverfassung vorgesehenen Verfahren auch durch die Reichsregierung beschlossen werden. Dies gilt auch für die in den Artikeln 85 Abs. 2 und 87 der Reichsverfassung bezeichneten Gesetze. | width="50%" style="background:#ffdead;" valign="top" | In addition to the procedure prescribed by the constitution, laws of the Reich may also be enacted by the government of the Reich. This includes laws as referred to by Articles 85 sentence 2 and Article 87 of the constitution.{{ref|budget}} |- | width="50%" style="background:#efefef;" valign="top" align="center" | '''Artikel 2''' | width="50%" style="background:#ffdead;" valign="top" align="center" | '''Article 2''' |- | width="50%" style="background:#efefef;" valign="top" | Die von der Reichsregierung beschlossenen Reichsgesetze können von der Reichsverfassung abweichen, soweit sie nicht die Einrichtung des Reichstags und des Reichsrats als solche zum Gegenstand haben. Die Rechte des Reichspräsidenten bleiben unberührt. | width="50%" style="background:#ffdead;" valign="top" | Laws enacted by the government of the Reich may deviate from the constitution as long as they do not affect the institutions of the Reichstag and the Reichsrat. The rights of the President remain undisturbed. |- | width="50%" style="background:#efefef;" valign="top" align="center" | '''Artikel 3''' | width="50%" style="background:#ffdead;" valign="top" align="center" | '''Article 3''' |- | width="50%" style="background:#efefef;" valign="top" | Die von der Reichsregierung beschlossenen Reichsgesetze werden vom Reichskanzler ausgefertigt und im Reichsgesetzblatt verkündet. Sie treten, soweit sie nichts anderes bestimmen, mit dem auf die Verkündung folgenden Tage in Kraft. Die Artikel 68 bis 77 der Reichsverfassung finden auf die von der Reichsregierung beschlossenen Gesetze keine Anwendung. | width="50%" style="background:#ffdead;" valign="top" | Laws enacted by the Reich government shall be issued by the Chancellor and announced in the Reich Law Gazette. They shall take effect on the day following the announcement, unless they prescribe a different date. Articles 68 to 77 of the constitution do not apply to laws enacted by the Reich government.{{ref|laws}} |- | width="50%" style="background:#efefef;" valign="top" align="center" | '''Artikel 4''' | width="50%" style="background:#ffdead;" valign="top" align="center" | '''Article 4''' |- | width="50%" style="background:#efefef;" valign="top" | Verträge des Reiches mit fremden Staaten, die sich auf Gegenstände der Reichsgesetzgebung beziehen, bedürfen für die Dauer der Geltung dieser Gesetze nicht der Zustimmung der an der Gesetzgebung beteiligten Körperschaften. Die Reichsregierung erläßt die zur Durchführung dieser Verträge erforderlichen Vorschriften. | width="50%" style="background:#ffdead;" valign="top" | Reich treaties with foreign states which affect matters of Reich legislation shall not require the approval of the bodies concerned with legislation. The government of the Reich shall issue the regulations required for the execution of such treaties. |- | width="50%" style="background:#efefef;" valign="top" align="center" | '''Artikel 5''' | width="50%" style="background:#ffdead;" valign="top" align="center" | '''Article 5''' |- | width="50%" style="background:#efefef;" valign="top" | Dieses Gesetz tritt mit dem Tage seiner Verkündung in Kraft. Es tritt mit dem 1. April 1937 außer Kraft, es tritt ferner außer Kraft, wenn die gegenwärtige Reichsregierung durch eine andere abgelöst wird. | width="50%" style="background:#ffdead;" valign="top" | This law takes effect with the day of its proclamation. It loses force on April 1, 1937 or if the present Reich government is replaced by another. |}

= Notes
= # {{note|budget}} Article 85 outlined the process by which the Reichstag and Reichsrat approved the Reich budget. Article 87 restricted government borrowing. # {{note|laws}} Articles 68 to 77 stipulated the procedures for enacting legislation in the Reichstag. The Enabling Act was passed by the Reichstag on March 23 and proclaimed by the government the following day. Following constitutional procedure for legislation, the law was countersigned by President Paul von Hindenburg von Hindenburg, Chancellor Hitler, Minister of Interior Frick, Foreign Minister Konstantin von Neurath von Neurath, and Minister of Finance Lutz Schwerin von Krosigk von Krosigk.

