First state-wide citizens' assembly in NRW

31. January 2025

On 31 January 2025, the North Rhine-Westphalian state parliament decided to hold the first state-wide citizens' assembly at the request of the CDU, SPD and Greens. The assembly is scheduled to take place in 2026.

The mini-public is to be made up of 80 people aged 16 and over, who will be randomly selected from all residents of the state. The composition of the Citizens' Assembly should reflect the population in terms of age, gender, origin, community size and the highest level of education of the participants. ‘In the selection process, it must be ensured that a representative sample of the population is chosen at random, taking into account, among other things, life situations (e.g. shift workers, single parents), diversity and inclusion,’ the motion states.

State parliament discusses recommendations

Parliament is to be involved in identifying the topics. After a maximum ten-week consultation period with meetings in person and digitally, the Citizens' Assembly is to submit its recommendations for action to the state parliament for discussion. The CDU, SPD and Greens propose holding a debate on the citizens' proposals with the participation of all members of parliament. The recommendations should then be referred to the relevant parliamentary committee for discussion.

Once the process has been completed, the results of the mini-public should be published and made accessible in an appropriate manner. The Citizens‘ Assembly is to be scientifically monitored and evaluated for compliance with the quality standards for citizens’ assemblies.

Strengthening democratic participation

‘Citizens' assemblies from municipal to federal level show that Consultative participation can strengthen democratic participation and get more people excited about politics,‘ said Green MP Antje Grothus at the presentation of the Citizens’ Assembly motion.

For the CDU, MP Thomas Okos said that citizens' assemblies could strengthen trust in politics and encourage participation. However, it is also clear that citizens' assemblies do not replace representative democracy. ‘But they can complement it and counteract disenchantment with politics.’

Step towards strengthening democracy

Elisabeth Müller-Witt, deputy leader of the SPD parliamentary group, called the Citizens' Assembly an important step towards strengthening democracy. ‘It allows issues from the population to be placed on the political agenda that may not have been the focus of attention before.’ In times when people are withdrawing more and more into the private sphere and feel excluded from political discourse, the establishment of the Citizens' Assembly is an invitation to get involved.

In the state parliament debate, FDP MP Angela Freimuth criticised the lack of an independent scientific evaluation of the Citizens' Assembly in the proposal by the CDU, SPD and Greens. The planned stratified sortition procedure with a composition of the mini-public according to statistical criteria such as age, gender, place of residence and education also met with criticism from the Liberals. ‘While a random selection from all citizens alone would, in our view, ensure that the assembly is a true reflection of the population, this would no longer be the case with a pre-selection (...),’ said Freimuth. Her group therefore rejected the motion. The far-right AfD also voted against the Citizens' Assembly.

Citizens' assemblies recommended by commission of enquiry

As early as 2021, a commission of enquiry of the North Rhine-Westphalian state parliament recommended the increased use of randomly selected citizens' assemblies. According to the commission's report at the time, sortition ‘allows different ideas and interests to be incorporated more strongly and citizens who are underrepresented in other - parliamentary and direct democratic - procedures can also participate in the process’.

The commission consisted of 13 members from all political groups and five expert members. In nine hearings and participation formats, more than 80 experts gave their opinions on the topic of ‘subsidiarity and participation’.

Parties in favour of citizens' assemblies

Before the NRW state elections in 2022, the SPD, Greens and FDP, among others, had spoken out in favour of citizens' assemblies. In an online event organised by the ‘Mehr Demokratie’ association, members of the state parliament from the CDU, SPD, Greens and FDP were also in favour of mini-publics. After the state elections, the CDU and Greens had stipulated in their coalition agreement that they would ‘trial two citizens’ assemblies (...) on selected topics at state level’.