Politics newly thought: do we really need parties? Exciting debate in Erding!

Politics newly thought: do we really need parties? Exciting debate in Erding!

In the Erding Adult Education Center, there was an insightful discussion about the current political situation in Germany. The event, organized by Bernhard Winter, attracted a full house and asked the question: "Do we need parties?". Roman Deininger, chief reporter of the Süddeutsche Zeitung, and political scientist Ursula Münch, director of the Academy for Political Education, clearly answered this provocative question with "yes". Mayor Max Gotz opened the discussion and spoke about social peace in the city, while he addressed the increase in parties to parties in the Erding City Council and noted "difficult decision -making".

The discussants took a look at the fragmentation of the political landscape and noticed that according to Münch, only 1.6 percent of German members are in a party. Only the AfD and the Greens record growth. Münch argued that the parties experience a crisis mood in which they are perceived as "not efficient enough" as a whole. She made this to the falling relevance of traditional media and the flood of unfiltered information on social networks. According to the Münch, this is closely linked to the low acceptance of different opinions.

The role of AfD and Greens

Deininger stated that the AfD is considered a “party of preservation” in public and appeals to people who prefer a return to previous conditions. In contrast, the Greens see their chance as the "party of change" and are aimed at cosmopolitan voters. Deininger noticed about the CSU that it is difficult in the broad theme landscape of her People's Party: "Markus Söder has to appear as a folk tribun in the beer tent and at the same time meet the cosmopolitan as real politicians." This duality reflects the challenges with which large parties are confronted today.

The panel guests agreed that parties urgently need to highlight the benefits of their membership. Münch also pointed out the problematic tendency that a party focuses too much on a charismatic personality. She indicated the example of the ÖVP in Austria, whose decline she attributed to Sebastian Kurz's departure. Deininger added that internal pre -negotiations would suffocate many conflicts in the bud, which he emphasized as a positive aspect that illustrates the need for compromises.

criticism of the opposition work

An important point was the criticism of the current opposition that Münch and Deininger found as destructive. The risk of an extreme loading epeg in the political discussion was also discussed. Deininger said: "It is not a good idea to defamate a center party without taking into account the responsibility that everyone involved has." The discussion round was also supplemented by a question from the audience: is a ban on the AfD necessary? Deininger was skeptical as long as the party is so strong, while Münch thought about the criteria for a party ban.

"Only if a party actively acts against the democratic basic order could a ban be considered," said her answer. Both participants also agreed that more citizen participation in the current form would not be expedient. They found it more difficult to recognize the value of citizens' decisions for complex questions such as infrastructure projects such as Stuttgart 21, where a scarce majority decision ultimately provided for further construction.

"It was not the last Sunday encounter in Erding," promised the organizer of the series of discussions, Bernhard Winter, who has already given the prospect of a new meeting with Gerhard Polt and Bruno Jonas.