Passing of the Enabling Act
{{cleanup-date|November 2005}} In order to gain complete political power without holding a majority in the Reichstag (institution) Reichstag and without the need to bargain with their coalition partners, the Nazis devised the Enabling Act. The Act was intended to grant the chancellor and his cabinet authority to enact legislation without the Reichstag. As a law altering the legislative provisions of the constitution the Act would have to be ratified by the Reichstag by a two-thirds majority. The Social Democratic Party (Social Democratic Party of Germany SPD) and the Communist Party (KPD) were expected to vote against such an Act, but the Nazis knew that the parties representing the middle class, the Junkers landowners and business interests had grown weary of the instability of the Weimar Republic. Hitler reckoned that these parties would be eager to adopt such an extraordinary measure to end the ongoing parliamentary logjam, or at a minimum, would muster only tepid opposition. Hitler, shortly after being named chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933, pulled out of the coalition that had been built with centrist parties, instead asking President von Hindenburg to call a general election for March 5, 1933. Of the campaign, in what was one of the world's first use of mass media as a major force in a political campaign, propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels wrote: : ''Now it will be easy to carry on the fight, for we can call on all the resources of the State. Radio and press are at our disposal. We shall stage a masterpiece of propaganda.''{{ref|ShirerGoebbels}} In the days leading up to the elections, the Nazis organised street violence to intimidate the opposition and build fear of communism. The Reichstag fire burning of the Reichstag six days before the election was the pivotal event of the campaign. A mentally-disturbed one-time Dutch Communist was arrested in the building and, while the circumstances of the fire are disputed and will never be conclusively known, the fire was portrayed by the Nazis as the beginning of a communist revolution. With the threat of Communism looming, Hitler's government persuaded President Paul von Hindenburg to authorize several emergency powers in the Reichstag Fire Decree, which (among other things) suspended civil liberties and habeas corpus rights. Decree in hand, Hitler had the Communist Party's offices raided and its representatives arrested, neutralizing their power in the Reichstag. Despite receiving five million additional votes and adding the nationalist DNVP party's 52 seats to their coalition in the March 5 election, Hitler's coalition had only a slim majority, but not enough for Hitler to gain absolute power. At Hitler's first post-election Cabinet meeting on March 15, the first order of business was to plan how to obtain absolute power in a constitutional way. Hitler decided upon proposal of an "enabling act" that would give the cabinet legislative power for four years. The Reichstag Fire Decree had already given the government the power to arrest opposition delegates, and Hitler felt certain that he could convince the Catholic Center to give their support to the act and provide the needed two-thirds majority.{{ref|ShirerEnablingAct}} Hitler negotiated with the Centre Party's chairman, Catholic priest Ludwig Kaas, finalizing an agreement by March 22. Kaas agreed to support the Act in exchange for the Nazi's promise to help them achieve civil recognition of Catholics and Catholicism, as well as instituting quotas and protections for Catholic civil servants and schools. The Centre Party also asked Hitler to maintain constitutional protections of civil liberties. Debate within the Centre itself continued until March 23, when ex-chancellor Heinrich Brüning denounced the Enabling Act as treachery of the worst order, calling for the Reichstag's assembly to be postponed until cooler heads could prevail. Kaas nevertheless claimed a written guarantee would come from Hitler. Brüning's experiences with Hitler led him to warn Kaas to ensure he received the written promise before the vote, but agreed to maintain party discipline by voting for the Act. Later that day, the Reichstag (institution) Reichstag assembled under intimidating circumstances, with Sturmabteilung SA men swarming inside and outside the chamber. Hitler's speech, which emphasised the importance of Christianity in German culture, was aimed particularly at assuaging the Centre Party's sensibilities and almost verbatim incorprated Kaas' requested guarantees. Kaas gave a speech, voicing the Centre's support for the bill amid "concerns put aside", while Brüning notably remained silent. Only Otto Wels of the Social Democratic Party of Germany SPD spoke against the Act. Kaas had still not received the written constitutional guarantees he had negotiated, but with the assurance it was being "typed up", voting began. Kaas never received the letter. All parties except the SPD voted in favour of the Enabling Act. With the Communist delegates's enforced absence and 26 SPD deputies likewise arrested or in hiding, the final vote was 441 supporting the Enabling Act to 94 (all Social Democrats) opposed. With 83% of the delegates voting in favor of the Enabling Act, the constitutionally-required majority had been obtained. With the passage of the Act, the Reichstag was effectively eliminated from active participation in German politics; Hitler's cabinet thenceforth had free rein to rule by decree.

