The politics of Schleswig-Holstein takes place within a framework of a federal parliamentary representative democratic republic, where the Federal Government of Germany exercises sovereign rights with certain powers reserved to the states of Germany including Schleswig-Holstein. The state has a multi-party system.
From 1919 to 1928, the largest parties in Schleswig-Holstein were the Social Democratic Party, German Democratic Party, Conservative Party and German Peoples Party. From 1930 onwards, Schleswig-Holstein was a bastion of Nazi support. In the 1930 Reicshtag elections, the Nazi Party received their highest vote share in Schleswig-Holstein with 27%. In 1932, the Nazi Party won 51% of the vote in Schleswig-Holstein, the only district where Nazis received an absolute majority. The rural areas of Schleswig-Holstein were particularly likely to support the Nazis.
Since the creation of the Federal Republic in 1945, the state's minister-presidents have been:
The last elections were held on 8 May 2022.
The Schleswig-Holstein Landesverfassungsgericht was formed in 2008. Until then, Schleswig-Holstein was the last German state without a constitutional court.