A laboratory for citizen participation
The results of the state elections in the German states of Saxony and Thuringia on 1 September and in Brandenburg on 22 September 2024 are further evidence of the polarisation of society, particularly in eastern Germany, and of great dissatisfaction with the functioning of democracy. Experts and politicians are in favour of citizens' assemblies as a remedy, and citizens want them.
While the far-right AfD achieved 30.6 per cent in Saxony and 29.2 per cent in Brandenburg and became the strongest party in Thuringia with 32.8 per cent, 11.8 per cent of voters in Saxony and 13.5 per cent in Brandenburg voted for the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW). In Thuringia, the party achieved 15.8 per cent from a standing start.
55 per cent dissatisfied with democracy
Surveys repeatedly show a high level of dissatisfaction with the political system, particularly among citizens in eastern Germany. In the East, more than half of respondents (55 per cent) are less or not at all satisfied with the state of democracy. In the west, the figure is 44 per cent. This is the result of a representative survey by infratest dimap, which was commissioned for the ARD documentary ‘Are we destroying our democracy?’.
85 per cent of AfD party supporters and 77 per cent of supporters of the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance are less or not at all satisfied with the way democracy works in Germany.
Many people feel marginalised and patronised. In a survey conducted by infratest dimap for Saxony and Thuringia, 69 per cent of respondents in Saxony stated that people are marginalised today if they express their opinion on certain topics, while 71 per cent in Thuringia felt the same. While 53 per cent of Saxons believe that someone is constantly trying to tell them how to think and live, 54 per cent of Thuringians support this statement. 47 per cent of Saxons and 50 per cent of Thuringians believe that ‘we don't live in a real democracy’.
City councillors to be randomly selected
Writer Lukas Rietzschel, Saxon by birth, suggests random selection of members of city councils and district councils instead of electing them as a remedy. ‘After more than thirty years of failed attempts to establish party structures in eastern Germany and by far the lowest volunteer rate in Germany (in Saxony), it is time to, sorry, decree democratic co-determination, participation and involvement,’ writes Rietzschel in an article published on 21 August 2024.
Being part of a parliamentary body once in a lifetime and negotiating about immediate local problems can only be beneficial for democratic self-empowerment and the representation of different social groups.
‘Democratisation slowed down"
Sociologist Prof. Steffen Mau sees one cause of the problem in the ‘slowed-down democratisation’ of the GDR, from which five new federal states emerged after the fall of the Wall in 1989, including Saxony and Thuringia.
Parties and the political system of the old Federal Republic had endeavoured to push back forms of participation such as the round tables that emerged in the GDR. ‘East German impulses for the further development of democracy throughout Germany ultimately remained extremely limited,‘ says Mau in his book ’Unequally united. Why the East remains different’.
‘A sense of disempowerment"
For the East Germans, the influential and economically powerful were suddenly no longer located in East Berlin, but in the west of the republic. The centre of influence had shifted, which had led to a feeling of disempowerment in the East. The GDR's accession to the FRG could be interpreted as a form of disempowerment, ‘with far-reaching and at the time not yet fully foreseeable consequences for the self-esteem of the East Germans’.
Since then, East Germany has developed its own political culture, which will continue to exist for a long time, regardless of what politicians want. ‘Despite many similarities, the understanding of democratic procedures, political participation and the role of the parties is different. If one recognises this, it makes sense to look for other answers or even ask other questions than those that impose themselves from the West German experience and see the solution solely in imitation and mimicry,’ says Mau.
Laboratory of participation
Born in Rostock, he therefore proposes turning East Germany into a ‘laboratory of participation’. He favours the introduction and strengthening of citizens' assemblies. Their recommendations could become a guideline for political decisions, prompt legislative initiatives or even be put to the voters in referendums and plebiscites.
Mau cites the arguments of those in favour of citizens' assemblies: ’Due to their design - participation by lot, representation of different groups, transparency, diversity of viewpoints - their positions can count on a high level of acceptance, because other people trust that citizens have arrived at their assessment in an open and serious debate. The assemblys' recommendations come “from the centre” of society and cannot be dismissed with arguments such as the political class being aloof or alienated.
Objectification of emotionalised debates
Citizens'assemblies also create opportunities for participation for those who would otherwise rarely take part in the political process. They ensure that emotionalised debates are made more objective and guide them towards concrete work on the topic, without polarisation entrepreneurs being able to manage them through affect politics.
