State party

A state party is under the German law on political parties a political party whose organization on the territory of a state limited (§ 6 para. 4 PPA). Nevertheless, state parties can take part in nationwide elections. A related term is the regional party , which limits its political activities to one region.

Colloquially, the regional association of a nationally represented party is also referred to as a state party.

Development in Germany

The legal term of the state party emerged when the Bavarian party sued parts of the federal election law in 1956 because it saw itself as a state party discriminated against. The Federal Constitutional Court dismissed the complaint, but the term remained and found its way into the law on political parties introduced in 1967. However, it does not play a role in the right to vote.

Current state parties (i. E. S.) with parliamentary seats are:

the Christian-Social Union in Bavaria (CSU)
the South Schleswig voter association (SSW) in Schleswig-Holstein

The increasing consolidation of the party landscape in the Federal Republic of the 1950s and 1960s meant that the number of parties that could be defined as state parties decreased more and more.

Previously existing state parties with parliamentary seats were:

the Bavarian party (BP; represented in the state parliament there until 1966; still a state party)
the Bremen Democratic People's Party (BDV; merged with the FDP in 1951 )
the Bremen Green List (1979–1983 represented in the local parliament, then dissolved)
the Christian People's Party of Saarland (CVP; merged with the CDU in 1959 )
the Saarland People's Party (SVP; represented in the state parliament there until 1970, later dissolved)

Individual evidence

↑ BVerfGE 6, 84 ff. A second judgment of the Federal Constitutional Court with reference to the status of a state party concerned the planned ban on a right-wing extremist group in Hamburg 1994 (BVerfGE 91, 262 ff.).
↑ Oskar Niedermayer: Historical review of the development in the old Federal Republic , in: German conditions. A social studies (dossier of the Federal Agency for Civic Education), May 31, 2012.

Web links

Text of the Political Parties Act

[1] BVerfGE 6, 84 ff. A second judgment of the Federal Constitutional Court with reference to the status of a state party concerned the planned ban on a right-wing extremist group in Hamburg 1994 (BVerfGE 91, 262 ff.).

[2] Oskar Niedermayer: Historical review of the development in the old Federal Republic , in: German conditions. A social studies (dossier of the Federal Agency for Civic Education), May 31, 2012.