Citizen participation is not a luxury
Running citizens' assemblies costs money. Because citizen participation is not a mandatory task for local authorities, it is often the first thing to be cut when funds are tight.
On 28 October 2025, the general meeting of the Fachverband Bürgerbeteiligung (Professional Association for Citizen Participation) therefore adopted the ‘Norderstedt Appeal’, which calls for dialogue-based citizen participation, for example through mini-publics, to be made a mandatory task for local authorities. We document the full text here:
Citizen participation is not a luxury
Our democracy is under pressure. Democratic institutions, actors and decisions are being ridiculed and attacked by extremists and populists. This is having an effect, especially where there is little or no dialogue between citizens, but also between them and decision-makers in politics and administration.
For many years, we have seen that dialogue-based citizen participation successfully counteracts this. It is not always free of conflict. Nor should it be. Citizen participation addresses different opinions, attitudes and interests - and brings people into dialogue.
Whether it's participatory budgeting, project participation, citizens' assemblies or one of the countless other formats of municipal participation in particular: it is diverse, challenging, but effective and, above all,
Citizen participation strengthens democracy
At the same time, however, we see a structural problem: dialogical citizen participation is not a mandatory component in most municipalities, but is voluntary and is the first thing to be cut when funds are tight. Because local authorities across the country are systematically underfunded, participation is hit hard and fast: jobs are cut, participatory budgeting is suspended, participation offices are closed, and dialogue processes are stopped. What remains are minimal formal procedures: presenting plans, allowing objections, and enabling legal recourse. But that is not dialogue; it is resistance management.
Genuine participation begins earlier and has a deeper impact: when citizens receive information before a decision is made, have opportunities to have their say, and can influence alternatives and design. Participation does not mean that everyone gets what they want - but that everyone has experienced that they matter.
Why this is essential
- Participation defuses conflicts. It prevents frustration, polarisation, and disillusionment with politics.
- Participation improves the quality of decisions because it incorporates local knowledge that no administration can possess on its own.
- Participation protects democracy, especially in times of crisis: where dialogue is absent, spaces for radicalisation arise.
- Participation enables acceptance, even of unpopular decisions. Those who have been allowed to have a say find it easier to support the decision.
- When local authorities cut back on participation due to financial constraints, what is supposed to be a cost-saving measure becomes an erosion of democracy.
That is why we demand:
- A permanent and reliable improvement in the financial resources available to our local authorities, so that they can not only somehow make ends meet, but also actively protect democracy.
- Good citizen participation must become a mandatory municipal task rather than a voluntary service.
More participation, not less
Democracy does not work when administrations make plans and people protest afterwards. It works when we talk to each other beforehand instead of fighting each other afterwards. Citizen participation costs money, but foregoing it prolongs procedures, provokes resistance and can end up being much more expensive. Above all, it costs trust and weakens our democracy.