Intergenerational Justice Prize 2009/2010

Inter­gen­er­a­tional Jus­tice Prize of the FRFG

The fifth award 2009/2010 will treat the top­ic: “Pos­si­bil­i­ties and lim­its of coop­er­a­tive prob­lem solu­tions in par­ty democ­ra­cies” A break­down of the top­ic fol­lows bellow.

Pos­si­bil­i­ties and lim­its of coop­er­a­tive prob­lem solu­tions in par­ty democracies

The deci­sion mak­ing pro­ce­dures are of a high com­plex­i­ty in the polit­i­cal sys­tem of Ger­many. Even coali­tion part­ners of a mul­ti-par­ty gov­ern­ment are rep­re­sent­ing dif­fer­ent points of view accord­ing to their own polit­i­cal inter­ests when elec­tions are approach­ing. When the majori­ties in the Par­lia­ment and the Fed­er­al Assem­bly dif­fer, the oppo­si­tion becomes a veto play­er. The inter­twin­ing of fed­er­al and region­al com­pe­tences makes a par­ty polit­i­cal­ly moti­vat­ed block­ade pos­si­ble. Often par­ties use the media, asso­ci­a­tions and unions to mobilise resis­tance against planned deci­sions. Finan­cial cuts and long-term deci­sions espe­cial­ly fall vic­tim to the par­ty com­pe­ti­tion. In the short term it does not appear ratio­nal to sup­port unpop­u­lar deci­sions but to sharp­en the party’s pro­file by rep­re­sent­ing the par­tic­u­lar inter­ests of vot­ers. These mech­a­nisms some­times impede a top­ic ori­ent­ed coop­er­a­tion. The lack of cost­ly reforms in the edu­ca­tion sec­tor as well as the giv­ing up on cli­mate pro­tec­tion aims in order to fur­ther back­ward indus­tries illus­trate that often long-term mea­sures are blocked by sin­gle par­ties. Espe­cial­ly future and suc­ceed­ing gen­er­a­tions are thus dis­crim­i­nat­ed through a lack of top­ic ori­ent­ed par­ty coop­er­a­tion. How can such a coop­er­a­tion of the par­ties be fur­thered, and how can the reflex­es to oppose be contained?

This years prize is focused on the Ger­man polit­i­cal sys­tem, thus the papers are avail­able in Ger­man only. Please refer to our Ger­man web­site for fur­ther information.

Fifth Intergenerational Justice Award Ceremony in Berlin

For the fifth time, the FRFG award­ed the Inter­gen­er­a­tional Jus­tice Prize fund­ed by the Apfel­baum Foun­da­tion and endowed with €10,000.

On Wednes­day, 23rd March, the FRFG host­ed the award cer­e­mo­ny for the Inter­gen­er­a­tional Jus­tice Prize 2009/10 in Berlin. The lau­re­ates’ pro­pos­als on the top­ic “Pos­si­bil­i­ties and Lim­its of Coop­er­a­tive Prob­lem-Solv­ing in Par­ty Democ­ra­cies” pro­voked a live­ly debate with the audi­ence. The cer­e­mo­ny also includ­ed a pan­el dis­cus­sion with sev­er­al mem­bers of the Ger­man Bun­destag. They all empha­sized the neces­si­ty of stronger task ori­en­ta­tion with­in pol­i­tics. They agreed, how­ev­er, that the media and the pub­lic still mis­per­ceived the con­sid­er­able improve­ment already achieved in this respect.

The lau­re­ates: Math­ias König, Wolf­gang König, Volk­er Best,
Wolf­gang Gründinger (FRFG), Prof. Dr. Jun (Jury), Dr. Eike-Chris­t­ian Hornig 

The pan­elists:  Dr. Philipp Mur­mann (MdB CDU/CSU), Flo­ri­an Bern­schnei­der (MdB FDP), Dr. Dr. Jörg Trem­mel (Asso­ciate Pro­fe­sor, Uni­ver­si­ty of Tübin­gen), Kai Gehring (MdB Bündnis90/Die Grü­nen), Jut­ta Krell­mann (MdB Die Linke).

For a detailed doc­u­men­ta­tion and the con­fer­ence agen­da in Ger­man, please click here