According to the Political Parties Act (Parteiengesetz, PartG), political parties are associations of citizens which, on a continuing basis or for a longer period of time, wish to influence the development of informed political opinion at federal or state level and to participate in representing the people in the German Bundestag or in the parliament of a federal state (Landtag).

According to section 2 (1) of the Political Parties Act, a political party must offer a sufficient guarantee of its sincerity in pursuing that aim, as evidenced by its actual overall situation. This can be determined using the following criteria in particular:

• the size and strength of the organisation
• the number of party members
• the party’s visibility in public

According to these criteria, associations which intend to be politically active only at local level, for example, are not political parties. The same is true of associations of a temporary nature which were formed to achieve a specific aim.

Tasks of political parties

With regard to political parties’ constitutional task of influencing the development of informed political opinion, section 1 (2) of the Political Parties lists the activities of political parties. These include

1. influencing the shaping of public opinion,
2. promoting citizens’ active participation in political life,
3. educating citizens to be capable of assuming public responsibilities,
4. participating in elections at the federal, state and local levels by nominating candidates,
5. influencing political developments in parliaments and governments, and
6. ensuring ongoing and active relations between the people and the institutions of government.

Freedom of political parties

Along with the freedom to establish political parties, Germany’s constitution, the Basic Law, also guarantees the freedom to determine the party’s aims and programme and the freedom of the party and its members to engage in party activities.

However, the limits of this freedom are set by general laws, in particular criminal law. For example, election campaign advertising which includes punishable content cannot be justified by the freedom to pursue party activities.

Principle of equal treatment of political parties

The relationship between the state and political parties is governed by the principle of equal treatment, which requires all public authorities, including public broadcasters, to treat all political parties equally when it comes to using public facilities and providing services,

 thereby ensuring that all parties have the same chance to gain public support. However, services may be proportional to the importance of the party, in particular as measured by the most recent election results.