AfD on democracy and the state

The AfD wants to expand direct democracy along Swiss lines and sharply lower the signature thresholds in NRW. It argues that the state has not held a single referendum since 1950.

The AfD wants more votes by the people. Fewer signatures should be needed for this. NRW has had no referendum since 1950. The party says the hurdles are too high.

A popular initiative would need 0.2 percent of eligible voters and a petition for a referendum two percent. Changes to the state constitution would always have to be confirmed by referendum. Votes should be held alongside statewide elections where possible; in that case the AfD says the approval quorum could also be dropped. Direct democracy is to be strengthened at the municipal level too, and the party rejects percentage thresholds in local elections.

The AfD wants to cut the state parliament from the current 199 members to 129 and make its work more visible to the public. This includes an online video library of sessions and regular questioning of the government.

The AfD wants fewer members in the state parliament. There should be 129 instead of 199. All sessions should be online as videos. The government should answer questions in parliament regularly.

The party points to the cost of members' staff, salaries, and pensions. Fewer electoral districts are meant to make overhang and compensatory seats less likely. A media library would offer videos of all plenary and committee sessions; municipal councils should follow in the medium term. The current question time would be replaced by government questioning modeled on the British House of Commons and the Bundestag.

The AfD wants contacts between lobbyists and lawmakers or members of the government disclosed in a public register. It also rejects special councils such as a climate citizens' council, which it believes weaken elected institutions.

The AfD wants a lobby register for NRW. It shows which interest groups talk to politicians. That way everyone can see their influence better. The party rejects special councils such as a climate citizens' council.

The register would follow the rules already in force at the federal level. According to the platform, lawmakers and the government should serve the common good rather than individual interest groups. The AfD sees the climate citizens' council proposed by the Greens in 2021 as a way of giving one lobby more weight. It rejects councils and similar bodies that favor particular viewpoints as a matter of principle.

The AfD wants NRW to hand no further powers to the federal government or the EU. It invokes the principle of subsidiarity, under which decisions should be made at the lowest level able to handle them.

NRW should not give more tasks to the federal government or the EU. The AfD wants decisions made as locally as possible. There, citizens can have a say more easily. This is called subsidiarity.

According to the platform, citizens can influence decisions in their own municipality more easily than those made in Brussels. Federalism is said to secure the state's rights of participation and decision. The AfD stresses that petitions and referendums are possible in NRW, unlike at the federal and EU levels.

The AfD wants members of the state government to swear once again to serve the welfare of the German people. It also rejects voting rights for non-Germans and wants to sharply restrict lawmakers' outside employment.

Ministers should again swear an oath to the German people. That was the rule in NRW until 2016. Only Germans should be allowed to vote. Lawmakers should not be allowed to take new side jobs.

According to the platform, the former oath was abolished in 2016 by the SPD, CDU, Greens, and FDP. Outside jobs would be allowed only if held for at least two years before taking office; no new ones could be started during the term. Anyone who uses knowledge from committees and other bodies for financial gain would face criminal prosecution. The AfD rejects any extension of voting rights to people without German citizenship.

The AfD wants a law forbidding the Verfassungsschutz (domestic intelligence agency) in NRW from monitoring political parties. In its view, the agency is increasingly used to hamper the opposition and protect the government.

The Verfassungsschutz is a domestic intelligence agency. The AfD wants to forbid it from watching political parties. An exception should need a ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court. The party says the agency harms the opposition.

Surveillance would remain possible only once the Federal Constitutional Court has found that a party seeks to abolish the free democratic basic order. As examples of misuse, the platform cites action against the AfD and against opposition media. It also accuses the agency of ignoring links between the Green Youth and the SPD's youth wing and left-wing extremism. In NRW, the agency is a department of the interior ministry.