Tradition
The party sees itself "in a party-political line of tradition that goes back to Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht". Lothar Bisky declared on 16 June 2007 at the Left Party Congress that Die Linke sees itself in the tradition of former Chancellor Willy Brandt and his motto "Dare more democracy", with which he wanted to overcome the domestic political stagnation of the post-war period in Germany. At the founding party conference, Oskar Lafontaine classified Die Linke historically as follows: "It stands in the tradition of those who were persecuted under Bismarck's socialist laws, and it stands in the tradition of those who perished in Hitler's concentration camps, and it feels obliged to the legacy of those who were imprisoned as social democrats in the GDR as well as the communists who were imprisoned and persecuted in the Federal Republic of Germany. Both belong together, and both must be said." As a starting point for its policy, Die Linke cites the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, in which it recognizes a call to "democratic socialism."
Program
On 24 and 25 March 2007, at the joint party conference of the Left Party and the Labour & Social Justice Party - The Electoral Alternative (WASG) in Dortmund, key programmatic points for the new Left Party were adopted. The document contains some basic positions of the Left Party and cornerstones of its policies. The Left wants to achieve "social, democratic and peacemaking reforms to overcome capitalism".
On 20 and 21 June 2009, the party's Bundestag election programme was adopted at the 2009 Bundestag election party conference in Berlin. The Programmatische Eckpunkte took on the legal role of the party programme prescribed by law for a party, but in terms of content represented only a programmatic paper, albeit a comprehensive one. On 23 October 2011, at the Erfurt party congress, the first party programme was adopted with 503 votes in favour, 4 against and 12 abstentions. This corresponds to an approval of 96.9 percent. In the membership referendum from 17 November to 15 December 2011, the party programme was confirmed with a quorum of 95.8 per cent.
economic and fiscal policy
In wage policy, Die Linke advocates an increase in wages and salaries within the framework of annual productivity growth and the target inflation rate of the European Central Bank, to be negotiated at macroeconomic level through area-wide collective agreements.
Public investment and other spending on education, research, culture, ecological restructuring and public infrastructure should be increased by at least 40 billion euros a year. Larger companies are to pay significantly more taxes overall, while Die Linke calls for possibilities of higher depreciation for investing companies. The wealth tax, which has not been levied since 1997 due to the unconstitutionality of the former version of the law, is to be reintroduced and the inheritance tax on large inheritances is to be increased. As far as income tax is concerned, Die Linke calls for the introduction of a linear tax scale to ease the burden on middle and lower incomes, and for raising the top tax rate to 50% or more, which would amount to a partial reversal of the 2000 tax reform. In addition, the focus is on the elimination of tax-saving opportunities which, according to the Left, particularly favour the wealthy and high earners.
The financial markets are to be subjected to greater state control, with the aim, among other things, of restricting securities and currency speculation. By tightening antitrust legislation, the party wants to decentralize and further divide private economic power. In return, cooperatives and other forms of solidarity-based economy are to be promoted.
The reduced tax rate of seven percent is to be introduced on all products and services for minors, on pharmacy-required medicines, labour-intensive craft services and in the hotel and restaurant industry.
In the long term, the party wants to transfer "structurally decisive large-scale enterprises of the economy" into social ownership (state or municipal ownership, cooperatives, employee ownership) and give employees democratic control over the enterprises, but rejects "all-encompassing state ownership".
Social policy
Representatives of the party describe the social policy of the current and past governments as "social dismantling". Social risks should be sufficiently covered, a certain standard of living in old age should be guaranteed. In order to achieve these goals, Die Linke demands the withdrawal of all laws of the Hartz reforms, especially the fourth stage (popularly known as "Hartz 4"). Instead, it wants to tie the social security systems to the state by strengthening their solidarity-based elements and by renewing self-administration. The Left Party also advocates a "repression-free" and means-tested basic income support for people threatened by poverty. The compulsion to take up work through punishments with benefit cuts below the socio-cultural subsistence minimum are rejected.
The Left Party demands higher wages and the prevention of old-age poverty through rising pensions. The statutory pension insurance is to be transformed into an insurance for employed persons, gradually including members of all occupational groups. Pensions in the new Länder are to be raised to the level of the old Länder. Raising the retirement age to over 65 is rejected. Instead, flexible exit options before the age of 65 and a retirement age of 60 without deductions are sought.
