AfD Targets Demokratie Leben Program in Germany's Councils

AfD's Strategic Assault on Germany's Demokratie Leben Program Gains Ground

For weeks, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in Bitterfeld-Wolfen (Saxony-Anhalt) has been campaigning against the city's participation in the federal program Demokratie Leben (Living Democracy). The party claims the initiative funds left-wing NGOs, lacks transparency, and represents a "waste of taxpayer money." At the start of the year, the AfD succeeded in pushing through a blocking resolution against the program in the city council—followed later by cuts to staffing in the responsible department and increased political influence for the AfD and other parties.

Now, it has emerged that this approach is part of a coordinated strategy—and one the party intends to replicate elsewhere. Our editorial team has obtained an AfD guide from Bitterfeld-Wolfen designed to show the party's factions in other local councils how to attack or repurpose the Demokratie Leben program to their advantage. The document alleges that the initiative is "politically biased" and that many of its funded projects are "frequently directed against the AfD." It declares: "Now is the time to drain the swamp." The guide urges local AfD representatives to "demand a say in project funding decisions" and "prevent money from flowing into ideologically questionable projects that target the AfD."

The document outlines specific steps to achieve this. It advises identifying whether "left-wing or Green-affiliated individuals" are involved in administering the program and how much funding they receive. It also calls for scrutinizing the composition of the committee responsible for allocating funds—information that should be made public and challenged. The guide even provides sample questions to put to local authorities and a pre-drafted freedom-of-information request. "Given that funds in many places are likely being used to produce flyers or banners opposing the AfD, you should specifically inquire about this," it states.

It remains unclear whether and where additional funds have been directed. The guide is signed by state parliamentarian Daniel Roi and federal lawmaker Kay-Uwe Ziegler, both from Bitterfeld-Wolfen. While the blocking resolution their party initially pushed through in the city council—alongside the local group Pro Bitterfeld-Wolfen—was later reversed following protests, it came with conditions: the responsible department's staffing was halved, and the AfD, other council factions, and local mayors (including Roi and Ziegler) were granted greater influence over the allocation of the approximately €140,000 in approved funding.

Since then, the future of the program's funding has been uncertain. Previously, Demokratie Leben had supported theater performances, integration courses, and community festivals. The AfD's local branch celebrated the council's blockade on social media, declaring: "Demokratie Leben is finally having its funding cut off!"

This move is part of a broader AfD campaign against the program at the federal level, where the party has repeatedly submitted parliamentary inquiries criticizing it. The issue has also become a focal point in Saxony-Anhalt's state election campaign. In a draft of its "government program," the AfD claims the state government funds "questionable associations" that "reject Germany and combat patriotism." Going forward, it argues, only groups that "credibly" commit to democracy and a "patriotic stance" should receive support.

Steffi Hauck, a social worker with a youth association in Bitterfeld-Wolfen that previously coordinated the Demokratie Leben program for the city, says the AfD's guide leaves her "speechless." "I've long warned that the AfD wants to hollow out this program from within," she explains. Yet many locals have embraced the party's campaign, which Hauck describes as relentless. "The AfD spread lies about our association without ever providing a shred of evidence." Over the ten years her organization managed the program, she notes, authorities never raised a single objection.

Recently, however, both the association and Hauck, as its coordinator, announced they would no longer work with the program. With staffing slashed to half a position, she says, the work can no longer be done to an acceptable standard.

Germany's Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, led by Karin Prien (CDU) and home to the Democracy Lives! (Demokratie Leben!) initiative, declined to comment on the AfD's campaign. A ministry spokesperson stated that they do not respond to guidelines issued by "individual district associations," dismissing allegations that the program is one-sided. The program, they emphasized, is designed "to safeguard our democracy, promote civic education, and prevent all forms of extremism."

David Begrich of the pro-democracy organization Miteinander in Magdeburg sees the AfD's guidelines as further evidence of the party's assaults on civil society—but also as a shift in strategy. "After years of attacking Democracy Lives!, the AfD now appears to be trying to exploit it for its own purposes," Begrich told our website. He noted that this change in approach did not come from the party's national leadership but from a local branch.

Begrich argued that the AfD's criticisms are particularly detached from reality in Bitterfeld-Wolfen. "This isn't some hotbed of major left-wing NGOs," he said. "What you actually find there are a few deeply committed individuals working tirelessly to uphold democracy."