Citizen participation
Do citizens' assemblies really strengthen the resilience of democracy?
Many see citizens' assemblies as a suitable means of combating political apathy, while others fear that they will further weaken existing institutions. A recent scientific study now provides well-founded answers for the first time and comes to a clear conclusion.
Democracy in Germany is facing its greatest crisis of confidence since the founding of the Federal Republic. Disenchantment with politics, declining trust in institutions and an increasing polarisation of society are endangering democratic cohesion in our country. This is illustrated, among other things, by the current authoritarianism study by the University of Leipzig. According to the study, 90% of those surveyed agree with democracy as an idea, but only 42% are satisfied with its current form. The gap between the ideals and reality of democracy now encompasses almost half of the population, and in eastern Germany it is almost two-thirds. When it comes to trustworthiness of professional groups, politicians regularly come in last in surveys. At the same time, anti-democratic forces are trying – with growing success – to exploit this situation for their right-wing extremist goals.
‘There can be no ‘business as usual’. To strengthen democracy, we must develop it further. Throughout history, democracy has repeatedly shown that it is capable of reform.’
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Many people today want more of a say in political decisions and do not just want to elect a party every few years. Some see citizens‘ assemblies not only as a way to find better solutions to pressing political problems, but also as an opportunity to regain lost trust in politics. But are citizens’ assemblies the key to overcoming the crisis of confidence in politics?
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How do citizen's assemblies work?
In citizens' councils, randomly selected citizens discuss a political topic in professionally moderated processes and jointly develop recommendations for action. The random selection of participants is intended to ensure that all population groups are included and that not only the vocal fringes of society have their say.
A gap in research
The usefulness of citizens‘ councils is the subject of heated debate. Political scientist Christine Landfried praised citizens’ councils in the FAZ some time ago as a gain for democracy. Sociologist Steffen Mau emphasises the great potential of citizens' councils in eastern Germany, where political parties are less well established. Others, however, doubt the usefulness of such citizens‘ forums or fear that they will further weaken parliamentary democracy. The AfD is the only party to flatly reject citizens’ councils.
Citizen participation plays a crucial role in today's democracy. In order to reach even more citizens, innovative formats are particularly important. Read on to find out how we are committed to promoting citizen participation.
In Germany, we have been gathering experience with dialogue-based forms of citizen participation at the municipal level since the 1970s. No other country has seen more citizens' assemblies than Germany – over 50 were held last year alone. But despite this extensive experience, the effectiveness of such bodies has not been sufficiently researched. This is mainly due to methodological limitations of previous studies.
Citizens' assemblies: an opportunity to restore trust in politics
Researchers at Humboldt University Berlin and other renowned research institutes have now presented a study on the effectiveness of citizen participation that sets new standards in terms of its type, scope, and methodological rigor. The study examined so-called constituency days, in which citizens spend a day discussing a political topic with members of parliament from their constituency. These constituency days were conducted as part of the project ‘Hallo Bundestag,’
‘The study showed that dialogue-based public participation actually achieves the positive effects among participants that one hopes for from such formats.’
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For example, it was possible to prove with statistical certainty that
- constituency days increase trust in politics,
- participants experience a higher level of political self-efficacy and
- they are subsequently more willing to get involved in politics.
Furthermore, the data suggests that participation reduces susceptibility to conspiracy theories. In view of these clear research results, the authors, led by Heike Klüver and Tim Wappenhans, conclude that more dialogue-based citizen participation can be an effective tool for strengthening the resilience of our democracy.
This encouraging conclusion will not convince all of citizens' councils and similar formats, despite a growing number of supporters across all democratic parties – this is a democratic normality.
‘We should be open to change and try out new formats, especially when it comes to issues that affect citizens: heating laws, wind turbines, traffic planning, health.’
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There is a lot to be gained and little to lose in this experiment, because citizens‘ councils have an advisory function. They are intended to complement representative democracy, not replace it. The extent to which citizens’ recommendations are actually implemented remains the responsibility of democratically legitimised bodies, such as parliaments. However, at the very least, politicians should seriously consider the proposals so that the use of this instrument
