Why elections are so important

Table of contents

The German Bundestag will be elected on February 23.

Voting is a matter of course.

Or is it?

Nope.

In the last Bundestag election in 2021, 23.4% of voters gave up this very right.

That’s amazing, isn’t it?

Do you also doubt whether it’s “worth voting at all” because “it doesn’t help anyway” or “nothing changes”?

Find out why this is nonsense and why your ballot paper does matter in this article!

Shaping the future

Why are you studying?

“It’s obvious!” you might be thinking. “Because I want to set the course for my professional future.”

It’s interesting that you’re investing three, four, five or even more years of energy, time and effort in this.

But do you know what’s just as important?

Voting politically on who should steer your and our future, and with what program.

There are parties that stand up for students and their interests. But there are also parties that believe, for example, that BAföG should be cut or that tuition fees should be introduced similar to those in the USA.

So you can see that your vote (or your non-vote) has a very significant influence on the future. Your vote influences which laws are passed that also affect you.

Assuming social responsibility

So you can and should look at the elections from a personal perspective: Which party pursues my interests and goals in the best possible way?

Tip: Set effective goals with the SMART method

But democracy does not end at your own apartment door. Always remember that we live in a society in which social aspects are also very important.

So if you don’t just want to focus on yourself, but also want everyone in our country to be as well off as possible, you should pay attention to how the parties deal with social issues when casting your vote.

These topics include, for example:

Pension / poverty in old age
Dealing with people in need of care
Unemployment
Asylum / protection
Environmental protection

What solutions or ideas do the parties offer? And are you convinced by their approaches? It is important to answer these questions in advance if you want to cast your vote and think outside the box.

A simple path to democracy

You can achieve political participation in Germany in several ways: for example, by becoming a member of a political party or an association that is committed to a charitable cause.

Article tip: Why volunteering is worthwhile

But the easiest way is to vote: combine a Sunday walk with a visit to the polling station to cast your vote.

Or, even more convenient: vote by post. This way, you can drop your completed ballot paper in your own mailbox in the Staytoo mailboxes or in the nearest mailbox. However, make sure that you send your ballot paper in good time. It is recommended that you send it by February 20 at the latest so that it arrives on time.

Whether you vote at a polling station or by postal vote: Both options are simple and straightforward, so you can exercise your most important right to democracy.

In other words: there are no excuses! 😉

Counteracting extreme trends

The current times are challenging: domestic security, inflation, migration and the tense situation on the housing market are keeping us busy at home, but things are also happening outside our borders that are causing massive concern, including wars and changes of power with uncertain outcomes.

At the same time, populist movements are on the rise, both worldwide and in Europe. This development is worrying, as it offers supposedly simple solutions to complex issues.

Responsible politicians see problems and strive for sustainable solutions on several levels. This applies to citizens at home as well as to the expansion of diplomatic relations abroad and support for people in need. They proceed with prudence and caution because they know that the situation is highly complex.

Extremists, on the other hand, offer a deceptive black and white picture: Here are the good guys, there are the bad guys. They claim to be able to solve problems faster, more effectively and more consistently than parties that sometimes appear hesitant in the eyes of voters – precisely because they act prudently and circumspectly.

The temptation to fall for the supposedly simple solutions of extremists is great, especially when personal frustration continues to grow. It is better not to give in to this impulse. An election decision should always be based on facts and objective arguments, not emotions.

Therefore, before you vote, make sure you check whether the party you sympathize with is clearly committed to democratic values and what their election manifesto says. You should be particularly careful and critical of extreme parties.

A reminder from the past

Holocaust Remembrance Day took place on January 27 this year: On this day exactly 80 years ago, the Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated by the Red Army. In this camp alone, the Nazis murdered millions of people and held them in captivity under the worst possible conditions.

The Nazis’ reign of terror was made possible by a failure of democracy: the Weimar Republic, which existed before Hitler seized power, was still a young, ambitious, but also extremely vulnerable construct.

Democratic parties struggled to form a stable government at the time, but they increasingly lost the support of the population. In the end, Hitler’s NSDAP succeeded in eliminating the democratic forces in the country and installing a regime that instigated the Second World War and shook the world with its inhuman ideology.

We can learn a lot from this darkest chapter in German history. One lesson is that, unfortunately, democracy cannot be taken for granted, on the contrary: only 45% of people worldwide live in democracies, over 37% in dictatorships.

So make sure you use your right to vote, because every ballot cast is also a confirmation of the democratic system – and that is what is needed to create fair political conditions.

Tips for your voting decision

Okay, now you know how important it is to vote.

Now the question remains: who should you vote for?

We don’t want to make any recommendations for individual parties here, but we do have tips to help you make your voting decision:

Wahl-O-Mat

With this question-and-answer tool, you can quickly find out which parties match up best with you. At the end of the process, which takes a maximum of half an hour, the Wahl-O-Mat spits out parties and their percentage matches with your positions. The tool is ideal for giving you an initial overview of the parties and their stances on various issues.

Debates & Interviews

The media offer you the opportunity to experience politicians in conversation. They answer questions from journalists and compete against each other in TV duels. This is entertaining and you get an impression of the people who want to steer the destiny of our country.

Debates and interviews help you with important questions:

Do I like the candidate?
Does he/she seem professionally competent and credible?
Does the person radiate authenticity and seriousness?

Get impressions from TV reports, newspaper articles and social media to get as comprehensive a picture as possible of parties and their leaders.

Speaking of social media, you can usually also find content there that shows how work is done at the party base, for example in pedestrian zones.

Past check

Parties promise a lot, especially during election campaigns.

But what is the truth behind these grandiose promises?

You can find out by looking at the past. The internet never forgets, and neither do the election promises made at the last election in 2021, or promises made in recent months and years.

Which of them have come true and which have turned out to be a pipe dream? You’ll be amazed at what you find when you do this kind of research, which may make you question your voting decision more closely.

Read party programs

This is the most laborious, but also the most profound way to understand the DNA of a party and its goals. Party manifestos are sometimes really long, but they provide concrete answers to questions on socially relevant topics.

If this is too time-consuming for you, which is understandable, you can also watch videos on election manifestos from YouTubers. They have done the work for you and summarized the programs for you. As with any source, the same applies here: Make sure the YouTuber is reputable. A journalistic background is more credible than, for example, a YouTuber who belongs to a political party or a party-affiliated foundation.

Ask the AI

ChatGPT and other AI tools are now very good at answering your questions about the various party positions. They scan the web for statements and documents from the parties to provide you with an overview of their positions, for example.

This can be very helpful for your research, especially if you want to find out the positions on specific topics and issues that are not expressed, or are expressed too briefly, in the Wahl-O-Mat or similar sources.

However, be careful when researching with AI and check the sources to ensure that you are receiving correct information.