Grassroots Democratic Party of Germany

The Grassroots Democratic Party of Germany (German: Basisdemokratische Partei Deutschland, abbreviated German: dieBasis) is a political party in Germany. The declared aim of the party is to strengthen grassroots democracy in society and politics, as they consider that many areas of life are dominated by economic interests, profits, and fights for political power.^[2] During COVID-19 protests in Germany however, political scientists and media reports generally identified the party as primarily supported by lockdown opponents and campaigners against obligatory vaccination.^[3]

AbbreviationdieBasis

LeaderSylvio Schmeller
S.-Jarno Bien^[1]

Founded4 July 2020 (5 years ago) (2020-07-04)

HeadquartersBerlin

Quick facts Abbreviation, Leader ...

Grassroots Democratic Party of Germany Basisdemokratische Partei Deutschland
Abbreviation	dieBasis
Leader	Sylvio Schmeller S.-Jarno Bien[1]
Founded	4 July 2020 (5 years ago) (2020-07-04)
Headquarters	Berlin
Ideology	Anti-lockdown Anti-vaccination Antimilitarism[1]
Political position	Right-wing
Regional affiliation	Alliance for Thuringia (Thuringia)
Website
diebasis-partei.de
Politics of Germany Political parties Elections

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The party cannot be easily placed on the political spectrum. According to an investigation by RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland, its membership combines believers in alternative medicine and esotericism with those belonging to far-right conspiracy theorist groups such as Reichsbürger.^[4] A scientific study conducted by the University of Göttingen with the participation of Simon T. Franzmann, professor of democracy research, concludes that ‘dieBasis’ is not a ‘right-wing populist party’. Nor does its ‘clear anti-establishment orientation’ make it one.^[5]

The party has never won any seats in the Bundestag, state Landtags or the European Parliament, but has achieved some mandates on the local level, for instance in Schleswig-Holstein,^[6] Weimar, Jena^[7] and Sachsen-Anhalt.^{[8][9][10][11][12][13][14]}