For him, says Nico Stegmayer, it’s primarily foreign policy. The 19-year-old from Dillingen says that he likes the fact that the FDP is drawing attention to human rights violations in China, and that despite all its economic friendliness, it upholds Western values. Jonas Schmidt, 18, in turn speaks of innovation, technology, easier market entry and less state – the core issues of the FDP.
They are two friends from the Swabian town of Dillingen, actually the black heartland. Since 1949 the direct representative for the Bundestag has always come from the CSU. But the young men’s sympathies are elsewhere: they both joined the FDP this summer. “I like the liberal way of thinking,” says Stegmayer. “We need fewer regulations,” says Schmidt. Sentences that could also be found in the Liberals’ party program.
Bavaria has always been difficult terrain for the FDP. After all, conservative-minded pragmatists also have free voters to choose from. But it is July, the young liberals, whose membership has doubled in the past five years, from 1161 to 1756. Among the first-time voters, the FDP was the most elected party – just ahead of the Greens. What drives the young people into the arms of the party, which is often mocked as a refuge for those who wear Porsche glasses?
Then suddenly there was: time
Nico Stegmayer’s political journey began four years ago. The youth election took place at his school, which aims to arouse young people’s interest in politics. Stegmayer listened to a CSU MEP, scanned the parties’ programs, made the Wahl-O-Mat and observed the difficult coalition negotiations. His interest was piqued.
At the same time, his friend Schmidt began to devour books at home. Founding tips from US business guru Michael Porter, investment strategies with Benjamin Graham, stock market hacks from star investor Peter Lynch. He wanted to understand the economic system, he says.
Then came the corona pandemic, and both went through the full program. Homeschooling, alternating classes, back to school, Corona-Abi. Then suddenly there was: time. That summer, Stegmayer wrote an email to Alois Jäger, the district chairman of the FDP. Whether you could come by. Of course, he signaled.
A short time later, Stegmayer and Schmidt were sitting at the FDP regulars’ table in the beer garden. It was about the upcoming election campaign, and of course also about technology and business. “Everyone agreed on that,” says Stegmayer. “We were really happy that there were offspring,” says Schmidt.
“Young people don’t just want to be perceived as a problem”
No wonder, after all, it wasn’t long ago that the FDP threatened to go under. But it was precisely the Corona crisis, this collective effort, that made many people miss the individual. Especially with young people. Living and acting independently is important to many, emphasizes Eva Feldmann – Wojrachnia from the Youth and Europe research group at the Center for Applied Political Research at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich.
“Young people don’t just want to be seen as a problem,” she says. The FDP knows this and combines its free thinking with clear concepts such as digitization. “The party has given itself a clear, future-oriented profile,” she says – and, unlike other parties, has remained credible with its values without warping.
An impression that Stegmayer shares. The CSU, for example, looks far too much at work and far too little at human rights, he says. He is concerned that Taiwan will one day be taken over, he says. When the FDP politician Gyde Jensen pops up on him on YouTube and says that China must also comply with international law, otherwise there will be consequences, then that will affect him.
The “tunnel vision” of the climate bothers him
The Greens are not quite behind in the race for the favor of the offspring. It is true that they have also grown strongly in Bavaria, from 1329 to more than 3000 young members in the past ten years. But some young people especially like the liberal approach to climate protection. “The FDP’s innovation concept makes it attractive and selectable for young people,” says Feldmann – Wojrachnia. Also for Stegmayer: he likes the optimism in the whole thing, he says. The “tunnel vision” of the climate, says Schmidt, bothers him.
At the regulars’ table of the Junge Union, the cups would also have gone off. But Schmidt cannot do anything with the Union’s shift to the left. “The party has been gutted,” he says. The political scientist sees another malus: While the party structures in the larger parties are encrusted, young people in the FDP are trusted a lot. “You can take off here,” she says. Young men in particular find a political home here: only one person in five young liberals is female. “Far too little,” emphasizes the Bavarian July boss Maximilian Funke-Kaiser. Feldmann puts it into perspective: At a time when women are taking off in many places, young men also have to locate themselves somewhere.
Stegmayer and Schmidt would now like to acquire people from their group of friends and found the first “July” group in Dillingen. You have already received your membership card and badge.