The Grassroots Democratic Party of Germany (, abbreviated ) is a
political party in Germany
The Federal Republic of Germany has a plural multi-party system. Historically, the largest by members and parliament seats are the Christian Democratic Union (Germany), Christian Democratic Union (CDU), with its sister party, the Christian Socia ...
. The declared aim of the party is to strengthen
grassroots democracy
Grassroots democracy is a tendency towards designing political processes that shift as much decision-making authority as practical to the organization's lowest geographic or social level of organization.
Grassroots
A grassroots movement i ...
in society and politics, as they consider that many areas of life are dominated by economic interests, profits, and fights for political power. Political scientists and media reports however generally identify the party as primarily supported by lockdown opponents and
anti-vaccination
Anti-vaccine activism, which collectively constitutes the "anti-vax" movement, is a set of organized activities expressing opposition to vaccination, and these collaborating networks have often sought to increase vaccine hesitancy by dissem ...
campaigners.
The party cannot be easily placed on the
political spectrum
A political spectrum is a system to characterize and classify different Politics, political positions in relation to one another. These positions sit upon one or more Geometry, geometric Coordinate axis, axes that represent independent political ...
. According to an investigation by
RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland
The (RND) () is the Hanover-based joint corporate newsroom
A newsroom is the central place where journalists—reporters, editing, editors, and Television producer, producers, associate producers, news anchors, news designers, photojournal ...
, however, its membership combines believers in
alternative medicine
Alternative medicine refers to practices that aim to achieve the healing effects of conventional medicine, but that typically lack biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or supporting evidence of effectiveness. Such practices are ...
and
esotericism
Esotericism may refer to:
* Eastern esotericism, a broad range of religious beliefs and practices originating from the Eastern world, characterized by esoteric, secretive, or occult elements
* Western esotericism, a wide range of loosely related id ...
with
far right
Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and Nativism (politics), nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on ...
conspiracy theorists
A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources:
*
...
such as
Reichsbürger.
The party has never won any seats in the
Bundestag
The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...
, state
Landtags or the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
.
History
In the
2021 federal election, the party received 1.4% of the national vote (630,153 votes), winning more votes than other prominent minor German parties such as the
Pirate Party
Pirate Party is a label adopted by various Political party, political parties worldwide that share a set of values and policies focused on Civil and political rights, civil rights in the digital age. The fundamental principles of Pirate Partie ...
and the
National Democratic Party.
In the
2024 European parliament elections, the party received 0.3% of the national vote (99,502 votes), failing to win any seats in the European Parliament.
Election results
Federal Parliament (''Bundestag'')
European Parliament
See also
*
MFG – Austria People – Freedom – Fundamental Rights
References
2020 establishments in Germany
Conspiracy theories in Germany
Political parties in Germany
Political parties established in 2020
Anti-vaccination organizations
COVID-19 vaccine misinformation and hesitancy
Organizations established for the COVID-19 pandemic
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on politics
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