Consequences
While there had been previous enabling acts in the earliest years of the Weimar Republic, this one was more far reaching since Article 2 allowed for deviations from the constitution. The law therefore formally required a two-thirds majority in the ''Reichstag''. Hitler had taken care of that: under the provisions of the Reichstag Fire Decree, the Communist Party of Germany Communist Party deputies — and a few Social Democratic Party of Germany Social Democratic deputies as well — were already jailed, and the Communist mandates were declared "dormant" by the government shortly after the elections. The Social Democratic Party of Germany Social Democrats at first had planned to hinder the passing of the law by boycotting the Reichstag (institution) Reichstag session, rendering the body short of the two-thirds quorum needed for the vote, but led by Reichstag president Hermann Goering, the body changed its rules of procedure to allow the Reichstag president to declare any deputy "absent without excuse" to be considered as present in order to forestall obstruction. Because of this procedural change, the Social Democrats were forced to participate in the session and their chairman Otto Wels delivered a speech against the Enabling Act. The remaining free members of parliament were intimidated by the Sturmabteilung SA surrounding the parliament hall. In the end, only the Social Democratic Party of Germany Social Democrats voted against the bill. During the negotiations between the government and the Centre Party (Germany) Centre Party, it was agreed that the government should inform the Reichstag parties of legislative measures passed under the Enabling Act. For this purpose, a second working committee was set up, chaired by Adolf Hitler Hitler and the Centre's chairman Ludwig Kaas Kaas. However, this committee met only three times without any major impact. President von Hindenburg seemed to be pleased with Hitler's firm hand. During the cabinet conference on the Enabling Act, von Hindenburg's representative stated that the aged president was withdrawing from day-to-day affairs of government and that presidential collaboration on the laws decreed as a result of the Enabling Act would not be required. Though the Act had formally given legislative powers to the government as a whole, these powers were for all intents and purposes exercised by Hitler himself; as Joseph Goebbels wrote shortly after the passage of the Enabling Act: : ''The authority of the Führer has now been wholly established. Votes are no longer taken. The Führer decides. All this is going much faster than we had dared to hope.'' Formal cabinet meetings were rare during the whole Third Reich and non-existent during World War II. It is indicative of the care that Hitler took to give his dictatorship an appearance of legality that the Enabling Act was formally extended twice by the Reichstag (by then a puppet of Hitler) beyond its original 1937 expiration date. The passage of the Enabling Act reduced the Reichstag to a mere stage for Hitler's speeches. The opposition parties were suppressed or banned, and eventually even the parties making up Hitler's coalition yielded to government pressure and dissolved themselves. On July 14, 1933 the government decreed a law eliminating political parties other than the Nazi Party. By this, Hitler had fulfilled what he had promised in earlier campaign speeches: "I set for myself one aim ... to sweep these thirty parties out of Germany!"

