Grüne on democracy and the state

The Greens propose a reform of the state that reorders tasks among the federal government, the states, and municipalities. The federal level is to get more powers over digitalization, while states and municipalities get more leeway in implementation. The federal ministerial bureaucracy is to shrink.

The Greens want to reorganize the state. The federal government, states, and towns should divide their tasks more clearly. The federal government should be in charge of digital solutions. States and towns should decide more on their own. Federal ministries should get smaller.

The federal government would be responsible for uniform digital solutions and would offer a digital service for nationally regulated benefits that states and municipalities can use. Routine tasks would be handled centrally so that local offices have more time for advising people. A citizens' assembly could kick off the reform process. Laws are to be checked from the start for practicality and digital feasibility, with uniform legal terms, flat-rate benefits, and real-world test labs. The federal budget code is to be simplified and take sustainability into account. Automation, AI, and strategic personnel management are meant to reduce administrative workload.

The Greens want to lower the voting age for federal elections to 16 and write children's rights into the Basic Law, Germany's constitution. Young people are also to be more involved in political decisions.

The Greens want teenagers to be able to vote for the Bundestag from age 16. Children's rights should be written into the constitution. Young people should have more of a say in politics.

The children's rights are to follow the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and be anchored together with other parties. A relaunched youth check is to examine important proposals for whether they fit these rights and are fair to future generations. Besides children's and youth parliaments, easily accessible formats that require no prior election are to be strengthened, above all in municipalities. The platform lists digital participation, expense allowances and understandable language. Youth engagement is to be supported through funding programs, networking and recognition of volunteer work.

The Greens want to use commercial tenancy law to protect shops, restaurants and cultural venues from being pushed out. Public spaces such as streets, parks and train stations are to be safe and accessible. The platform argues that social cohesion grows where people come together.

The Greens want to protect meeting places. These include shops, restaurants, cinemas and clubs. They should not have to close because of high rents. Streets, parks and train stations should be safe. People with disabilities should be able to use them easily.

The platform counts shops, restaurants and cultural venues such as theaters, cinemas, libraries and clubs among the places where democracy comes alive. These places are to get stronger protection against displacement in commercial tenancy law. Streets, parks and train stations should be not only clean and functional but also safe and barrier-free for everyone. The reasoning is that public spaces open to all regardless of income strengthen the community.

The Greens want to update the law governing relations between the state and religious communities to reflect the growing diversity of religions and worldviews. People without religious affiliation are to be given equal consideration. Groups such as Alevis and Yazidis are to be protected from hostility.

Germany has many religions. Many people also have no religion. The Greens want to adapt the rules between state and religion to this. People without religion should have equal rights to take part. Alevis and Yazidis should get protection from hostility.

The platform acknowledges the contribution of churches and of religious and worldview communities to social cohesion, as well as that of trade unions and welfare associations. In the party's view, people without religious affiliation are entitled to have their concerns fully taken into account. The existing constitutional law on religion is therefore to be developed further. People who do not conform to strict religious dogma are to be protected from hostility.

The Greens want to give programs like “Demokratie leben!” more funding and secure them permanently through a Demokratiefördergesetz (democracy promotion act). People engaged in civil society are to be better protected from attacks and civic education strengthened. The platform sees protecting democracy as a task for society as a whole.

Many associations and groups work for democracy. The Greens want to give them money for the long term. A new law should secure this. People who get involved should be better protected from threats. Civic education should also become stronger.

A democracy promotion act is meant to make funding for civil society reliable. Defamation, slander and threats against engaged citizens and local politicians are to be pursued more firmly, including online. The party will examine reforming the legal notice requirement so that home addresses need not be disclosed. The Federal Agency for Civic Education is to be safeguarded in its independence, and media literacy is to be promoted nationwide.

The Greens call on the Bundestag, the Bundesrat and the federal government to promptly prepare a motion asking the Federal Constitutional Court to rule the AfD unconstitutional. The platform refers to the instrument the Basic Law provides for protecting the democratic order.

The German constitution allows a ban on parties. The highest German court decides on this. The Greens want the court to examine the AfD. Parliament and the government should soon prepare a motion for this. All parties should work together on it.

Under the Basic Law, the Bundestag, the Bundesrat or the federal government can ask the Federal Constitutional Court to declare a party unconstitutional. The Greens demand that these bodies draw conclusions from their findings across party lines. They should work swiftly toward such a motion against the AfD.

