Currently, it is not only politics and society that have a responsibility to promote and preserve political participation in today's diverse society in Germany. The law, too, must review existing legal instruments and also develop new legal instruments, to enable engagement, the assumption of responsibility and enthusiasm within democracy for democracy. What does a participation guaranteed by constitutional law look like under German Basic Law? What forms political participation do we need?

The average member of parliament in the newly elected German Bundestag is male, 47 years old and a university graduate. Only one third of the members of parliament are female. Other social groups such as people with an immigration background or people with a disability are also significantly underrepresented in parliament, compared to the overall population. What does it mean for a pluralistic soceity if parts of the population are not represented in parliament? How does constitutional law understand representation and democracy? How can additional parameters of representation, such as education, origin, gender, age, migration history etc. be taken into account, both from a conceptual and from a practical perspective? 

Not always, but frequently, it is the young generation who occupy forests or block motorways as an expression of protest in our society. Protest campaigns by climate gluers or the occupation of forests have triggered controversial political and legal debates. How does our constitution understand civil disobedience? Who and what embodies democratic protest? And how is civil disobience to be perceived in view of our democracy and the constitutional state? How do children and adolescents participate, apart from protests? What are the topics discussed by young people in youth city councils or other committees? And how do these topics fit in with the big questions of our time - external security, climate change, migration, economic and financial crises? 

These are the topics of the public panel discussion "Partizipation in der Demokratie unter dem Grundgesetz“, to which the interested public is invitied on 10 June 2025, 7:00 pm. The panel is made up of three representatives from the Rhine-Main Universities (RMU), the strategic alliance of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Goethe University Frankfurt and Technical University of Darmstadt:

• Prof. Dr. Friederike Wapler, Professor of Legal Philosophy and Public Law at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. In her research, Wapler focuses on the rights of young people as well as on questions of politicial equality and representation in our democracy.
• Dr. Samira Akbarian, habilitation candidate and research associate at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main. Akbarian's doctoral thesis "Ziviler Ungehorsam als Verfassungsinterpretation" (Civil disobience as an interpretation of the constitution) was published in 2023 and has received numerous awards. In 2024, she published the book "Recht brechen" (Breaking the law) which was listed on the non-fiction bestseller list.
• Sabrina Kleinhenz, Founding member and member of the management board of Dachverband der kommunalen Jugendvertretungen Rheinland-Pfalz e.V. Prior to that, Kleinhenz herself was a member and chair of a youth parliament at municipal level. In addition to her volunteer work, she completed her bachelor's degree in political science and public law at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and is currently studying for her master's degree at Technical  University of Darmstadt in the field of public policy and governance. 

The panel will be hosted by Dr. Laura Anna Klein, habilitation candidate at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and research associate at the Federal Constitutional Court. Klein obtained her doctorate in Mainz on the topic of "Reproduktive Freiheiten" (reproductive freedoms). Her current research focuses on questions of participation in a democracy. 

The event is supported by means from the German Thesis Award fund of Körber Stiftung and the Rhineland Palatinate State Center for Political Education. 

Registration is not required for this event, the entry is free.