What do the parties in Bavaria say on democracy and the state?

The AfD wants sovereign powers that were handed to bodies such as the EU, the UN, or the WHO returned to parliaments. Former members of the state government and the state parliament would have to wait five years before working for lobbying organizations.

The AfD wants to take powers back from the EU, the UN and the WHO. Parliaments should decide again. Former ministers and lawmakers should wait five years. Only then may they work for lobby groups. Lobby groups try to influence politics.

The AfD wants to lower the hurdles for referendums in Bavaria, citing Switzerland as its model. Citizens should also be able to vote government bodies out of office in cases of serious failure. The platform rejects citizens' assemblies as a substitute for direct participation.

The AfD wants more referendums. A referendum is a vote by the people on one question. The rules for this should become easier. People should also be able to vote a government out if it fails badly. There should be advice centers for referendums.

The AfD wants to cut the Bavarian state parliament from its current 205 members to no more than 180, saying it is too large and too costly. The state premier and lawmakers would be limited to two consecutive terms. The legislative term would go back to four years instead of five.

The AfD wants a smaller state parliament. It should have at most 180 members. Today it has 205. The state premier and the lawmakers should serve only two terms in a row. Elections should take place every four years instead of every five.

The AfD wants to end Bavaria's annual state payments to the major churches through a final settlement, calling them outdated. Services the churches provide to society would be billed individually. The state would also stop collecting the church tax.

Bavaria pays money to the big churches every year. The AfD wants to end these payments. When churches do something for society, the state should pay for each service separately. The state should no longer collect the church tax.

The AfD wants to change Bavarian municipal law so that small opposition parties are guaranteed representation in municipal and county councils. Rules on how committee seats are allocated and on the minimum size of a council group would be set by statute rather than by each council's own rules of procedure.

The AfD wants to protect small parties in local councils. Every party should have a seat on the committees. A committee is a small working group of the council. The rules for this should be written into law.

The AfD wants the judiciary to administer itself instead of depending on the government. In the platform's view, the executive currently controls funding, resources and the hiring of judges and prosecutors, which it says undermines the independence of the courts.

The AfD wants the courts and prosecutors to run themselves. Today the government decides on their money and staff. The AfD says this makes the courts dependent on politicians.

The AfD wants to give Bavaria's justice system more staff and reform it. Public prosecutors would no longer be bound by instructions from the government, which the party says would prevent political misuse. The platform also calls for stable and clear legislation.

The AfD wants more staff for the courts in Bavaria. Prosecutors should no longer take orders from the government. The AfD says this stops politicians from misusing them. Laws should be clear and should not change all the time.

The AfD wants essential public services in Bavaria to remain publicly owned. This is to be written into the constitution. It applies above all to municipal water supply.

Some services are essential, like water. The AfD wants the state and towns to own these services. This should be written in the constitution. Drinking water should get special protection.

The CSU wants to substantially reduce bureaucracy and speed up planning and permitting. For two years, no new administrative regulations would be added. In the platform's view, too much regulation holds back people and businesses.

The CSU wants less red tape. For two years, there should be no new rules for public offices. Permits should come faster. Offices should make more things possible and work digitally.

The CSU wants to achieve equal living conditions across Bavaria. To do so, government agencies and university places are to be moved to rural areas, municipalities are to be reliably funded, and fast internet and mobile coverage are to be expanded statewide.

The CSU wants to strengthen life in the countryside. Government offices should move from cities to rural areas. This creates jobs there. Almost all homes should get fast internet. Towns should have enough money.

The Free Voters call for a compulsory year of service to society for everyone. Among other things, it is meant to support disaster response and bring recruits from across society into the Bundeswehr.

The Free Voters want a year of community service for everyone. This year should be required. It should help with disaster response and the army.

The Free Voters want referendums on important questions in Bavaria and at the federal level, as well as direct election of the federal president and of the presidents of the district assemblies. A Bavarian freedom of information law would give citizens a right to information.

The Free Voters want citizens to decide more things themselves. There should be referendums in Bavaria and in all of Germany. Citizens should elect the federal president directly. Citizens should get a right to information from public offices.

The Free Voters want to give municipalities more money of their own and more room to decide, instead of pointing them to complicated grant programs. Water supply would stay fully in municipal hands, and the platform rejects further privatization of essential public services.

The Free Voters want strong cities and towns. They should get more money of their own. They should decide as much as possible themselves. Water should stay fully in the hands of the towns. Important public services should not be sold to companies.

The Free Voters want to bring young people's concerns more strongly into state politics and appoint a youth commissioner of the state government for this. Youth parliaments, youth centers and local education programs are to be supported.

The Free Voters want to listen more to young people. One person in the government should look after youth issues. Youth parliaments should get help. In rural areas, a car license at 16 should be tested.

The Greens want to give state and regional planning more staff and realign it in content and structure. The Landesentwicklungsprogramm (state development program) is to be completely revised, and a new state institute is to handle spatial research.

State planning decides how Bavaria develops. For example: where to build and where nature stays. The Greens want to strengthen this planning. It should get more staff. The big plan for Bavaria should be made new. Citizens should have a say.

