The Liberal Democrats – The Social Liberals (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

: ), abbreviated to LD, is a minor

social liberal Social liberalism is a political philosophy and variety of liberalism that endorses social justice, social services, a mixed economy, and the expansion of civil and political rights, as opposed to classical liberalism which favors limited g ...

party 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 ...

, founded in 1982 and currently led by Paul Vossiek.

History

The party was founded on 28 November 1982 mainly by former members of the Free Democratic Party, after the FDP had left the

social-liberal coalition Social liberalism is a political philosophy and variety of liberalism that endorses social justice, social services, a mixed economy, and the expansion of civil and political rights, as opposed to classical liberalism which favors limited g ...

led by Chancellor

Helmut Schmidt Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt (; 23 December 1918 – 10 November 2015) was a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), who served as the chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982. He was the longest ...

and formed a new government with the conservative Christian Democratic Union. On 21 March 2017, the Party held a joint press conference along with the

Pirate Party Germany The Pirate Party Germany (), commonly known as Pirates (), is a political party in Germany founded in September 2006 at c-base. It states general agreement with the Swedish Piratpartiet as a party of the information society; it is part of the i ...

, the

Party of Humanists The Party of Humanists () is a minor political party in Germany that first participated in the 2017 federal election. It is considered left-of-centre and supports socially liberal and secular policies, such as a federal European state, open ...

, the New Liberals, the Transhuman Party Germany, and the youth organization of The Left to announce a "social liberal proclamation" (

: ) and better cooperation among the participating organizations. The proclamation was followed by a joint press statement with the New Liberals in early 2020, declaring an intent of embracing a close cooperation between the parties in the state of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

Party program

Basic principles

The Liberal Democrats passed their "social-liberal principles" (

: ) in their 47th general assembly in

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

. Therein, they call for "human dignity through self-determination", "equality of all mankind", "progress through reason" and "democratisation of society".

Education

For the Liberal Democrats, education is deemed as "one of the most important goals of social liberal politics". They call for a federally uniform educational system and centralised exams. The educational system shall be reformed as a

comprehensive school A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis ...

system. They also call for the replacement of the current religious education through a single class taken by all students regardless of religious and cultural affiliation.

Civil rights

As outlined in their "social-liberal principles", the Liberal Democrats advocate for "equal civil rights for all human beings". Securing

privacy Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of a ...

is one of the core elements of their policy. They demand the extension of the

secrecy of correspondence __NOTOC__ The secrecy of correspondence (, ) or literally translated as secrecy of letters, is a fundamental legal principle enshrined in the constitutions of several European countries. It guarantees that the content of sealed letters is never ...

to an overall secrecy of communications including digital communication. Furthermore, they oppose

data retention Data retention defines the policies of persistent data and records management for meeting legal and business data archival requirements. Although sometimes interchangeable, it is not to be confused with the Data Protection Act 1998. The differe ...

without prior suspicion as well as

eavesdropping Eavesdropping is the act of secretly or stealthily listening to the private conversation or communications of others without their consent in order to gather information. Etymology The verb ''eavesdrop'' is a back-formation from the noun ''eave ...

operations on homes. The Liberal Democrats refer to personal data as "property of the data subject" and demand user-friendly privacy. They urge for a right to end-to-end encrypted communication and oppose the introduction of

voting machine A voting machine is a machine used to record votes in an election without paper. The first voting machines were mechanical but it is increasingly more common to use ''electronic voting machines''. Traditionally, a voting machine has been defi ...

s. Amongst equal rights for all human beings, they demand equal rights and acceptance for

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" exc ...

couples and other forms of relationship. They also urge to abolish the

blood donation A 'blood donation'' occurs when a person voluntarily has blood drawn and used for transfusions and/or made into biopharmaceutical medications by a process called fractionation (separation of whole blood components). A donation may be of wh ...

prohibition for homosexual people in Germany.

Democracy

The Liberal Democrats call for decreasing the

electoral threshold The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of votes that a candidate or political party requires before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can operate in various ...

, a

single transferable vote The single transferable vote (STV) or proportional-ranked choice voting (P-RCV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which each voter casts a single vote in the form of a ranked ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vot ...

and lowering the

voting age A legal voting age is the minimum age that a person is allowed to Voting, vote in a democracy, democratic process. For General election, general elections around the world, the right to vote is restricted to adults, and most nations use 18 year ...

to 16. They claim that non-citizens with a long-term main residence in Germany are also part of the

multicultural Multiculturalism is the coexistence of multiple cultures. The word is used in sociology, in political philosophy, and colloquially. In sociology and everyday usage, it is usually a synonym for ''ethnic'' or cultural pluralism in which various e ...

society and shall be eligible to vote. They also demand to introduce more

direct democratic Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the electorate directly decides on policy initiatives, without elected representatives as proxies, as opposed to the representative democracy model which occurs in the major ...

elements and a stricter

separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and Jurisprudence, jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the State (polity), state. Conceptually, the term refers to ...

Social policy

The Liberal Democrats call for the introduction of an unconditional basic income, in which all tax-financed social assistance of the state is combined. This should be available immediately via an adjustment of the tax curve in the event of income shortfalls, without representing an additional income for people with high incomes. They also urge to "actively fight against

homelessness Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...

through housing instead of pushing the topic into the background". To that end, they propose a

Housing First Housing First is a policy that offers unconditional, permanent housing as quickly as possible to homeless people, and other supportive services afterward. It was first discussed in the 1990s, and in the following decades became government policy ...

solution and demand to end financial subsidies for defensive architecture.

