Johannes Jaeger (Universität Würzburg): Party Regulations and the legality of Online Voting for Candidates, Leaders and Policy

Online participatory instruments are gaining popularity among political parties. After the German Piratenpartei’s temporary electoral success of the between 2011-2013, the interest of party scholars, journalists and practitioners across Europe on the topic has exploded. Online participation is considered, inter alia, to win (back) younger generations for the democratic process and to stop the “decline of party membership". It’s a matter of common knowledge that political parties and the democratic systems themselves in almost the entire Western world are experiencing similar processes such as the dissolution of social classes or religious traditions as well as low interest of citizens in traditional democratic participation. However, the legal systems in which political parties operate differ widely. Despite the strong international interest in the participatory and deliberative adjustments of the German Piratenpartei, the legal obstacles towards the establishment of a liquid intra-party democracy in Germany have received little attention. Unlike political parties in other jurisdictions, the German political parties are highly regulated by the German Political Parties Act and e.g. the Federal Elections Act. These Acts also include various provisions for the internal decision-making process. This short presentation seeks to explain the possibilities and the limits of modern forms of internet-based participation such as online-voting in leadership elections and candidate selection within German parties.