Greens present bill: Stabilizing democracy in Hesse!

Greens present bill: Stabilizing democracy in Hesse!

Something is happening in the political landscape in Hesse: The Greens in the Hesse state parliament have presented a bill that is intended to secure the long-term financing of democracy projects in the region. This project, which according to the Greens will be introduced in the state parliament next week, aims to continuously support these important projects without constantly applying for new money. Particular attention is paid to educational work as well as advice and prevention services against extremism, such as the South German reported.

Lara Klaes, the parliamentary group spokeswoman for democracy promotion, emphasizes how important it is to secure existing structures. These include, among others, the Hesse Democracy Center at the University of Marburg as well as various reporting centers that work against anti-Semitism, antigypsyism and racism, such as RIAS and MIA. In addition, the draft law plans to promote mobile advisory teams against right-wing extremism and institutions that deal with educational work in the culture of remembrance.

Research and consulting in focus

An essential part of the bill is research into “democratic culture in Hesse” and the analysis of the “causes of authoritarian and extremist efforts”. This is supported by the establishment of a state advisory board, which includes representatives from science, municipalities, civil society and the state government. The aim is to provide the government with professional advice in its efforts to promote democracy.

In the context of these efforts, the threat of political and religious extremism is growing simultaneously. Interior Minister Roman Poseck presented around 40 projects in Wiesbaden that are funded as part of the state program “Hesse actively for democracy and against extremism”. How the Hesse show reports, it is a program that has been running since 2015 and is scheduled to continue until 2029. The projects receive a total of 8.8 million euros from the state and 2.2 million euros from the federal government.

Diverse projects to promote democracy

The funded projects cover a wide range of areas: from work in schools to support for victims of extremism to AI-supported educational measures in social media. Even if funding remains stable, there are already warnings of possible cuts in the future. The DGB district of Hesse-Thuringia has urgently called for long-term financing to be enshrined in a democracy promotion law.

However, this initiative does not come without criticism: the AfD parliamentary group expresses accusations against the procurement practice and sees suspicion of a left-wing ideological agenda behind the projects. However, special attention should be paid to the large number of new projects. These include innovative approaches such as “Contra Code” and “Dialogic.Democratic.Digital”, but the future project “Disputes with Artificial Intelligence” is also scheduled to start next year.

With the ongoing discussion about the financing and structure of democracy promotion in Hesse, it is once again clear that both politics and civil society are called upon to work together against extremism and to ensure our democracy. The results of a democracy study commissioned by the state government are likely to play a central role in shaping the content of the law.