In December 1784, Immanuel Kant answered the question Was ist Aufklärung?, what is enlightenment, in the Berlinische Monatsschrift. From all sides he heard the cry: do not argue! Der Offizier sagt: räsonniert nicht, sondern exerziert! (The officer says: do not argue, drill!) Kant’s answer kept obedience and objection together. An officer who receives an order must obey it while on duty. But he cannot fairly be prevented, as a scholar, from writing about the errors in the military service and putting them before the public. A citizen cannot refuse to pay his taxes. He may still argue publicly against them. Kant quoted the one ruler who allowed this: räsonniert, so viel ihr wollt, und worüber ihr wollt; aber gehorcht! (Argue as much as you like, and about whatever you like, but obey!)
Nearly Ten Million Objections
Anyone in Germany who disagrees with a tax assessment can file an Einspruch, an objection, within one month. In 2023, the tax offices received 9,932,766 objections, more than three times as many as the year before. The reason was the reform of the property tax, which required every property owner to file a new declaration. Of about 3.6 million objections that were settled in 2023, about 2.5 million ended with the office correcting its decision.
The Census That Was Stopped
West Germany planned a census for the spring of 1983. Numerous citizens’ initiatives called for a boycott. On 13 April 1983, the day after the first hearing, the Federal Constitutional Court suspended the census law. On 15 December 1983, it declared many of the law’s provisions void and set out a new basic right, the right to informational self-determination. A society in which citizens can no longer know wer was wann und bei welcher Gelegenheit über sie weiß, who knows what about them, when and on what occasion, would not be compatible with it. The census was partly redesigned. Personal data were separated from the questionnaires, and the forms were revised. It took place in 1987, with the reference date of 25 May.
The Göttingen Seven
In 1837, King Ernst August of Hanover repealed the liberal constitution of 1833. On 18 November 1837, seven professors of the University of Göttingen lodged a written protest. Among them were the brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, the historian Friedrich Christoph Dahlmann and the physicist Wilhelm Weber. In December, the king dismissed all seven. Three of them, Dahlmann, Jacob Grimm and Georg Gottfried Gervinus, were also expelled from the kingdom. Citizens collected donations to pay the salaries of the three exiles, and all seven later held academic posts again.
The Vocabulary of Concerns
Bedenken äußern — to voice concerns. German also says Bedenken erheben, geltend machen or anmelden: to raise, assert or register them, as one registers a claim.
Zu bedenken geben — to give someone something to consider. It is the polite way to put a concern on the table.
Bedenken ausräumen — to clear concerns away. It is the job of the person who wants the change.
Bedenkenträger — a carrier of concerns. The dictionary DWDS defines him as someone who has concerns, often exaggerated ones, about a plan or an innovation, and marks the word as often pejorative.
Wer schweigt, stimmt zu — whoever stays silent agrees.
The Vocabulary of Keeping Quiet
Duckmäuser — the Duden defines him as a person who does not dare to say his opinion or to set it against an opposing one. The word is pejorative.
Jasager — the yes-sayer. In the Duden’s words, he always agrees at once with the plans and views of his superiors or of the stronger side.
Radfahrer — the cyclist, in its second meaning: a person who bows to those above him for his own advantage and bullies those below.
Kadavergehorsam — corpse obedience. The Duden calls it blind obedience.
Untertanengeist — the mind of a subject. The Duden calls it servile devotion.
The Duty to Object
German civil servants carry die volle persönliche Verantwortung, the full personal responsibility, for the lawfulness of what they do in office. The law states what follows: Bedenken gegen die Rechtmäßigkeit dienstlicher Anordnungen haben Beamtinnen und Beamte unverzüglich bei der oder dem unmittelbaren Vorgesetzten geltend zu machen. (Civil servants must raise concerns about the lawfulness of official orders without delay with their immediate superior.) It is a duty, not a right. If the order stands and the doubts remain, the civil servant must go to the next superior above. If that superior confirms the order, the civil servant carries it out and is no longer personally responsible, unless the conduct ordered would violate human dignity, or is a criminal or administrative offense that the civil servant can recognize as such. This procedure is called Remonstration. The German Wikipedia adds that it is rarely used in everyday practice, because a civil servant who uses it often fears being labeled a Querulant, a troublemaker.
Dissent on the Record
Since 21 December 1970, a judge of the Federal Constitutional Court may publish the dissenting opinion he or she held in the deliberations. This Sondervotum, separate opinion, is printed with the decision. When it was introduced, it was very controversial, because many feared the court would lose authority. In practice it stays rare. Of 1,714 decisions in volumes 30 to 101 of the court’s official reports, 108 carried a separate opinion. The council of economic experts that advises the federal government, the Wirtschaftsweisen, has the same rule by law. A minority with a different view may state it in the report. Peter Bofinger, a member from 2004 to 2019, often disagreed with his colleagues and wrote minority opinions in several reports. In 2017, he wrote: Im Rat der fünf Wirtschaftsweisen gibt es zu viel Konformismus und zu wenig Minderheitsvoten. (In the council of the five economic sages there is too much conformity and too few minority opinions.)
Object Now or Lose the Right
In German private law, silence is in principle not a declaration of intent. Several rules make an exception, and they all reward the person who objects in time. A works council must be heard before every dismissal. If it has Bedenken, concerns, about an ordinary dismissal, it must state them in writing with reasons within one week. Äußert er sich innerhalb dieser Frist nicht, gilt seine Zustimmung zur Kündigung als erteilt. (If it does not respond within this period, its consent to the dismissal counts as given.) A shareholder who attended the annual meeting can, as a rule, challenge one of its resolutions in court only if he or she declared an objection for the minutes at the meeting. Between merchants, a letter confirming a deal counts as accepted unless the recipient objects without delay, and goods that are not inspected and complained about in time count as approved. A tenant who does not report a defect in the apartment promptly can lose the right to reduce the rent.
The Warning App That Changed Course
In April 2020, the federal government and the state premiers backed a design for the German coronavirus warning app that would store contact data centrally. On 24 April 2020, the Chaos Computer Club, the German Informatics Society and other organizations published an open letter to the government: Das von Ihnen präferierte Konzept für die App ist nicht der richtige Weg. (The concept you prefer for the app is not the right way.) In the night to 26 April, the government gave in. That morning it said it now preferred a decentralized approach, with contacts stored only on the phones. Linus Neumann, one of the Chaos Computer Club’s spokespeople, called it a sehr gute Entscheidung, a very good decision. The source code was published openly in May. The app was released on 16 June 2020, and it had 6.5 million downloads by the next day.