Democracy is the worst of all forms of government, except all others.
"Winston Churchill"
"According to Article 20(1) of the Basic Law, the Federal Republic of Germany is a democracy. In this form of government, the people exercise the power to rule. Democracies are characterised, among other things, by ideological neutrality, respect for human rights, separation of powers, accountability of government, independence of the courts, legality of administration, a multi-party system and free, equal and secret elections. Germany is a representative democracy: its citizens rule through elected representatives. Together, these representatives form the Bundestag. It enacts laws on behalf of the people."
Source: German Bundestag
So much for the theory.
The policies of recent years reflect different facts in many respects. The Merkel Ex-Chancellor's policy of deciding important issues single-handedly, as it were, bypassing parliament and presenting this as having no alternative, without providing any justification for the lack of alternative, has led to division in German society and isolated Germany in some places in Europe.
But the parliamentary system also reveals weaknesses. In a representative democracy, the independence of the elected members of parliament (i.e. the representatives of the people) is of decisive importance. This independence is no longer the case for many MPs, although they are lavishly remunerated with more than 10,000 € (gross, without deduction of pension contributions). The reason for the doubts about independence are, among other things, party donations and corporate influence, which makes independent action highly questionable.
We demand: Donations from companies to political parties should be banned in principle - and worldwide.
Some people regard their mandate as a profession that they no longer want to give up. Politicians who represent the people in a committee for more than 30 years do not have to be bad in general. However, in order to be able to represent the people as an MP, it is also important to keep in touch with the grassroots. Unfortunately, politicians of all stripes tend to expand and defend their power. In addition, there is the participation in various committees, which suggest a supposed irreplaceability.
However, a mandate is a temporary appointment. And the most important task is to represent the citizens and not to announce and defend government decisions.
We demand: Mandates in parliament should be limited to a maximum of 3 electoral periods and government offices to a maximum of 2 periods in a row.
The Corona crisis has exposed further weaknesses in German society. Dissenting views to the government's opinion are sharply criticised or rejected and the critics are vilified, portrayed as liars or pushed into the right-wing corner. Yet in a democracy, the free formation of opinion is the foundation of critical debate on an issue. The media are also called upon not to report in a one-sided and biased way, but in a purely factual way, and to publish editorial statements of opinion as commentaries and to expose phrase-mongers or populist speakers, for what they are.
We demand: Critical debate between the parties must return to parliament and MPs must be obliged to participate in the debates as well.
Speaking of Europe
The European Union (EU) is an artificial construct based on a complex international treaty system that resembles a supranational constitution. The member states are the decision-makers, the Commission is the guardian of the treaties and the EU Parliament has no substantial rights of participation in treaty changes. Treaty changes require the positive consent of all member states, sometimes with a mandatory referendum, which does not make things any easier.
The predecessors of the EU, which was formed in 1993, were the European Community EC (1967) and before that the European Economic Community EEC (1958), whose aim was to facilitate economic cooperation. The sometimes very different interests of the individual member states still pose a major problem.
Will Europe manage to move closer together or will it break apart because of these individual interests?
We demand, so that Europe has a future: Less bureaucracy, fewer regulations and more democratic structures in the federal competition of the individual member states.
Does democracy have a future?
Winston Churchill once said: "Democracy is the worst of all forms of government, except for all the others."
How right he was can be seen by comparing the different forms of government in various other states without democratic roots.
Democracy, however, must be lived. Democracy requires a state capable of acting and an independent people.
An independent people, in turn, means that the basic necessities of life must be available:
- The citizens must be provided with food,
- receive help in case of illness
- be educated,
- have a livelihood (work) and a home,
- have a free and safe environment in which to live without fear, and
- the rights of others are respected.
And what does reality look like?
In Germany, we have creepingly developed from democracy to Merkel's democratur. There is a great danger that Germany will develop into a red-green eco-dictatorship - due to the climate issue that all parties are focusing on and that is creating an end-of-life mood. That the Germans are prepared to go along with this was shown by the behaviour of the vast majority during 2020/21 with the Corona crisis. The main reason was the failure and self-disempowerment of parliament.
In Europe, it is again the centralist Eurocracy (decisions of the European Commission) that, under the guise of creating a framework for equal participation in European trade and competition, has created a jungle of regulations and decrees that penetrate into the smallest living spaces and directly affect our lives and actions. As a rule, the beneficiaries are the economy and especially large concerns - the individual human being hardly plays a role.
The bad thing about this is that there is effectively no democratic means of stamping out a European regulation once it has been adopted!
Democracy is under strong pressure worldwide. According to a study by the Bertelsmann Foundation, for the first time since 2004 there are more autocratic than democratic states. One possible cause for the loss of democratic quality is usually seen as the one-sided concentration of political elites and their often narcissistic leaders on purely securing political and economic power. Any other social rights are being dismantled or subordinated.
Conclusion:
If we want to prevent dictatorship as well as push back a dissolute Eurocracy, then we have no choice but to work massively and unconditionally to strengthen our democratic roots and democracy and to put the human being back in the centre of attention.
That must be our mandate and mission. And this is what we want to stand up and fight for in the next election to the European Parliament!
Abraham Lincoln defined democracy as follows: Government of the people by the people for the people!