Child poverty is to be counteracted by increasing child benefit to 200 euros.
The party criticizes the three-tier school system. The financing and additional provision of apprenticeship places for young people is to be financed by a training place levy on non-training companies.
In the health care sector, Die Linke, like the SPD, advocates a citizens' insurance system with equal co-financing by employers. The party criticizes "profit-oriented structures" in the health care system.
The Left Party considers the following points to be particularly important:
- Better cooperation between doctors, hospitals and all service providers
- Promotion of health centres, centralisation of health services
- Introduction of a state-established positive list for prescription-only medicines
- Higher pay for medical and nursing staff
- Stronger rights for patients
The Left Party advocates the preservation and expansion of public services of general interest and the safeguarding of local self-government. The sale of public property in housing and utilities is to be prevented. The right to housing should be included in the Basic Law.
Labour market policy
The Left wants to enable workers to exercise what it sees as a deprivation of self-determination and stresses the importance of solidarity, criticising an exclusively competitive orientation of the economic system.
The main points are:
- Reduction of working hours;
- new jobs through ecological and social restructuring;
- publicly supported and designed employment sectors;
- an active labour market policy focusing on those who have particularly poor chances on the labour market;
- a productivity-oriented wage policy (i.e. real wages rise in step with labour productivity);
- a statutory minimum wage at a living wage level;
- full social protection of all employment relationships and humanisation of work;
- Validity of domestic social standards for all those working here;
- Awarding public contracts to companies that comply with high social and environmental standards at home and support the improvement of these standards on a global scale.
In order to achieve these goals, Die Linke actively seeks cooperation with the trade unions.
Domestic politics and understanding of democracy
In the "fight against international terrorism", the left notes more and more restrictions on democracy and the dismantling of fundamental rights and freedoms. Criticism is levelled at international organisations (especially NATO) and also European institutions. The spreading of mistrust and suspicion, especially towards followers of the Islamic faith, is to be countered by a "culture of dialogue and cooperation".
The left wants to build an "economic, political and cultural order of societies based on democratic decisions" and also to let the population participate democratically in its development.
Civic co-determination is to be more closely integrated into parliamentary democracy. The party thus seeks a close link between parliamentary and direct democracy, which is to be made possible by introducing nationwide referendums and plebiscites. Democratic participation is also to be strengthened through planning, control and objection rights for environmental organisations, consumer associations, trade unions, associations and other civil society forces as well as citizens. The Left Party also proposes the introduction of so-called participatory budgets: Citizens should be allowed to directly co-decide on the budget of their municipality for the purpose of more active co-determination. The Left Party is guided by the scientific concept of the citizens' municipality and calls for the expansion of the position of the municipalities in the federal system.
The democratization process should also include the strengthening of individual rights. State action is to be verifiable by a new independent control authority - this task has so far been performed by the courts. In this way, each individual is to be protected from unjustified encroachments by the state. This also includes the right to determine one's own data and its use (informational self-determination). The strict separation of the police and the Bundeswehr as well as the police and the secret services is firmly adhered to. The party rejects an amendment to the Basic Law that would allow the deployment of the Bundeswehr in Germany.
The Left strives for social control over all forms of economic power. Through equal co-determination of employees, their trade unions and representatives of the regions and consumers, financial power is to be subordinated to democratic interests. In addition, the political strike and the general strike are to be made possible.
The concept of equality is to be extended to include the characteristics of origin, gender, sexual identity, disability, ethnic and religious affiliation. All people living and working in Germany and the European Union are entitled to the same rights, according to the Left. In order to guarantee this, an effective and comprehensive anti-discrimination law is demanded, which goes beyond the existing one and includes the possibility of associative action. In addition, the right to vote should be extended to all people living in Germany. The Left Party promotes a harmonisation of asylum law in Europe.
