Freie Wähler on democracy and the state

The Free Voters want the federal government to hand new tasks to municipalities only together with the money needed to carry them out. Cities and towns should also have a stronger say in federal decisions.

The federal government often gives cities and towns new tasks. The Free Voters say the federal government must then pay for them. This rule is called connexity. Towns should also have more say in federal decisions.

The platform backs self-reliant municipalities with solid funding. In the party's view, the federal government has shifted costs onto municipalities in recent years, for example for hospitals, participation laws, all-day childcare and asylum. To counter this, a connexity principle should apply at the federal level: whoever orders a task pays for it. Local governments should also be more closely involved in federal policymaking.

The Free Voters want more direct democracy so that citizens can help decide important questions between elections as well. The federal president should in future be elected directly by the people.

The Free Voters want more referendums. In a referendum, citizens vote on a question themselves. This lets people have a say between elections too. Citizens should also elect the federal president themselves.

The platform wants to expand referendums and citizen participation and to explore where this is possible. The party intends to support initiatives for local referendums. It justifies this by pointing to a style of politics that, in its view, long overlooked the needs of many people. Direct election of the federal president, modeled on Austria, is meant to increase the office's legitimacy and strengthen the bond between the population and the head of state.

The Free Voters want to lower the five-percent threshold in federal elections to three percent so that fewer votes go unrepresented. The Grundmandatsklausel (the rule that three constituency wins secure entry) should be kept.

Today a party needs 5 percent of the votes to enter the Bundestag. The Free Voters want to lower this to 3 percent. Then more votes count. Winning three districts should also still be enough to get in.

According to the platform, the current threshold causes millions of votes to be dropped when seats are allocated. A three-percent threshold would reflect voters' will better without endangering parliament's ability to function. In addition, the Grundmandatsklausel should remain: parties that win at least three constituency seats enter parliament regardless of their party-list result. In the party's view, this secures regional representation.

The Free Voters want to set up a new independent body that reviews state interference with fundamental rights. According to the platform, such interference is necessary for security in individual cases but must be open to review.

The state sometimes limits basic rights. It does this for security. The Free Voters want a new office to check this. It is called the Bürgeranwaltschaft, a citizens' advocate office. Citizens can turn to it.

The office is to be a state body but answerable only to citizens and the constitution. Its members would be appointed by the Federal Constitutional Court. It would work confidentially, examine complaints from affected people, and report publicly once a year. Data use by security agencies and video recordings at assemblies would also fall under its oversight.

The Free Voters want to end the federal justice minister's power to give instructions to prosecutors so that politics cannot influence investigations. At the same time, dropping criminal cases is to become harder. A new citizens' advocate office would be able to review dropped cases and have them reopened.

Today the justice minister can give orders to prosecutors. The Free Voters want to end that. Politicians should not influence investigations. Prosecutors should not be able to drop cases so easily. A new office for citizens should check such cases.

The minister would keep the ability to force an indictment so that a court decides the case. The platform criticizes prosecutors for dropping cases too readily and stresses victims' right to see offenders prosecuted. The planned citizens' advocate office (Bürgeranwaltschaft) would be allowed to inspect files of dropped cases when the person who filed the complaint reports the case to it. It would also be able to compel a reopening.

The Free Voters want to relieve volunteers of red tape, adjust tax allowances regularly and count long-term engagement toward pensions. Time off from work and staffed support offices would make volunteering easier.

Many people help in clubs without pay. The Free Voters want to make their work easier. People who help for many years should get a higher pension. Advice offices should help clubs with applications.

Tax relief amounts, above all the Ehrenamtspauschale (tax-free allowance for volunteers), would be raised regularly. For charitable or nonprofit activities there would be a legal right to time off, modeled on the rules for firefighters, with financial compensation for affected employers. Volunteer agencies with paid staff would advise clubs on grant applications, legal questions and digitalization, including traditional clubs for sports, culture, music and local customs. The age limit of 70 for lay judges in criminal cases would be suspended quickly because the program considers it unlawful.