Finally, they are also learning centres for democracy in three respects: firstly, citizens gain the experience of entering into a respectful, two-way conversation with others. Secondly, they offer opportunities for people to discover themselves as zoon politikon - not only with regard to their own narrow interests, but also with regard to a community for which everyone shares responsibility.
And thirdly, citizens' assemblies can also be like rehearsal rooms for the next generation of politicians when individuals realise that they have the talent to convince others and take them along with them.’
Structural weakness of the parties forces us to reflect
For Mau, who teaches at Humboldt University in Berlin, the structural weakness and the low commitment and mobilisation power of the parties in East Germany virtually forces everyone to think about alternative forms of participation. He therefore suggests launching pilot projects in eastern Germany: ‘These projects could be based at local, district or state level. Initially, specific topics that are important in the respective political context would be suitable, such as major infrastructure decisions, investment projects or urban development issues.’
On the political side, the will is required to actually strengthen participation opportunities via such committees. This, in turn, requires a certain degree of binding nature of the mini-public recommendations. ‘This is the only way to reduce the distance to the political process and prevent the apolitical from turning into the anti-political,’ explains the sociologist.
The politics of being heard
Citizens' assemblies offer the opportunity to expand participation, not in terms of numbers, but in terms of a greater diversity of voices. In addition, a policy of being heard can be better realised in such organised formats because the selection mechanisms are different to those in ‘normal’ political and public discourse. And finally, people can gain experiences of self-efficacy that they are otherwise often denied.
Citizens‘ assemblies in the East could build on experiences with round tables and citizens’ dialogues, which most East Germans associate with positive memories of political self-efficacy. ‘The grassroots democratic and participatory impulse that is still present in East Germany would possibly find a suitable format in such forms of negotiation,’ Mau believes.
Citizens' assemblies in eastern Germany
In the meantime, delicate citizens' assemblies have also been growing in eastern Germany for several years. In Saxony and Thuringia, randomly organised citizens' forums were held during the COVID-19 pandemic to develop recommendations for measures. There are also examples at municipal level. In Biesenthal in Brandenburg, for example, a citizens‘ jury was held on the municipal forest, while in Werder a ’random selection’ was made for the tree blossom festival. In Prenzlau, randomly selected citizens were invited to a citizens' council on the new city model.
The city of Eberswalde randomly selected residents to discuss housing, transport, urban planning and climate issues, as well as how to make the city centre more attractive. In Falkensee, there were lottery meetings on the integrated urban development concept, the indoor swimming pool and the car park concept. A citizens' jury met in Wandlitz to discuss the Wandlitz development concept. Furthermore Potsdam was the venue for a citizens' conference on the use of robotics in elderly care, which was focussed on federal politics.
‘A reflection of civil society"
In Brandis, Saxony, there have already been two citizens' juries, one to update the town's mission statement and a youth council on citizen participation.
‘We have a reflection of civil society here, as is probably typical in Brandis. So not the committed people who are already in the association and who perhaps have interests (...), but those who are part of it, but who are hardly visible, but who obviously (...) have very valuable contributions for the town,‘ explained Mayor Arno Jesse (SPD) on the mission statement citizens’ jury. Jesse had personally visited people's homes in an attempt to recruit randomly selected residents who had not responded to his invitation to take part.
In the towns of Mittweida and Pirna, also in Saxony, citizens who had been drawn by lot discussed urban development issues. In Dresden, a ‘society forum’ was held on the future of the Museum of Decorative Arts. In Leipzig, mini-publics discussed the Freedom and Unity Monument and the topic of the common good. In Schwerin in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, there was a citizens' committee on the “Schwerin 2020” mission statement.
A future fit for grandchildren
In Ludwigsfelde and Rietschen, ‘Mehr Demokratie’ worked together with the municipalities to convene so-called future councils to develop ideas for a future suitable for grandchildren. The mini-publics were part of the federal LOSLAND project. The project was supported by the Federal Agency for Civic Education and carried out together with the sustainability institute RIFS Potsdam.
