Success: Bundestag approves new citizens' assembly

On 18 June 2020, the Council of Elders of the German Bundestag voted in favour of a sortition-based citizens' assembly to present an expert opinion on Germany's role in the world. With these recommendations, the parliamentary groups should have an additional basis to further develop political and regulatory ideas and programmes.

Analogous to our "Citizens' Assembly on Democracy" in 2019, 160 randomly selected citizens are to discuss and develop recommendations over three weekends in exchange with experts. These should be available in the form of a citizens' report at the beginning of 2021 so that they can be discussed during this legislative period.

Bundestag President Schäuble explains: "Precisely because the growing complexity of rapid social change makes representative democracy even more important, we should ensure that it becomes interesting again for more citizens and that they feel truly represented. With the commissioning of a citizens' assembly, we are breaking new parliamentary ground. Apart from dealing with the aforementioned topic, it is primarily a matter of exploring whether such a new set of instruments is suitable for supporting parliamentary work, and of developing a format suitable for Germany's conditions at the federal level."