The Greens want to restructure municipal fiscal equalization and give cities and towns better base funding instead of many separate grant programs. Climate protection and climate adaptation are to become mandatory municipal tasks, backed by the necessary money and staff.

Cities and towns have more and more tasks. The Greens want to give them more steady money. In return there should be fewer separate grant programs. Climate protection should become a duty for towns. They should get enough money and staff for it.

The Greens want to make volunteer positions in local politics more attractive so that more women in particular can get involved. They plan substitute rules, reimbursement of care costs and a legal right to time off from work.

People serve on local councils as volunteers. The Greens want to make this easier. Women especially should be able to take part more. Anyone who is away for a long time should get a substitute. Childcare costs during meetings should be paid back.

The Greens want to digitize the state administration, streamline procedures and expand online services. The civil service is to become more permeable and attractive to career changers. They also plan a modernized right of petition and an independent citizens' ombudsperson.

The Greens want to make Bavaria's government offices more modern. People should be able to do many things online from home. Offices should write in plain language. People should be able to move more easily between companies and government jobs. An independent person should mediate when people have problems with offices.

The Greens want to make Bavaria's petition system more citizen-friendly, transparent and modern. At its core is an independent office at the state parliament that resolves complaints about public agencies through mediation and involves those affected in finding a solution.

A petition is a request or complaint sent to the state parliament. The Greens want to make this process easier and more open. An independent person should help settle disputes with public offices. People should be able to watch petition meetings online.

The Greens want to lower the voting age in Bavaria to 16 for local, district and state elections as well as for referendums and local ballot measures. They also plan a few constitutional changes and want to write young people's participation rights into municipal law.

The Greens want young people to vote at age 16. This would apply to local, district and state elections. They could also vote in referendums. Children and teenagers should have more say in their towns.

The Greens want a transparency law that gives citizens a broad right to information and to inspect government files. The program says this would let people help shape and decide more in Bavaria.

The Greens want a transparency law. Transparency means the state shows openly what it does. People could ask for information and look at files. Private data stays protected.

The Greens want to make petitions for referendums easier and allow referendums even on questions that cost money or concern a single measure. New forms of citizen participation are to be tested across Bavaria.

The Greens want more direct say for citizens. Starting a referendum should get easier. People should also vote on things that cost money. The party wants to try new ways for people to take part.

The Greens want considerably more staff for courts and prosecutors' offices and better equipment. To protect judicial independence, the state government's power to give instructions to prosecutors is to be limited.

The Greens want to hire more judges and prosecutors. Courts should be better equipped. The government should give prosecutors fewer orders. The justice system should work digitally.

The SPD wants to strengthen the public sector in staff and resources and update the law on staff representation. In its view, austerity and privatization have weakened municipalities and public administration, and it wants to reverse this.

Public offices, schools and police are part of the public sector. The SPD says they lack money and staff. First it wants to check what is needed everywhere. Employees should have more say. The state should be a good employer.

The SPD wants a state law to strengthen democracy and diversity, along with a state program to promote democracy. New forms of public participation such as citizens' assemblies are to be tested as pilot projects. In the platform's view, engaged citizens are the best protection for democracy.

The SPD wants a new law for democracy and diversity in Bavaria. A state program should support civic engagement and civic education. Bavaria should try out citizens' assemblies. In a citizens' assembly, randomly chosen people discuss political questions.

The SPD wants to create a comprehensive freedom of information and transparency law for Bavaria. Everyone is to have free digital access to information on government action without having to give a reason, because the party sees this as a core part of a living democracy.

The SPD wants a new law for more openness. Government offices should put information about their work online on their own. Everyone should be able to read it for free. Nobody has to say why they want to see it.

The SPD wants to introduce a youth check in Bavaria. Future bills would be reviewed for their effects on young people. The platform argues that decisions made today will shape the coming decades.

The SPD wants a youth check for Bavaria. This is a test for new laws. The test asks: Is the law good for young people? The SPD wants politics to pay more attention to the young.

The SPD wants to lower the voting age for local, state and federal elections to 16 as a first step. Young people should not only learn about democracy in class but be able to take part in decisions themselves.

The SPD wants young people to vote from age 16. This should apply to all elections. Today they can only vote in Bavaria from age 18. The SPD says young people should have a say.

The SPD wants to involve young people more closely in local government and anchor youth issues in the municipal code. Clubs and associations doing youth work would receive more money from the state budget.

The SPD wants young people to have more say in their town. Local councils should have to discuss youth topics. This should be written into law. Youth clubs and groups should get more money.

The SPD wants a state law that gives older people a binding say in politics. Municipalities are to be required to set up seniors' advisory councils.

Older people should have more say in politics. The SPD wants a new law for this. Every town must then have a seniors' council. The council may speak and submit motions.

The SPD stands by the Bezirke (Bavaria's districts) as the third level of local government and wants to give citizens of EU countries the right to vote in district elections. It rejects privatizing district-run institutions.

Bavaria has seven districts with their own assemblies. People from other EU countries cannot vote there today. The SPD wants to change that. District institutions should not go to private companies.