Reichstag (North German Confederation)

North German Reichstag Norddeutscher Reichstag
Legislative body of Germany
Type
Type	Lower house
History
Established	18 August 1866
Disbanded	18 January 1871
Preceded by	Federal Convention
Succeeded by	Imperial Reichstag
Seats	382 (at dissolution)
Elections
Voting system	Direct competitive elections
First election	February 1867
Last election	31 August 1867
Meeting place
Prussian House of Lords, Berlin
Constitution
North German Constitution

The Reichstag (German: [ˈʁaɪçstaːk] ^ⓘ) of the North German Confederation was the federal state's lower house of parliament. The popularly elected Reichstag was responsible for federal legislation together with the Bundesrat, the upper house whose members were appointed by the governments of the individual states to represent their interests. Executive power lay with the Bundesrat and the king of Prussia acting as Bundespräsidium, or head of state.^[1] The Reichstag debated and approved or rejected taxes and expenditures and could propose laws in its own right. To become effective, all laws required the approval of both the Bundesrat and the Reichstag. Voting rights in Reichstag elections were advanced for the time, granting universal, equal, and secret suffrage to men above the age of 25.^[2]

When the German Empire was established in 1871, the North German Reichstag formed the basis of the new Reichstag of the German Empire.