The Greens want to strengthen citizens' assemblies and anchor them in law, including democratic procedures on their results. To that end, a popular initiative is to be examined. The right of petition is also to be developed further.

In citizens' assemblies, randomly chosen people discuss politics. The Greens want to secure these assemblies by law. There should be democratic procedures on their results. The party will examine a popular initiative for this. Petitions should also carry more weight.

The platform describes citizens' assemblies as a representative process that gathers advice from people as experts on everyday life. This tool is to be strengthened and secured by law. Democratic procedures on individual recommendations are to be possible, for which the party wants to examine a popular initiative, among other options. The right of petition is also to be strengthened.

The Greens want everyone who lives permanently in Germany to be able to take part on equal terms in all elections and referendums. Voting is to be made easier for Germans living abroad.

Some people live in Germany permanently. But often they are not allowed to vote. The Greens want to change that. These people should be able to take part in all elections. Germans abroad should be able to vote more easily.

The yardstick is to be whether a person's life is permanently centered in Germany. Those for whom it is should have equal rights in elections, referendums and other democratic processes. For German citizens residing abroad, taking part in elections is to become simpler.

The Greens want to limit donations and sponsorship to parties to an annual maximum and make the government's lobbying meetings visible. Cooling-off periods for departing members of government are to be lengthened. The platform argues that transparent politics serves the common good.

The Greens want more openness in politics. No one should be able to give parties unlimited money. There should be a limit per year. The government should make meetings with lobbyists public. Lobbyists represent the interests of companies or associations.

Financial interests are to be disclosed and waiting periods before moving from government into other jobs extended. Lobbying meetings are to be published, following the European Commission's model, and independently monitored; committee sessions are generally to be public and streamed. The donation cap pays particular attention to donations from abroad, and rules on political advertising are to be enforced online as well, including against owners of very large platforms. Organizations that systematically support parties are to be subject to the key transparency rules for parties. Until a law is in place, the party applies its own donation code.

The Greens want to establish a legal right to a voluntary service placement and expand places in the Bundesfreiwilligendienst (federal volunteer service). Expense allowances for volunteers are to be uniformly tax-free as a flat rate, and a nationwide volunteer card is to offer discounts. The platform sees volunteering as a foundation of life together.

Many people volunteer in clubs or with the fire department. The Greens want to support that. Everyone should have a right to a voluntary service. Money paid for volunteer roles should be tax-free. A card should make entry fees and public transit cheaper.

Places in the federal volunteer service are to grow in line with the new legal right and be reliably funded. The volunteer card is to be created together with states and municipalities and make swimming pools, cultural venues and local public transit cheaper. Rules on offsetting volunteer allowances against other benefits are to be reviewed and made less bureaucratic. Access to volunteering is to become easier for people with low incomes, a migration background or disabilities.

The Greens want to change nonprofit law so that charitable organizations may also take part in political debate. The list of recognized charitable purposes is to grow, and associations are to face less red tape.

Clubs and groups help society. The Greens want to make their work easier. These groups should be allowed to speak about politics. They would keep their tax benefits. More kinds of work should count as charitable.

A law is to make clear that nonprofit organizations may contribute to political opinion-forming and occasionally speak out on issues beyond their own purpose. Digital volunteering and work on non-commercial open-source software are to be recognized as charitable and receive ongoing support. Civil society organizations are to be relieved of red tape. For voluntary service programs, the platform calls for fair pay, income-based support, and more information in schools. A discounted Deutschland-Ticket (nationwide transit pass) for volunteers is to be examined.

The Greens want to renew the Pakt für den Rechtsstaat (a federal-state pact for the rule of law) to better equip and digitize courts and prosecutors' offices. In the platform's view, trust in the rule of law grows when courts decide quickly and enforce the law effectively.

Courts should work faster. The Greens want more staff and more digital tools for this. The federal government and the states should do this together. People should be able to file lawsuits online. Several people should be able to sue together.

The plan includes a nationwide online procedure for civil cases that runs digitally from start to finish. A group action is to let several plaintiffs pursue similar claims together. Together with the states, more specialized prosecutors' offices are to be set up, and environmental criminal law is to be strengthened. The ministries' power to instruct prosecutors is to be made transparent, and outside income of judges at all top federal courts is to be published. At the EU level, the European Public Prosecutor's Office and Eurojust are to be strengthened. Legal education is to get a federal legal framework.