Grüne on democracy and the state

The Greens want to convene citizens' assemblies on selected future issues and strengthen direct democracy in the state constitution. Petitions for referendums and initiatives should need fewer signatures and be possible on more topics. The platform argues that participation improves decisions.

The Greens want to set up citizens' assemblies. There, randomly chosen people discuss a question. The state parliament must debate their proposals. Referendum petitions should also get easier. They would need fewer signatures.

In citizens' assemblies, randomly and representatively selected people are to discuss a specific question and draw up recommendations that parliament must take up. The state government is to get a central contact person for participation and dialogue. The number of signatures required for petitions and initiatives is to fall, and collecting them is to become simpler. Direct participation is also to be allowed on considerably more topics. The platform points to experience at the federal level and in other states.

The Greens want a law on assemblies that makes demonstrations easier and protects them. They reject expanded powers for video recording, and some criminal offenses such as the ban on face coverings are to become administrative offenses.

The Greens want to make demonstrations easier. Everyone should be able to register a protest simply. Police should not film more than federal law allows. Covering your face should no longer be a crime. It should only lead to a fine.

Assemblies should be easy to register and legally secure to hold. Counter-demonstrations within sight and earshot are also to be protected. Video recording should not go beyond what the federal assembly law permits, and data may only be collected openly. Following other states, criminal offenses are to be downgraded to administrative offenses where appropriate. The platform opposes what it sees as the state government's criminalization of the climate movement and antifascist demonstrations.

The Greens want to lower the voting age for state elections to 16 and later consider lowering it further. A mandatory youth check for legislation and binding youth representation in municipalities are meant to secure young people's say.

The Greens want young people to vote in state elections from age 16. New laws should be checked: what do they mean for young people? Every town should have a body that speaks for young people. Children should have a say in daycare and school.

The platform sees lowering the age to 16 as a first step; after an evaluation, the voting age may be lowered further. A binding youth check is to examine bills for their effects on young people. Participation concepts are to be firmly anchored in daycare centers and schools. Municipalities are to be required by law to appoint dedicated bodies or commissioners for young people's interests. The platform justifies this with young people's right to help decide their future.

The Greens want to give civic engagement more weight in government policy and secure long-term support for associations and clubs. Voluntary service is to be expanded, and volunteers are to get discounts like those for school and university students.

Many people help for free in clubs or the fire brigade. The Greens want to support them better. Clubs should get reliable funding. More young people should be able to do a voluntary year. They should pay less for buses, trains and culture.

The state's volunteering strategy is to be developed further so that everyone can get involved easily, regardless of where they live, age, origin, disability or sexual identity. Especially in rural communities, funding scouts are to help apply for grants for projects serving the common good. Associations, clubs and civil society organizations are to be secured for the long term. People in voluntary service are to get discounts on culture and public transit similar to those for trainees or students.

The Greens want to make work in city and town councils easier so that more people from different backgrounds take part. This includes digital meetings, more paid staff support for council groups and new advisory boards.

Many people serve on the town council as volunteers. This takes a lot of time. The Greens want to make it easier. Meetings should also be possible online. Council groups should get more paid helpers. There should be advisory boards for young people, seniors and immigrants.

The municipal code is to be expanded so that digital participation in council bodies becomes possible. Elected members are to receive hardware, software and training. More staff funding for council groups is meant to relieve volunteers, who according to the platform are often deterred by the heavy time commitment. Municipalities are to create advisory boards for youth, seniors, migration and inclusion, among others. In addition, county councils are to gain more rights vis-à-vis the county executive and administration and elect county deputies.

The Greens want to improve working conditions in public service in order to fill vacancies. The core is a lifetime working-time account, along with remote work, more equality for women and protection of staff from violence.

The state lacks many employees. The Greens want to make these jobs more attractive. Staff should be able to save up working time. They can then retire earlier or take time off. Women should have equal chances at top jobs.

According to the platform, around 20,000 positions in the state administration are unfilled. Together with unions and staff representatives, a new framework is to be created, with a lifetime working-time account at its core allowing flexible weekly hours, earlier retirement or time off. The rules for remote work are to be reviewed and adjusted. For equal promotion chances for women, the platform lists mentoring, networking, job sharing and part-time leadership. Structural measures and de-escalation training are meant to prevent attacks on staff.