Immigrants from different cultural backgrounds living in Germany are seen as an enrichment and the integration of the immigrant population is seen as a social challenge. For the minorities living on German territory, an expansion of their participation rights and appropriate public support for the preservation and further development of their languages and cultures is demanded. Right-wing extremism should therefore be more strongly outlawed and fought politically. This includes in particular the "intensification of anti-fascist educational work". Therefore, civil society structures against right-wing extremism are to be strengthened by expanding financial support for corresponding initiatives and advisory teams. The Left Party wants to devote greater attention to the observation of right-wing extremism in an international context.
The constitutional state is to be restructured according to social and solidarity aspects, which is to aim at a change in the relationship between state, economy and society. The requirement of the welfare state is to be concretized by establishing the principles of social justice and the requirement of state protection against the most important risks of life. This includes ensuring a fair distribution of society's wealth. Basic social rights should also be included in the Basic Law in order to enforce the welfare state.
Environmental policy
The party's desired economic policy is oriented towards the common good and environmental protection. The goal is the unity of social, ecological and economic sustainability. For example, a system of taxes and levies is to be developed that promotes environmentally friendly action and places a burden on environmentally damaging behaviour.
The primary goal of an ecological transformation is the decentralization of power generation and supply. To this end, the electricity grids should be nationalised. According to the Left Party, increasing energy efficiency, reducing energy consumption and focusing on renewable energies are necessary to solve the energy problems. The party also wants to accelerate the phase-out of nuclear power. In addition, the export of nuclear technology is firmly rejected.
Other goals of the Left's environmental and nature conservation policy are:
- Sustainable use of natural resources and comprehensive environmental education
- Environmentally sound regional economic cycles
- Expansion of organic farming and forest management
- Designation of further nature reserves and landscape protection areas as well as a comprehensive biotope network
- Reduction of environmentally harmful subsidies in favour of funding for environmental and nature conservation measures
- consistent implementation of the European nature conservation directives and provision of the necessary funds in public budgets
- to press ahead with the implementation of the National Strategy on Biological Diversity and to increase the annual budget for this to 50 million euros
- Minimise landscape fragmentation of existing motorways by means of wildlife bridges
- comprehensive rights of information, participation and action for citizens as well as for environmental and nature conservation associations
- Promotion of targeted renaturation measures
- to give priority to environmental compatibility in construction measures
- general ban on animal testing
- Limitation of land consumption through sealing
In a joint comparison of environmental policy demands of the parties represented in the Bundestag by the youth organisations of NABU and BUND, there was one hundred percent agreement between the positions of Die Linke and those of NABU and BUND.
Agricultural policy
The Left Party calls for an "agricultural policy oriented towards the common good". The ecologically harmful and socially unjust subsidy policy of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy must be ended. The export-oriented and profit-maximising orientation of agriculture should give way to local cycles and industrial agriculture to peasant agriculture. Land grabbing should be consistently banned and non-agricultural investors excluded from the acquisition of agricultural land, as they put further pressure on producer prices.
Organic farming should be massively promoted and structural diversity in agriculture gained through landscape elements such as hedges, small bodies of water or dry stone walls and through a diverse cropping structure. The Left Party is in favour of area-based animal husbandry and against factory farming. In addition, the Left Party is in favour of a general ban on green genetic engineering, as well as a general right to farm from seed and against patents on seed.
The Left Party regularly takes part in the "We're fed up with it!" demonstrations, which speak out "against the agricultural industry, against factory farming and for an agricultural turnaround".
Transport policy
The party is committed to an "ecological transport turnaround". The privatisation policy in the transport sector is to be ended, and local public transport is to be improved by new offers. Freight transport is to be concentrated more on the railways. Kerosene for the operation of aircraft is to be taxed.
The party calls for a withdrawal of the gradual taxation of biofuels, as this hinders the development of climate-friendly fuels. At the same time, efforts should be made to ensure that biofuels are only produced sustainably and that only sustainably produced fuels are imported.
The Left Party advocates free public transport throughout the country. To this end, a three-phase model with a three-year development period was presented.
European policy
The Left takes a critical view of the current structure and political orientation of the European Union. The party has set itself the goal of strengthening the democratic, social, ecological and peace policy dimension. New goals are to be set for the European Union. A "militarization" of the EU is strictly rejected by the party and the dissolution of the US military bases in Europe is demanded.