Health policy

The Liberal Democrats favour to establish a national healthcare scheme similar to the British

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

. Additional coverage through complementary insurances shall remain possible. They focus on the infrastructure, personnel as well as digitalisation of the healthcare system.

Mental health Mental health is often mistakenly equated with the absence of mental illness. However, mental health refers to a person's overall emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It influences how individuals think, feel, and behave, and how t ...

is also one of the main points in their health policy. They also demand to reform various legal frameworks. As such, they outline conditions under which

assisted suicide Assisted suicide, sometimes restricted to the context of physician-assisted suicide (PAS), is the process by which a person, with the help of others, takes actions to end their life. Once it is determined that the person's situation qualifie ...

shall be legalised. They urge to abolish the prohibition of blood donation by homosexual individuals as well as to ease access to

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

and

assisted reproductive technology Assisted reproductive technology (ART) includes medical procedures used primarily to address infertility. This subject involves procedures such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), and cryopreservation of ga ...

Economic Policy

The Liberal Democrats call for a

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 ...

. They define social market economy as an economy in which the state shall interfere as less as possible. However at the point at which the

invisible hand The invisible hand is a metaphor inspired by the Scottish economist and moral philosopher Adam Smith that describes the incentives which free markets sometimes create for self-interested people to accidentally act in the public interest, even ...

fails and the economy acts in disfavour of society, the state shall interfere. Safeguarding access to basic supplies and infrastructure has the highest priority in their economic policy. They also take high priority in ensuring labor welfare and outline it as a main condition for access to any

subvention A subsidy, subvention or government incentive is a type of government expenditure for individuals and households, as well as businesses with the aim of stabilizing the economy. It ensures that individuals and households are viable by having acce ...

s from the state. Providing the same wage for the same work regardless of a person's gender is also considered part of the fair working conditions they demand. They favor a structural policy that focuses on

innovation Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or service (economics), services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a n ...

and adjustment. They demand to uphold a

balanced budget amendment A balanced budget amendment or debt brake is a constitutional rule requiring that a state cannot spend more than its income. It requires a balance between the projected receipts and expenditures of the government. Balanced-budget provisions ha ...

with little exceptions to it. They are also proposing to reform the

tax system A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to regulate and reduce negative externalities. Tax comp ...

partially while sustaining

progressive tax A progressive tax is a tax in which the tax rate increases as the taxable amount increases. The term ''progressive'' refers to the way the tax rate progresses from low to high, with the result that a taxpayer's average tax rate is less than the ...

ation. Furthermore, they demand to establish a

fiscal union Fiscal union is the integration of the fiscal policy of nations or states. In a fiscal union, decisions about the collection and expenditure of taxes are taken by common institutions, shared by the participating governments. A fiscal union does no ...

within the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

European Union

The Liberal Democrats favour the European Union and demand to further deepen the Union. To do so, they urge to reform the EU as a "European Republic" with a

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 ...

with more competences at its core. They call for establishing a common European government and constitution. The Liberal Democrats urge for solutions at EU-level for various topics, such as in asylum and migration policy,

labour policy Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

as well as a common

defense policy Military policy (also called defence policy or defense policy) is public policy dealing with multinational security and the military. It comprises the measures and initiatives that governments do or do not take in relation to decision-making and ...

through establishing an EU-Army. Furthermore, they propose to establish a fiscal union.

Foreign Policy

The Liberal Democrats make positive remarks on how the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

evolved into the EU and emphasise the advantages of international cooperation. As such, they demand to increase

development aid Development aid (or development cooperation) is a type of aid given by governments and other agencies to support the economic, environmental, social, and political International development, development of developing countries. It is distinguishe ...

and establish a global partnership in the fight against poverty. Furthermore, they demand to reform the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

with a UN Parliamentary Assembly representing humankind at its core. The reformed UN shall also establish a UN-Army, making national armies unnecessary. The Liberal Democrats demand that military actions shall always be seen as a last resort and always follow legitimation through a

UN resolution A United Nations resolution (UN resolution) is a formal text adopted by a United Nations (UN) body. Although any UN body can issue resolutions, in practice most resolutions are issued by the Security Council or the General Assembly, in the f ...

or a casus foederis. They also condemn violations to

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

in terms of invasion, occupation, resettlements and coups in foreign territory while endorsing

nonviolent resistance Nonviolent resistance, or nonviolent action, sometimes called civil resistance, is the practice of achieving goals such as social change through symbolic protests, civil disobedience, economic or political noncooperation, satyagraha, construct ...

s of groups of people for their right of self-determination. They consider aiming for multilateral agreements to be the best way to resolve conflicts.

Leadership

The current federal committee of the Liberal Democrats was elected through postal vote and consists of five members: * Paul Vossiek (Party Leader) * Finn-Luca Plötz (Deputy Chair) * Josephine Lode (Deputy Chair) * Philipp Gräser (General Secretary) * Jens Lünenstraß (Managing Director) * Stefanie Hylla (Treasurer) * Luca Kunert (Deputy Treasurer) * Thorsten Rödel (Board Member) * Moritz Weck (Board Member)

Federal state parties

References

External links

Website of the Liberal Democrats
{{Authority control Liberal parties in Germany Social liberal parties Pro-European political parties in Germany Political parties established in 1982 1982 establishments in West Germany Universal basic income in Germany Political parties supporting universal basic income