Party Politics

Detmar Doering heads the Liberal Institute of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, a think tank of Germany's free-market liberal FDP party.

DW-WORLD.DE: Civil society is taking on the traditional responsibilities of political parties, which seem powerless in the face of global trends. What future do political parties have in Germany?

Detmar Doering: I don't think parties are really powerless in the face of global trends. It's true that non-governmental organizations do dominate the international political agenda today while political parties only influence international political institutions in an indirect manner. But I don't think you can underestimate that influence. Since parties are anchored institutions in Germany, they will continue to exist and play an important role in our country. But if they want to continue to play an important role in citizens' perceptions and justify their legitimacy through it, they need to change their work and make it more open.

What form could the changes take?

For instance, through project-related, temporary party membership that corresponds to the desire for getting involved without being forced to make a permanent commitment. Or by intensifying their Internet presence, which offers a dialog form of communication. It's equally important to credibly build up a party base -- for instance through support networks. A fundamental factor includes "external conditions" or, in other words, the electoral rules. The American experiment in "term limits" deserves our attention at the very least. In that way you can get rid of the outdated personnel structures that damage the image of politics.

Parties are constantly losing members. Young people are said to be uninterested in politics. For years, there's been talk of voter apathy.

There's no doubt that the number of political party organizations is slipping. The public image of political parties has sharply dropped in the past years. That may have to do with other political alternatives in civil society that increasingly and credibly compete with parties for committed citizens. But that's a sign of maturity in a pluralist society rather than a blemish. Competition revives business. The consequence must be that parties make an effort to be more attractive to voters.

Liberal positions in business are now represented by the conservatives, and even the Social Democrats increasingly appeal to the responsibility of each individual in their political messages. Do you think there's room for a liberal party?

It's definitely good if you can find a certain basic liberal consensus in all parties, because otherwise democracy would be seriously threatened. But that's not enough. We aren't currently seeing an open rejection of liberal principles, but there's certainly a creeping erosion of freedoms. Economic liberalization -- though it's more important than ever -- no longer exists. The big brother state has begun to take on grotesque proportions, a paternalistic idea of the state that wants to steer lifestyles and behavior is taking shape. Internationally, liberal politics is on the retreat as shown by protectionist tendencies in the EU, the wrangling over the Doha round of World Trade [Organization] talks and the ideological rollback in a few Latin American countries. In such a context, there's no doubt that you need an overtly liberal party.

It's no secret that there are political contacts between the Christian conservatives, the Green party and the FDP. Do you think Germany could in the future get a governing coalition made up of the three?

In the end it's the voter who decides which constellation is feasible. In theory, it should be possible to have coalitions between all democratic parties. But there is a tendency that three-party coalitions can be plagued by infighting, more than two-party ones. In light of the current reform chaos in Germany, what's needed is political action. Besides, being part of the government is not an end in itself. You should only take part in a coalition if you can really achieve more freedom for all citizens.

Pablo Kummetz interviewed Detmar Doering (sp)