@article{2019:hobusch:neutralit,
title = {Neutralitätspflicht für (Partei-)Amtsträger? Verfassungsrechtliche Grenzen der Einflussnahme bei Durchführung eines Mitgliedervotums},
year = {2019},
note = {In Germany political parties are bound by the democratic principles as
stated in Art. 21 I 3 GG. Democratic principles are minimum
requirements for the design of the internal party decision-making
process. These minima include, among other things, a right to internal
opposition, the freedom and equality of choice as well as a right to
inner-party equal opportunities, which the individual can hold against
the party. This equal opportunity safeguards the free will-building
process inside the party, which must be taken into account in
grassroots democratic procedures as well. Equal opportunities and the
freedom of choice also lead to a duty of restraint on the part of the
executive committee in internal competition for functions and opinions
when resorting to party resources. This duty becomes stronger the
closer the inner-party election comes. In any case, voting documents
and the cover letter must be factually and neutrally designed to
prevent undue influence on the members. The electoral documents of the
SPD member vote 2018 did not meet these requirements and therefore
violated democratic principles.},
journal = {ZParl Zeitschrift für Parlamentsfragen},
pages = {99--113},
author = {Hobusch, Alexander},
volume = {50},
number = {1}
}