The State and Politics

Political foundations

Civic education is one of the core activities of political foundations in Germany. Though the foundations are affiliated to political parties, they act independently.
Politische Stiftungen
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Political parties Political parties According to the Basic Law it is the task of the political parties to participate in political will formation by the people. As such, putting forward candidates for political office and the organization of election campaigns both have the status of constitutional tasks. For this reason the parties… Read more › are among the cornerstones of democracy in Germany, and the significant role they play in the formation of the political will of the people is enshrined in the country’s Basic Law. Though political foundations are affiliated to the parties, they are legally and factually independent organisations. They make a crucial contribution to social and democratic education and are an important part of the political culture of the Federal Republic of Germany. Their services are open to everyone.

The political foundations and their roles

There are six political foundations in Germany that are affiliated to the political parties Political parties According to the Basic Law it is the task of the political parties to participate in political will formation by the people. As such, putting forward candidates for political office and the organization of election campaigns both have the status of constitutional tasks. For this reason the parties… Read more › represented in the Bundestag The Bundestag The Bundestag is made up of the elected representatives of the German people. In principle elections to the Bundestag are proportionally representative, with each party’s share of the vote in the election reflecting the number of seats it occupies in the parliament. But the electoral system also… Read more › and are funded out of the federal budget:

 

Essentially, the political foundations pursue work in three main areas: civic education, the funding of studies, and research and advice. In addition, they are involved in international cooperation, above all with countries of the Global South.

Civic education

Educating people in the area of social policy and democracy is the core remit of political foundations. The aim is to impart knowledge and provide orientation, while at the same time encouraging and empowering people to pursue civil society engagement and political action. Political foundations reach out to citizens via lectures, conferences, colloquiums and discussions, as well as by publishing magazines, books and online publications. The information they make available is objective, and they offer a platform for political discourse.

Funding of studies

The student funding and scholarships provided by political foundations follow the same basic principles and rules as other organisations that fund and support outstanding students during their education. Funding is made equally available to students and postgraduates from abroad, especially from countries of the Global South.

Research and advice

Political foundations are also involved in research and advice in the fields of political and social science, conducting for example studies on all kinds of different topics. To this end, they sometimes collaborate with other research institutions. They fund or commission scientific works and support their publication. In addition, they maintain renowned archives, libraries and documentation centres. In this way, the foundations support dialogue and knowledge transfer between civil society, science and academia, politics and business.

International cooperation

German political foundations focus particularly on international development cooperation with the countries of the Global South. They are also active in European countries and North America, for example.

In the area of development cooperation, the foundations act as German non-governmental organisations. As a rule, they work together with partner organisations on the ground, such as civil society actors, political parties or unions. The foundations are particularly committed to establishing and strengthening democratic structures and institutions.

Funding for political foundations

The political foundations are independent and non-profit organisations that derive more than 90 percent of their funding from Germany’s federal budget. In addition, they receive subsidies from the country’s federal states Federal states Germany is a federal state. Both the central federal government and the 16 federal states have independent areas of jurisdiction. The government in Berlin is responsible for foreign policy, European policy, defense, justice, employment, social affairs, tax and health. The federal states are… Read more › , and to a very small extent have their own revenues in the form of admission fees and donations