Young Liberals (Germany)
Encyclopedia
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It is the financially and organisationally independent youth wing of the Free Democratic Party
Free Democratic Party (Germany)
The Free Democratic Party , abbreviated to FDP, is a centre-right classical liberal political party in Germany. It is led by Philipp Rösler and currently serves as the junior coalition partner to the Union in the German federal government...
(FDP). The JuLis have about 11,500 members, making it the third largest youth organisation in Germany.
Political Profile
The current policy statement of the JuLis was passed in 2008. It is a revision of the policy statement of 1994, and is called "Humanistic Liberalism - thought for the future". It focuses on the market economyMarket economy
A market economy is an economy in which the prices of goods and services are determined in a free price system. This is often contrasted with a state-directed or planned economy. Market economies can range from hypothetically pure laissez-faire variants to an assortment of real-world mixed...
and civil liberties
Civil liberties
Civil liberties are rights and freedoms that provide an individual specific rights such as the freedom from slavery and forced labour, freedom from torture and death, the right to liberty and security, right to a fair trial, the right to defend one's self, the right to own and bear arms, the right...
, being supplemented by the democratic resolutions of regular congresses.
The political objectives of the JuLis mostly aim to the same general objectives as the FDP, however they often differ in details. The Young Liberals advocate civil liberties, sociopolitics and an ecologically
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
sustainable
Sustainability
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
social market economy
Social market economy
The social market economy is the main economic model used in West Germany after World War II. It is based on the economic philosophy of Ordoliberalism from the Freiburg School...
. The JuLis focus on political freedom, self-responsibility, equal opportunity
Equal opportunity
Equal opportunity, or equality of opportunity, is a controversial political concept; and an important informal decision-making standard without a precise definition involving fair choices within the public sphere...
, deregulation
Deregulation
Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain the operation of market forces.Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain the operation of market forces.Deregulation is the removal or...
and reducing the state's influence to its core competences such as the prevention from economic cartel
Cartel
A cartel is a formal agreement among competing firms. It is a formal organization of producers and manufacturers that agree to fix prices, marketing, and production. Cartels usually occur in an oligopolistic industry, where there is a small number of sellers and usually involve homogeneous products...
s.
The Young Liberals often perceive themselves as the policy making stimulus of the FDP and try to propose innovations into the party, sometimes succeeding e.g. in the FDP's decision to challenge the abandonment of the German compulsory military service, to support of the concept of an ecologically-sustanable social market economy, and replacement of existing social welfare
Welfare
Welfare refers to a broad discourse which may hold certain implications regarding the provision of a minimal level of wellbeing and social support for all citizens without the stigma of charity. This is termed "social solidarity"...
benefits with a basic income
Basic income
A basic income guarantee is a proposed system of social security, that regularly provides each citizen with a sum of money. In contrast to income redistribution between nations themselves, the phrase basic income defines payments to individuals rather than households, groups, or nations, in order...
called Bürgergeld.
History
The JuLis were founded in 1980, and was recognized as the official FDP youth wing in 1983. Prior to 1982, Jungdemokraten (Young Democrats) had been the FDP youth organization.Chairpersons
- Hans-Joachim Otto (1980–1983)
- Guido WesterwelleGuido WesterwelleGuido Westerwelle [] is a German liberal politician, who, since 28 October 2009, has been serving as the Foreign Minister in the second cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel, and who was Vice Chancellor of Germany from 2009 to 2011. He is the first openly gay person to hold either of those positions...
(1983–1988) - Georg Neubauer (1988–1989)
- Hermann Brem (1989)
- Birgit Homburger (1990–1993)
- Ralph Lange (1993–1995)
- Michael KauchMichael KauchMichael Kauch is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party in the Bundestag.Kauch was born in Dortmund and attended the Helmholtz-Gymnasium. He studied economics at the University of Dortmund from 1986 to 1993....
(1995–1999) - Daniel BahrDaniel BahrDaniel Bahr is a German politician and member of the FDP.He is the FDP's expert on health politics and was chairman of the party's youth organization, the Young Liberals, from 1999 to 2004....
(1999–2004) - Jan Dittrich (2004–2005)
- Johannes VogelJohannes VogelJohannes Christian Vogel FLS FAAAS is a German botanist, who has been Keeper of Botany at the Natural History Museum in the United Kingdom since 2004. He will soon become General Director of the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin....
