The Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS), an organization closely affiliated with the CDU, commissioned a study to examine how compatible the AfD’s view of democracy is with the principles of Germany’s Basic Law. According to Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, head of the foundation, the study indicates that there are views within the AfD that run counter to the core principles of the nation’s liberal democratic order.
The unpublished report, as reported by the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, finds, for example, that the AfD promotes a form of majority absolutism. The study states that the majority’s will is presented as boundless, while constitutional safeguards-such as independent, representative institutions and fundamental rights-are relativized. Kramp-Karrenbauer clarified that democracy, as defined by the Basic Law, is not about the unrestricted rule of the majority; rather, it connects majority decisions with human dignity, minority protection, fundamental rights, and the boundaries of the rule of law.
Furthermore, the analysis points to the AfD’s violation of the Basic Law’s concept of citizenship, noting that party statements express an ethnic, lineage-based conception of the populace. This approach would exclude certain population groups from equal participation, thereby contravening the constitution.
Another significant concern highlighted by the study is the AfD’s process of delegitimizing the separation of powers, democratic institutions, and the media. The AfD is portrayed as depicting the Federal Constitutional Court as politically biased, classifying state institutions or political parties as part of a “cartel,” and labeling public media organizations as “system media.” While criticism is considered a democratically legitimate activity, the systematic questioning of an institution’s legitimacy itself could potentially undermine the separation of powers. The analysis also touches upon the AfD’s stance concerning freedom of religion.
Consequently, the KAS concludes that the AfD acts against the liberal democratic constitutional order, characterizing its behavior as unconstitutional. According to the foundation’s report, the AfD’s unconstitutional intentions go beyond mere criticism of constitutional tenets; they are connected to specific declarations or calls for concrete actions aimed at eradicating these fundamental principles.