The ratification of the Lisbon Treaty was rejected with reference to military policy and neoliberal economic policy liabilities. From the party's perspective, the treaty leads to a militarisation of the Common Foreign and Security Policy. The neo-liberal orientation of the treaty text and the envisaged type of enhanced cooperation between police and security services are also criticised. Ultimately, the euro crisis proves the inadequacy of the existing EU treaties. Therefore, the primary legal foundations of the EU should be comprehensively renewed in a constitution with the participation of the citizens of the Union.
The Left advocates the anchoring of a social progress clause in EU primary law, calls for the unification of the corporate tax base and an EU-wide minimum tax rate for corporate profits. The independence of the European Central Bank should be given up for the purpose of democratic control, in order to be able to work for employment and sustainable development alongside price stability.
The Left Party votes against the European Fiscal Compact and the European Stability Mechanism and demands a referendum. Former parliamentary group leader Gregor Gysi justified this, among other things, with the fact that with the ESM "the most important economic policy instruments (...) that are necessary to maintain social state guarantees" would be put at risk.
However, the left is in favour of Eurobonds, in which the member states are mutually liable for each other.
Foreign Policy
The Left addresses four areas in the field of foreign policy: Defence policy, world economic policy, democratisation of the UN and the European Union.
The party calls for a policy of disarmament. Through social justice, realization of human rights, sustainable development and democracy, the party wants to achieve stability and peaceful cooperation. Foreign deployments of the Bundeswehr are generally rejected. The party demands that NATO be dissolved and replaced by a collective security system with the participation of Russia, and that German foreign policy be strictly oriented towards civil conflict resolution and cooperation instead of confrontation.
The Left demands comprehensive debt relief for poor countries and an increase in development aid. To this end, the party wants to exert appropriate influence in the United Nations, the WTO and the World Bank, as well as through bilateral treaties and European agreements with Latin America, Africa and Asia.
The UN is to be democratized and strengthened by upgrading the General Assembly and restructuring the Security Council. The aim is to be able to shape a fairer world economic and social order. In addition, The Left advocates that abductions, secret prisons and torture be outlawed worldwide beyond the current agreements.
According to the resolution of the party's Federal Committee of 21 September 2008, the party's attitude of solidarity towards "progressive movements" in Latin America "finds its concrete expression in particular in the continuation of the political and material solidarity campaigns of the Cuba Sí working group".
The Left Group advocates lifting the ban on the socialist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Attitude towards Israel
The Left Party recognizes Israel's right to exist. However, individual members of the Bundestag faction and parts of the party base strongly criticize Israel's Palestine policy. In 2011, political scientist Samuel Salzborn and historian Sebastian Voigt described anti-Israel and anti-Semitic tendencies in the party in an essay. The essay, first published in the Frankfurter Rundschau, later appeared somewhat revised in the Zeitschrift für Politik. The essay was the occasion for a special hour in the Bundestag requested by the CDU/CSU and FDP. Some members of the party leadership were critical of the tendencies described, others denied them.
In a response in the same journal, sociologist Peter Ullrich and political scientist Alban Werner (the latter a member of the Left Party) criticized the authors for failing to prove radical hostility to Israel or anti-Zionist anti-Semitism. In many respects, the essay did not meet basic scientific criteria and was methodologically flawed, inconsistent and did not discuss divergent interpretations of the material presented. On the basis of an online survey, Maximilian Elias Imhoff contradicted Ullrich and Werner: around 30 percent of the radical leftists surveyed had not been free of anti-Semitic ideas or had not been able to clearly distinguish themselves from anti-Semitic resentment.
Due to the "toilet affair", there was again a public debate in 2014 about the party's attitude towards the state of Israel, which also led to an internal party dispute. In particular, the members of the Bundestag Annette Groth, Inge Höger and Heike Hänsel came under criticism.
Family policy
In the area of family policy, Die Linke is particularly concerned with gender equality. To this end, it seeks an additional equality law for the private sector. Special programmes for the advancement of women are also to be introduced. The Left Party criticizes the unequal pay for the work of both sexes. The reconciliation of family and career is to be improved by expanding all-day facilities.
