Structure of the Jugendwerk of the AWO
The following description of the structure of the AWO´s Jugendwerk should make it easier to understand it by all the no-members. Fundamentally, the structure of the AWO´s Jugendwerk reflects the grass-roots one of its "mother organization”, i.e. the AWO (Arbeiterwholfahrt, Organization for the workers´ welfare). Grass-roots democracy means that the "decisional power” lies in the base, and that is clear from the description, where the federal level is the less represented one. The description is based on the "Actual conditions” of 2003. It must be added, that in not every state there are all Jugendwerke levels (local, municipal, circumscription, district, and state). In every state there is a state Jugendwerke. In some states there are only the state Jugendwerke and not the circumscription and district ones. In other states, instead, the district level is very strong. Regarding the membership, the rule is - as you can see in the structure - that the Jugendwerke from a lower level are members in the higher ones. Some Jugendwerke have the rules according to which single persons can become members, i.e. direct members of the circumscription and district Jugendwerke. All the AWO´s Jugendwerke (in every level) has a board of management and the majority of case also employees.
