SPD on democracy and the state

The SPD wants to expand civic education and extremism prevention and give civil society projects stable funding. A new state program called "Wehrhafte Demokratie" (defensive democracy) is meant to do this. The platform argues that prevention and education are the best safeguard against extremist crime.

The SPD wants more civic education. Groups that work for democracy should get steady money. A new state program should pay for this. Local politicians should also get better protection.

The state agency for civic education and the democracy centers are to be strengthened. State funding is to rise beyond the current co-financing, and organizations are to receive multi-year funding commitments. A separate state program would support threatened local politicians with prevention, counseling and legal help. The platform also plans a media literacy strategy against disinformation, an expansion of exit programs at the konex center against extremism, and more attention to memorial sites. Journalists are to be protected from attacks.

The SPD wants to use the Bundesrat to get the federal and state governments to collect evidence for proceedings to have the AfD declared unconstitutional. If the evidence is sufficient, a petition should be filed with the Federal Constitutional Court. The platform points to the federal domestic intelligence agency's classification of the AfD as right-wing extremist.

The SPD sees the AfD as a danger to democracy. The federal and state governments should collect evidence against the AfD. Experts should check the evidence. If it is strong enough, the highest court should decide on a ban.

A joint federal-state working group is to gather the evidence. Appointed experts are to assess whether it can prove that the party is unconstitutional. If the basis is sufficient, the SPD considers it a democratic duty for the Bundestag, the Bundesrat or the federal government to file a well-founded petition under Article 21 of the Basic Law. The platform describes a party ban as the last resort of a defensive democracy.

The SPD wants to protect the courts and the state constitutional court against extremist influence. People with a final conviction for incitement to hatred or for using unconstitutional symbols could lose the right to stand for election. Local self-government is also to be protected from enemies of the constitution.

The SPD wants to protect courts from extremists. The choice of lay judges should be more open. People convicted of inciting hatred should no longer be able to run for office. Nobody should be able to block the state constitutional court.

The selection of lay judges and honorary judges is to become more transparent. In the Bundesrat, the SPD wants to push for a reform of lay judge selection that achieves gender parity on the benches. For the state constitutional court, statutory rules on the departure of professional judges are planned, and blockades by a blocking minority in the state parliament are to be made impossible. The SPD stands by the system of judicial self-administration through court presidiums, which limits political influence on judicial appointments.

The SPD announces an administrative reform that will examine which levels of government are needed and remove overlapping responsibilities. Cities and municipalities themselves would be left untouched.

The SPD wants to reorganize the state's administration. It wants to check which levels are really needed. Only one office should be in charge of each task. Towns and cities stay as they are.

The reform would be based on a review of tasks from the citizens' point of view. The aim is a clear, lean and service-oriented administration. Joint administrative associations of municipalities are to be strengthened. Through the municipal financial equalization system, the SPD wants to create incentives so that small municipalities can also carry out their tasks efficiently.

The SPD wants to extend citizen participation tools to the county level and have county chief executives (Landräte) elected directly. Local election law would be revised to encourage stable majorities.

The SPD wants more local say for citizens. People should elect the county head themselves. Counties should also have citizen votes. It should be possible to vote out mayors who do not do their job.

The platform justifies the election law reform by saying that fragmented local councils make decisions harder. A transparent recall procedure would be created for sitting mayors who fail to carry out their office. Cities with more than 100,000 residents would be able to introduce district-level constitutions or have district councils elected directly.

The SPD wants binding rules for the political participation of young people in municipalities, counties and at the state level. Larger municipalities would have to set up youth councils, and youth bodies would get the right to speak and submit motions.

The SPD wants young people to have more say. Larger towns must have a youth council. Smaller towns must have youth forums. Young people may speak in the town council and make proposals.

The duty to set up youth councils would apply from 30,000 residents; smaller municipalities would have to set up youth forums. At the county level, there would also be youth formats with the right to speak and submit motions in the county council. The state's top youth bodies would be heard in the state parliament and its committees on youth issues, especially in budget talks. A "Taskforce Jugend" at the State Ministry would develop proposals for permanent participation to be submitted to the cabinet.