The Brandenburg town of Herzberg an der Elster is the first town in Germany to add rules for organising citizens‘ jurys to its residents’ participation statutes. The reason for this is the will to regularly use citizens' assemblies as a participation instrument. ‘We want (...) to think first from the perspective of citizens for citizens,’ explained Stephanie Kuntze, head of the city's Central Management & Services and Family & Education departments, in an interview with Mehr Demokratie. Following a first citizens‘ jury on the topic of cycling in 2022, a second citizens’ jury on the redesign of the market square will take place in Herzberg in October 2024.
State-wide initiative in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the ‘Zukunftshandeln MV’ initiative is campaigning for citizens' assemblies throughout the state. In Malchin, it was able to persuade the mayor and local council to allow local residents to deliberate on the future of the municipal energy and heating supply. In April 2024, the citizens' jury submitted its recommendations to the town council
Citizens‘ Jury member Monika Opperskalski explained after her participation that the mini-public was ‘a great opportunity (...) to provide ideas, to give impetus as to what might need to be considered in the future. You can simply take part as an ordinary citizen, and it was a really nice thing.’ Mayor Axel Müller (CDU) was sceptical at the beginning, but was able to see during the course of the process that a large proportion of the jury participants were willing to continue working on the topic after the process. ‘This made the Citizens' Jury “very successful”.
‘A good feeling for the population"
In the Thuringian parliamentary constituency of Erfurt - Weimar - Weimarer Land II, the ‘Es geht LOS’ association has organised three so-called ‘constituency days’ as part of the ‘Hallo Bundestag’ project. Residents from the constituency discussed current federal policy issues. They then exchanged views with members of the Bundestag from the constituency. SPD MP Carsten Schneider found the event ‘a lot of fun and a good feeling for the population’.
In Osterburg in Saxony-Anhalt, sociologist Steffen Mau's idea of making the results of citizens' assemblies binding is being realised. In 2025, the results of a citizens' jury on the topic of cycling will be put to all citizens in a referendum. The process will take place in cooperation with the associations ‘BürgerBegehren Klimaschutz’ and ‘Mehr Demokratie’. This mini-public is already the second citizens’ jury to be held in the city. In 2022/23, a citizens' jury on local climate protection had already taken place in the Hanseatic city in the Altmark region.
‘Allowing swarm knowledge"
‘For us as a municipality, this is a great opportunity to work together on important issues for the future. Involving people, finding an objective consensus, not ideologising or demonising. Allowing swarm knowledge, collecting and bundling it, gaining new approaches and achieving results through a joint search process with the citizens, explained Mayor Schulz when handing over the Citizens' Jury recommendations to the City Council in March 2023.
People from eastern Germany have also taken part in federal citizens' assemblies. For example, ice-cream seller Biggy Kewitsch from Quedlinburg in Saxony-Anhalt took part in the Citizens' Assembly “Nutrition in Transition” convened by the Bundestag. She thought the Citizens' Assembly was “super”. ‘There's nothing wrong with being a bit close to the people. Some politicians said at the beginning that we could always come to their offices. But I'm not the type to talk to politicians without a reason. Not even before elections. It's precisely the mass of people that generates completely new ideas. If we have them, the politicians are welcome to join us. I would be in favour of more events like this,’ she said in an interview with MDR.
In a representative survey conducted by the Verian opinion research institute in February and March 2024, 85 per cent of respondents wanted the Bundestag to commission further citizens' assemblies on other topics. The survey was conducted as part of the evaluation of the Citizens' Assembly “Nutrition in Transition”.
Citizens' assemblies need support
Good will alone is not enough for more local citizens' assemblies. Cities, municipalities and districts need money to pay for their implementation, as well as advice and other support measures. Both are lacking in most federal states.
The state of Baden-Württemberg has developed a wide range of support programmes for this purpose. Since 2011, the state has had an office responsible for participation in the State Chancellery in the form of the Staff Unit for Civil Society and Citizen Participation. With the Citizen Participation Service Centre and the Alliance for Participation, two institutions support cities, municipalities and districts as well as the population in the implementation of citizens' assemblies and other forms of participation.
Saxony also supports citizens' assemblies financially
In Saxony, there is the ‘Citizens’ Participation Experience and Advice Network" with more than 250 members. More than 50 projects throughout Saxony with a total funding volume of more than four million euros have already been approved through the Citizen Participation Funding Guideline issued in 2022. The citizens' jury for the redesign of the market square in Pirna, for example, benefited from this.
There is still a lot to be done if we want to bring democracy by sortition into the everyday lives of as many people as possible.