References
*{{note|ShirerGoebbels}} {{cite book | author=Shirer, William L. | title=The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich | location=New York | publisher=Simon & Schuster | year=1959 |id=ISBN 0-671-62420-2}} Category:Emergency laws Category:Nazi Germany Category:German legal history Category:1933 in law de:Ermächtigungsgesetz fr:Loi des pleins pouvoirs he:חוק ההסמכה (גרמניה) ja:全権委任法 no:Bemyndigelsesloven

Links
* Many people are worried that the 2006 Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill bill in the UK parliament is reminscent of the Enabling act.
- Save Parliament - A Campaign against the LRRB
- Campaign Against the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill
- Right Links LRRB Campaign
- Murky.org's archive of all his posts upon the LRRB
- SpyBlog's archive of all his posts upon te LRRB An '''enabling act''' is a piece of legislation by which a legislature grants an entity which depends in on it for authorization or legitimacy to take a certain action(s). The most famous such law is the German Enabling Act, enacted in 1933 at the beginning of the rise of the Third Reich.

In the United Kingdom
Although there was never an enabling act in the United Kingdom resembling the one in Nazi Germany, the idea of an enabling act has been advocated by prominent British politicians. In the 1930s, both Sir Stafford Cripps and Clement Attlee advocated an enabling act to allow a future Labour Party (UK) Labour government to pass socialism socialist legislation which would not be amended by normal parliamentary procedures and the House of Lords. According to Cripps, his "Planning and Enabling Act" would not be able to be repealed, and the orders made by the government using the act would not be allowed discussion in United Kingdom Parliament Parliament.[http://www.mises.org/etexts/mises/bureaucracy/section7.asp] Cripps also suggested measures against the British monarchy monarchy, but quickly dropped the idea.[http://www.marxist.com/hbtu/chapter_15.html] In 1966, Oswald Mosley advocated a government of national unity drawn from "the professions, from science, from the unions and the managers, from businessmen, the housewives, from the services, from the universities, and even from the best of the politicians". This coalition would be a "hard centre" oriented one which would also get Parliament to pass an Enabling Act in order to stop "time-wasting obstructionism of present procedure", as Mosley described it. He also claimed that Parliament would always retain the power to dismiss his government by vote of censure if its policies failed or if it attempted to "override basic British freedoms".[http://www.oswaldmosley.com/misc_documents/ombfe.htm] Currently (February 2006), the highly-controversial yet little-publicised Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill is passing through Parliament. This Bill will, if enacted into law, enable Government ministers to amend or repeal any legislation (including the L&RR Bill itself), subject to vague and highly subjective restraints, by decree and without recourse to Parliament. This Bill has variously been described as the ''"Abolition of Parliament Bill"'' [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,6-2049791,00.html (The Times)] and ''"...of first-class constitutional significance... [and would] markedly alter the respective and long standing roles of minister and Parliament in the legislative process"'' (House of Lords Constitutional Committee, reported in [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,6-2040625,00.html The Times]). The Bill is, in essence, an Enabling Act in all but name.

In the United States
An enabling act, in reference to the admission of new U.S. states states into the United States Union, is legislation passed by United States Congress Congress authorizing the people of a United States territory territory to frame a constitution. The act also lays down the requirements that must be met as a prerequisite to statehood. These Acts have usually been titled "An Enabling Act for a State of (Name)".

In Venezuela
In Venezuela, an enabling act was passed in mid-2000 by Hugo Chávez enabling him to rule by decree for one year. Chávez did not take advantage of this act until shortly before its expiration, when he passed 49 decrees in rapid succession, many of them highly controversial.

See also
*Alaska Statehood Act *Admission Act Category:Historic United States federal legislation {{statute-stub}} de:Ermächtigungsgesetz

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