The Greens want to introduce a binding lobby register for the state parliament and state government as well as a "legislative footprint." Lawmakers are to disclose outside income in full, and whistleblowers are to be better protected.

The Greens want to show who influences laws. For this, there should be a public lobby register. Lawmakers should report all outside income. They may not do paid work for lobby groups. People who report wrongdoing should be protected.

The legislative footprint is to reveal which organizations had a hand in a law. The law on members of parliament is to cover outside income from the first euro and ban paid lobbying work. The waiting period for government members before moving into lobbying is to last as long as their transitional pay, at most 24 months. For whistleblowers, the platform plans protective clauses in civil service law, an independent review office and a support fund. Public procurement is to become more transparent, corruption prevention and ombuds offices are to be expanded, and voting in the Bundesrat is to be easier to follow.

The Greens want public authorities to reflect society's diversity and be equally accessible to everyone. Binding targets, mandatory training and more multilingual services are meant to achieve this.

The Greens want public offices to be as diverse as society. There should be fixed targets for this. Staff should take training on human rights and against discrimination. Offices, police and emergency services should offer more languages.

For all state employees, training on human rights, intercultural skills and anti-discrimination is to be stepped up, with mandatory modules introduced. Multilingual service is to be expanded in public offices, the police and emergency services, whether online, by phone or in person. Managers with an international background should be able to network more closely. Far-right and inhumane conduct by state employees is to be met with criminal and disciplinary law.

The Greens want to keep cooperating with the churches while making the state more neutral on matters of belief. This includes a relaxed public holiday law, an end to the fee for leaving the church and the redemption of historical state payments to the churches.

The Greens want to keep working with the churches. But the state should be neutral. People who leave the church should no longer pay a fee. Dancing and culture should be allowed on quiet holidays if they do not disturb. The state should end old payments to the churches.

In the program's view, reverence for God does not fit a neutral state as a general educational goal. The holiday law is to be amended so that cultural and dance events on so-called quiet holidays are no longer banned across the board, as long as they are not disruptive. Everyone should be able to take an individual religious holiday within existing leave rules, at school and at work. The historical state payments to the churches are to be redeemed in dialogue with them, as the Basic Law (Germany's constitution) requires.

The Greens want people with little money to be better informed about legal aid. Courses taught by judges and prosecutors would explain rights and duties under the rule of law. Justice system employees would receive training on diversity issues.

Everyone should be able to get their rights easily. People with little money should learn more about legal aid. Judges should explain the legal system in courses. Court staff should learn not to treat anyone unfairly.

Information about aid for legal advice, proceedings, and court costs is to be offered proactively and in plain language. The project "Wir im Rechtsstaat" (We in the Rule of Law), modeled on Berlin, involves half-day courses held in places such as clubs, refugee shelters, or schools. Action days and training on migration, religion, disability, gender, and LGBTIQ* topics are meant to remove individual and structural barriers in the justice system. The platform ties this to the right to a fair trial, which it says prejudice stands in the way of.

The Greens want stronger, permanent funding for initiatives and counseling services against right-wing extremism, racism, and antisemitism. Security agencies would get better analytical tools and quickly enforce outstanding arrest warrants against right-wing extremists. The platform sees right-wing extremism as the greatest danger to society.

The Greens want to do more against far-right extremism. Small groups should get money for this easily. Counseling services should get more money for the long term. Police should quickly arrest wanted far-right extremists.

Victim counseling, mobile counseling, and exit programs would get considerably more money, and the program "NRWeltoffen" would be extended to more municipalities. The state agency for civic education would move to parliament and get an external advisory board. The recommendations of the NRW inquiry into the NSU terror group would be fully implemented. Also planned are more research, monitoring, a situation report, and a public archive on right-wing extremism. New services would support people close to conspiracy believers, victims of hate speech, and municipalities needing legal advice. Synagogues, mosques, and cultural institutions would get better protection plans.