AfD on democracy and the state

The AfD wants to make direct democracy easier at the state and local level. Fewer signatures would be needed for a state petition for a referendum, and votes on financial matters would be allowed. According to the platform, this lets every citizen influence politics directly.

The AfD wants citizens to vote on more issues. Fewer signatures would be needed for this. Citizens could also vote on money matters. This would apply in the state and in towns.

A state-level petition for a referendum (Volksbegehren) would need signatures from 3 percent of eligible voters instead of 300,000, which the platform puts at about 91,300. The deadline would rise from two to three months. The ban on votes about financial matters and tax and fee laws would be lifted. At the local level, the AfD also wants to lower the hurdles for citizens' petitions and local referendums and make the formal requirements easier to meet. The platform points to current thresholds of 5 to 9 percent and to many excluded topics, such as budgets and zoning plans.

The AfD wants to stop giving taxpayer money to reporting offices for online content. In the platform's view, these offices serve to remove non-criminal statements from social media and thereby restrict freedom of expression.

Reporting offices take tips about posts on the internet. The AfD wants to stop state money for these offices. The party says they limit free speech. People should report criminal posts to the police.

The platform describes the work of these offices as informing on others in a way that intimidates people. Any opinion should be allowed as long as it is not a crime. For criminal content, the AfD points to reports to the police and prosecutors, including through online portals. In the party's view, the state should not pay one-sided private organizations to monitor the internet.

The AfD wants to shield judges from political influence and abolish the justice ministries' power to issue instructions to public prosecutors. According to the platform, citizens should be able to rely on decisions being made solely on the basis of the law.

The AfD wants to separate judges and prosecutors from politics. Today the justice ministry can give prosecutors instructions. The AfD wants to end that. There would be new bodies for judges.

For the courts, the AfD backs a proposal by the German Judges' Association: a judicial selection committee and a judicial administration council would be introduced. The party wants to push for this at the state and federal level. Prosecutors would no longer be bound by ministry instructions. The platform points to international criticism of this rule.

The AfD wants to turn the Verfassungsschutz (domestic intelligence agency), currently a department of the interior ministry, into an independent authority. In the platform's view, the state government uses it against opposition parties, so it lacks the necessary neutrality.

The Verfassungsschutz is an intelligence agency in the state. Today it belongs to the interior ministry. The AfD wants to make it a separate authority. The party says the government uses it against the opposition.

At present the agency is subject to instructions from the interior ministry. The AfD accuses the state government of using it to fight opposition parties and thereby turning it into a tool to protect the government. The party wants an independent, neutrally staffed authority to focus on efforts that are actually hostile to the constitution.

The AfD wants to change the state's flag regulation so that the federal flag flies permanently at schools and government offices. The rainbow flag would be banned on public buildings. The platform justifies this with state neutrality and a positive relationship to the nation.

The AfD wants schools and offices to always show the German flag. The state flag may be added. The rainbow flag would be banned there. The AfD says the state must be neutral.

The federal flag would fly permanently without a separate order and could be joined by the state flag. The rainbow flag and its variants would be prohibited because, in the AfD's view, the state must stay neutral on party politics and worldviews. The flags are meant to foster ties to the German nation and its free democratic order. The platform expects this to strengthen social cohesion.

The AfD wants the state to reimburse municipalities in full whenever it assigns them new tasks or expands existing ones. It accuses the state government of repeatedly ignoring this principle, which is anchored in the state constitution.

The state often gives towns and cities new tasks. The AfD says: Then the state must pay for all of it. This rule is called the connexity principle. It is already in the state constitution. The AfD wants to follow it strictly.

The Konnexitätsprinzip (connexity principle) means that whoever mandates a task pays for it. As examples of violations, the platform cites the Kita-Zukunftsgesetz (daycare law), housing for asylum seekers and public transit funding. In the AfD's view, the state reduced its own debt at the municipalities' expense. Strict application is also supposed to mean that costly projects the AfD calls ideological are dropped or scaled back. More generally, the party commits to local self-government and to adequate funding from the state.

The AfD wants to cut the number of state ministries by two and reduce senior staff. The education ministry would merge with the ministry for science and health, and the integration ministry would be dissolved entirely. The aim is a leaner and cheaper administration.

Rhineland-Palatinate has ten ministries. The AfD wants to close two of them. The ministry for integration would go away completely. Two other ministries would become one. The AfD wants to save money on top staff this way.

According to the program, the state has ten ministries including the state chancellery, with 14 state secretaries, many personal aides, and more than fifty press office staff. The AfD wants to combine education, science, and health under one roof. The departments of the integration ministry (MFFKI) would be spread across other ministries: culture would move to the education ministry and migration to the interior ministry. The party expects fewer senior posts, shorter decision paths, and lower costs for taxpayers.

The AfD wants to stop paying state money to politically active organizations, arguing that such funding distorts political competition. It also wants a public database showing who receives state grants, for what purpose, and how much.

Some groups get money from the state. The AfD wants to stop giving state money to politically active groups. It says this money distorts political competition. There would also be a public list. It would show who gets grant money from the state.

The program describes funded non-governmental organizations as close to the government and accuses some of agitating against the government's political opponents. Private donations and political engagement would remain open to everyone, but state money would no longer be available for this. The AfD puts the savings at more than 2.5 million euros. The grant database would list associations, foundations, organizations, and public bodies along with purpose and amount. It is meant to let citizens and journalists debate how funds are used and, in the party's view, to prevent left-wing extremist groups from getting money.