Dear parties, please become sustainable!
The Federal Republic of Germany is a party democracy; political parties are at the heart of German politics. But since the 1970s, the established parties have lost members — especially because young people no longer join.
Since the election of Donald Trump, Brexit and the recent rise of right-wing populism in Europe, many young people have flocked to political parties and become more politically interested than they have been for a long time. The SPD alone has 15,000 new members since the beginning of the year. However, when young people enter parties, they encounter old party structures, often dating all the way back to the 1970s. It is therefore no wonder that the parties can hardly inspire potential junior members and even the newly won young party members often and quickly become "passive members" again. As a result, the parties are ageing as well as representing the interests of young people less and less. A vicious, however, not irreversible circle. A fundamental change is needed to keep the parties from running out of steam.
For the FRFG it is therefore clear that the parties must again be more intergenerationally just and act accordingly. In its position paper, the FRFG makes eleven proposals to the parties:
1
All power to the members
2
An intermediate level between membership and non-membership
3
Opening of the structures
4
Simplifying structures
5
Become a Think Thank
6
Dissolve location-dependency
7
Reform party conferences
8
Enable online cooperation
9
Rotation of posts
10
Financial support for candidates
11
Allow (culture of) failure
If the established political parties do not want to keep pace with the younger generation, they should heed the points mentioned: Open structures, more opportunities for participation, digitization and the financing of up-and-coming young candidates make parties attractive for young politicians. At the same time, the parties could counteract their loss of members and win the votes of young voters.
Read our Position Paper on Newcomer quotas in political parties and parliaments
FRFG's Position Paper from February 2019 on why the representation of young people through quotas is necessary.