(2005–2010) - Lasse Becker (2010-)
Current Members of the Bundestag
- Jens AckermannJens AckermannJens Ackermann is a German politician and member of the FDP in the Bundestag.- External links :*...
, MdBMDBMDB may refer to:In computing:* .mdb, a file-extension used in certain versions of Microsoft Access databases* MDB or MDB2, PHP database abstraction layers* Message Driven Bean, a special type of Enterprise JavaBean... - Daniel BahrDaniel BahrDaniel Bahr is a German politician and member of the FDP.He is the FDP's expert on health politics and was chairman of the party's youth organization, the Young Liberals, from 1999 to 2004....
, MdBMDBMDB may refer to:In computing:* .mdb, a file-extension used in certain versions of Microsoft Access databases* MDB or MDB2, PHP database abstraction layers* Message Driven Bean, a special type of Enterprise JavaBean... - Miriam Gruß, MdBMDBMDB may refer to:In computing:* .mdb, a file-extension used in certain versions of Microsoft Access databases* MDB or MDB2, PHP database abstraction layers* Message Driven Bean, a special type of Enterprise JavaBean...
- Horst Meierhofer, MdBMDBMDB may refer to:In computing:* .mdb, a file-extension used in certain versions of Microsoft Access databases* MDB or MDB2, PHP database abstraction layers* Message Driven Bean, a special type of Enterprise JavaBean...
- Jan Mücke, MdBMDBMDB may refer to:In computing:* .mdb, a file-extension used in certain versions of Microsoft Access databases* MDB or MDB2, PHP database abstraction layers* Message Driven Bean, a special type of Enterprise JavaBean...
- Marina Schuster, MdBMDBMDB may refer to:In computing:* .mdb, a file-extension used in certain versions of Microsoft Access databases* MDB or MDB2, PHP database abstraction layers* Message Driven Bean, a special type of Enterprise JavaBean...
- Florian Toncar, MdBMDBMDB may refer to:In computing:* .mdb, a file-extension used in certain versions of Microsoft Access databases* MDB or MDB2, PHP database abstraction layers* Message Driven Bean, a special type of Enterprise JavaBean...
- Patrick Kurth, MdBMDBMDB may refer to:In computing:* .mdb, a file-extension used in certain versions of Microsoft Access databases* MDB or MDB2, PHP database abstraction layers* Message Driven Bean, a special type of Enterprise JavaBean...
- Johannes VogelJohannes VogelJohannes Christian Vogel FLS FAAAS is a German botanist, who has been Keeper of Botany at the Natural History Museum in the United Kingdom since 2004. He will soon become General Director of the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin....
, MdBMDBMDB may refer to:In computing:* .mdb, a file-extension used in certain versions of Microsoft Access databases* MDB or MDB2, PHP database abstraction layers* Message Driven Bean, a special type of Enterprise JavaBean... - Florian Bernschneider, MdBMDBMDB may refer to:In computing:* .mdb, a file-extension used in certain versions of Microsoft Access databases* MDB or MDB2, PHP database abstraction layers* Message Driven Bean, a special type of Enterprise JavaBean...
- Christoph Schnurr, MdBMDBMDB may refer to:In computing:* .mdb, a file-extension used in certain versions of Microsoft Access databases* MDB or MDB2, PHP database abstraction layers* Message Driven Bean, a special type of Enterprise JavaBean...
- Björn Sänger, MdBMDBMDB may refer to:In computing:* .mdb, a file-extension used in certain versions of Microsoft Access databases* MDB or MDB2, PHP database abstraction layers* Message Driven Bean, a special type of Enterprise JavaBean...
International relations
The JuLis is a full member organization of the European Liberal YouthEuropean Liberal Youth
European Liberal Youth is an international organisation of Liberal youth movements - mostly the youth wings of members of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party....
(LYMEC), a pan-Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an umbrella of liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
youth organizations.
On the international level, the JuLis are the German member of the International Federation of Liberal Youth
International Federation of Liberal Youth
The International Federation of Liberal Youth is an international liberal youth organization. It consists of a global membership of national youth organizations. These are often but not exclusively affiliated with political parties that are members of Liberal International.IFLRY continues the...
(IFLRY).
External links
- Young Liberals (JuLis) official site (in German)
- Program and resolutions (in German)