The Young Liberals (, JuLis), is a political youth organisation in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It is the financially and organisationally independent youth wing of the Free Democratic Party (FDP). The JuLis claim about 15,000 members,we are''
About Young Liberals making it the third largest youth organisation in Germany.

Political profile

The current policy statement of the JuLis was passed in 2008. It is a revision of the policy statement of 1994, and is called "Humanistic Liberalism - thought for the future". It focuses on the

market economy A market economy is an economic system in which the decisions regarding investment, production, and distribution to the consumers are guided by the price signals created by the forces of supply and demand. The major characteristic of a mark ...

and

civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties of ...

, being supplemented by the democratic resolutions of regular congresses. The political objectives of the JuLis mostly aim to the same general objectives as the FDP, however they often differ in details. The Young Liberals advocate civil liberties, sociopolitics and an

ecologically Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecology overlaps with the closely re ...

sustainable Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

social market economy The social market economy (SOME; ), also called Rhine capitalism, Rhine-Alpine capitalism, the Rhenish model, and social capitalism, is a socioeconomic model combining a free-market capitalist economic system with social policies and enough re ...

. The JuLis focus on

political freedom Political freedom (also known as political autonomy or political agency) is a central concept in history and political thought and one of the most important features of democratic societies.Hannah Arendt, "What is Freedom?", ''Between Past and ...

, self-responsibility,

equal opportunity Equal opportunity is a state of fairness in which individuals are treated similarly, unhampered by artificial barriers, prejudices, or preferences, except when particular distinctions can be explicitly justified. For example, the intent of equal ...

deregulation Deregulation is the process of removing or reducing state regulations, typically in the economic sphere. It is the repeal of governmental regulation of the economy. It became common in advanced industrial economies in the 1970s and 1980s, as a ...

and reducing the state's influence to its core competences such as the prevention from economic

cartel A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collaborate with each other as well as agreeing not to compete with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. A cartel is an organization formed by producers ...

s. The Young Liberals often perceive themselves as the policy making stimulus of the FDP and try to propose innovations into the party, sometimes succeeding e.g. in the FDP's decision to challenge the abandonment of the German compulsory military service, to support of the concept of an ecologically-sustainable social market economy, and replacement of existing social

welfare Welfare may refer to: Philosophy *Well-being (happiness, prosperity, or flourishing) of a person or group * Utility in utilitarianism * Value in value theory Economics * Utility, a general term for individual well-being in economics and decision ...

benefits with a

basic income Universal basic income (UBI) is a social welfare proposal in which all citizens of a given population regularly receive a minimum income in the form of an unconditional transfer payment, i.e., without a means test or need to perform Work (hu ...

called ''Bürgergeld''.

History

The JuLis were founded in 1980, and was recognized as the official FDP youth wing in 1983. Prior to 1982, Jungdemokraten (Young Democrats) had been the FDP youth organisation.

Persons

Chairpersons

* Hans-Joachim Otto (1980–1983) *

Guido Westerwelle Guido Westerwelle (; 27 December 1961 – 18 March 2016) was a German politician who served as foreign minister in the second cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel and Vice-Chancellor of Germany from 2009 to 2011, being the first openly gay perso ...

(1983–1988) * Georg Neubauer (1988–1989) * Hermann Brem (1989) * Birgit Homburger (1990–1993) * Ralph Lange (1993–1995) * Michael Kauch (1995–1999) * Daniel Bahr (1999–2004) * Jan Dittrich (2004–2005) * Johannes Vogel (2005–2010) * Lasse Becker (2010–2013) *Alexander Hahn (2013–2014) * Konstantin Kuhle (2014–2018) * Ria Schröder (2018–2020) * Jens Teutrine (2020–2021) * Franziska Brandmann (2021–)

International relations

The JuLis is a full member organisation of the

European Liberal Youth European Liberal Youth (abbreviated as LYMEC) is an international organisation of liberal youth movements – mostly the youth wings of members of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party but also individual members. LYMEC holds ...

(LYMEC), a pan-

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an umbrella of liberal youth organisations. On the international level, the JuLis are the German member of the

International Federation of Liberal Youth The International Federation of Liberal Youth (IFLRY) is a Political international & liberal youth organization. It consists of a global membership of national youth organizations. These are often but not exclusively affiliated with political p ...

(IFLRY).

References

External links

Young Liberals (JuLis)
official site (in German)
Program and resolutions
(in German) {{authority control Youth wings of liberal parties Youth wings of political parties in Germany Free Democratic Party (Germany)