I've harped a lot about the big six political parties (the ones likely to take 5-percent or more in the general election)....but there are a high number of other parties....so a brief description:
1. The V-Partei³, officially V-Partei³ – Party for Change, Vegetarians and Vegans. 1,200 members are rumored. This party has the platform built around animal rights and environmentalism. Basically, if you are a member....you need to be a vegan. In the NRW state election from a few months ago, they took 10,000 votes. Why they don't vote with the Greens? Well....the Greens are pure-vegan-type. Nationally? I doubt if they can take more 40,000 votes.
2. The Pro Germany Citizens' Movement (Bürgerbewegung pro Deutschland). About as far right as you can go without being called a Nazi (I know....Nazis are socialists....but that's how screwed up the internet is presently). In the Koln region where they started, they might be lucky to have 200 members. Nationally....maybe a thousand. They tend to advocate law and. They want kids held to adult standards at age 12. If you are an immigrant and commit a crime....they want out real quick.
3. The Republicans. Right-wing party. They number between six-thousand and seven-thousand. It's mostly a party that you hear about in Bavaria, and a lot less throughout the rest of Germany. Their platform is generally that the CDU/CSU parties....are not right-wing enough. They dislike unions and the current welfare system. They talk about less government. And they dislike immigration rules as they run in Germany today.
4. Die Friesen. A party that hypes up their stance of supporting one single ethnic group....from the northern region of Germany. Membership numbers are debated....they might have 4,000 votes nationally on an average day. Mention from public-TV or national news? Almost never.
5. Party of Reason. Roughly a thousand members. Collection of libertarian-type individuals. Minimum laws. Free market. Less regulation for banks. Oppose racism of any type. They are against ANY type of censorship on the internet.
6. The New Liberals. This is a group from Hamburg which used to be FDP, and got angry over the direction of the FDP. Their big difference? They are pro-basic income and pro-immigrant. Numbers? So far, they attract only attention around Hamburg and probably number less than three thousand.
7. The Marxist-Leninist Party. They've been around for forty years and never really amounted to being a major political party. They refuse to partner up with the Linke Party....mostly because they don't think they are left-enough. It'll shock some folks that they come out and talk negative about Mao, Stalin, and Lenin....but they also shock folks by being pro-Mao, pro-Lenin, and pro-Stalin. They attract votes mostly in what is the old DDR states. Numbers? Probably not going past two-thousand.
8. The German Social Union. DSU. They number into the hundreds. They were a right-wing political party that emerged out old DDR after the wall came down. They dislike the welfare program presently run. In some ways, at least in the first year....they were attempting to be like the CSU in Bavaria, and wanted the CDU to adopt them into the system, and they would own conservative politics in eastern Germany....but the CDU-CSU angle was never something to be accepted.
9. German Communist Party. They've been around since the mid-1960s and have around three-thousand members. In the 1970s....they could mount a 100,000 votes in national elections in West Germany. Why not unite with the Linke Party? One gets the impression that the Linke folks aren't Communist enough to make the party folks here happy.
10. Die Feminist Party of Germany. They number into the hundreds...pro-women.....very limited agenda.
11. The Centre Party. Mostly focused on NRW region, and pro-Catholic Church. Historically, they've been around for over 150 years. In the 1920s.....they were the second largest political of Germany. Today...just a few hundred members.
12. The UberPartei or Bergpartei. Berlin-based. They've become a localilzed party with the agenda of being pro-squatter. They also speak of pro-Marijuana aims and anti-capitalism agendas. Membership? At best, maybe 500 members.
13. Anarchist Pogo Party. They generally don't take politics serious. Membership? Some suggest hundreds....some suggest thousands. They have advocated the idea of a youth-pension....meaning you should enjoy your youth and party-up.....then work for the rest of your life. They also suggest that booze, sex and drugs.....make the public happy, so let them have as much as they can handle. They also suggest that the German borders should be reset to 1237....which means a lot of what is Poland, Denmark, etc.
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