Section 218 of the German Penal Code (StGB), which permits abortion only under certain conditions, is to be abolished and abortion thus completely legalised. The "morning-after pill" is to be made available more quickly by abolishing the requirement for a prescription. The exemption from punishment of abortion against the will of the pregnant woman, which is also regulated in § 218 StGB, is not politically connected with this demand. Violence against women should be publicly outlawed and resolutely prosecuted.
The Left Party wants to make it easier for couples to raise children - regardless of the type of relationship in which they live together. It welcomed the opening of marriage for same-sex couples. In addition, it calls for further steps to ensure equal rights for all lifestyles: The party calls for a system of elective affinities, in which communities of more than two people are also recognized as connected. The Left Party wants to guarantee such communities similar rights to those enjoyed by married couples, including visitation rights in the event of illness, adoption rights and the right to refuse to testify.
Marital splitting is to be abolished.
The party opposes the childcare allowance and justifies its position, among other things, by arguing that this social benefit encourages mothers - in line with the traditional ("outdated") image of the family - to stay at home instead of entering the workforce, and that children are limited in their educational and developmental opportunities due to the lack of early social contacts. A basic child allowance should replace the childcare allowance in order to enable children to grow up without financial insecurity.
Net Policy
In the position paper Digital Democracy instead of the Rule of Monopolies at the end of 2019, the politicians of the Left Party Katja Kipping, Anke Domscheit-Berg and Katalin Gennburg formulated which interests the digital economy was pursuing that ran counter to the ideals of a democracy. The term is intended to draw attention to the continuing power of digital monopolies and to add a democratic and social component to the discussion.
The position paper Digital Democracy instead of the Rule of the Monopolies proposes a New Deal that aims at the following points:
- Creating order through digital regulatory law,
- fair taxation of Internet companies,
- Creating Data Sovereignty (Digital Freedom),
- Allow data migration between different vendors,
- Formation of a Social Innovations Fund for alternatives to the monopolists.
Research and education policy, press
The party wants to implement equal opportunities by having the state offer education free of charge, from daycare to university. In addition, it wants to achieve "free all-day care in day-care centres and schools, including a full, healthy lunch".
The Left Party wants to put pre-school education in the foreground, make its importance clear and promote it in a special way. Subsequent joint school attendance is to be extended. To this end, the party wants to create an integrative comprehensive school that covers the school years one to at least nine. Furthermore, the party formulates the goal of focusing on the individual promotion of each individual.
In the field of education, the party demands a basic right to an apprenticeship for every school leaver.
Universities are to be democratised by reducing profit-oriented influence, expanding public funding and introducing tripartite self-administration. In addition, access to all degrees should remain free, and the transition from vocational training to higher education should be facilitated. Tuition fees are strictly rejected.
Basic research should be strengthened. The Left advocates a balanced relationship between theoretical and application-oriented research and teaching, the dismantling of hierarchical structures and greater independence for the academic middle classes. Patents on genes of living beings or parts of living beings, especially humans, are rejected. The Open Access and Open Source movements are welcomed by the Left.
In addition, the lack of funding for continuing education is criticized. The goal is a federal law on continuing education.
By means of stricter anti-trust legislation, it wants to prevent monopolisation in the media sector and in this way preserve press freedom and press diversity. The rights of authors vis-à-vis collecting companies are to be strengthened; at the same time, a balance is to be found so that non-commercial use is restricted as little as possible.
Support for the new Länder
The party plans an all-German innovation, investment and structural policy to reduce the differences between the old and new federal states.
The Left emphasizes the advantages of the GDR's real socialist system. It sees childcare, the school and education system, the economic equality of women with men and local cultural institutions in the former GDR as exemplary and contradicts the general and uncritical adoption of corresponding structures of the Federal Republic.
Specifically, The Left pursues the following goals:
- "Equal pay for equal work"
- Livable conditions in the East in the areas of education, culture, leisure and childcare.
- Concentration on economic sectors of importance in the regions through specific regional development concepts; cooperative interlinking of growth centres (structurally weak, rural and peripheral areas).
- Promotion of future industries and companies, planning security for the disposal of funds from the EU, the federal budget and the Solidarity Pact; only minimally co-finance subsidies for financially weak Länder.
