Content:
Definition
According to § 2 Parteiengesetz (Law about parties) parties are associations of citizens which continuously want to take influence on the political will formation in the Federation or in a Land and want to send delegates to the Bundestag or a parliament of the Laender and according to their overall view, in particular according to the extent and the firmness of their organization, as well as the number of their members and according to their occurrence in the public, sufficient the seriousness of these goals.
Tasks
Parties participate without reservation in the political will formation of the people. They are the main language pipe of the people. They have influence on the public opinion. They are the alive connection between state and people.
Establishment
They can be found freely.
Internal order
The internal structure of a party must correspond to democratic principles. A party program must be present. Parties must give account over their means publicly, thus put them openly.
Prohibition of parties
A party can be declared as unconstitutional by the Federal Constitutional Court on application of the Federal Government, the Bundestag or the Bundesrat, if it has the goal, to abolish the free democratic constitutional structure or endanger the existence of the Federal Republic of Germany. As result of the prohibition the party must be dissolved, a substitute organisation must not be found. The fortune of the party can be confiscated. Members of the Bundestag who belong to the prohibited party lose their commission (§ 46 BWG).
Till now two parties have been prohibited, 1952 the "Sozialistische Reichspartei (SRP)" and 1956 the "Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (KPD)".