The Evolution of Local Participative Democracy in Germany: A Case Study in Democratic Engagement

1. The local participative democracy in Germany

2. Historical and ideological context : • A representative democracy established by the fundamental law • The success of the citizen movements in former GDR underlines the necessity of direct participation after the reunification • The birth of the New Public Management in the 1980’s • An institutional system favourable to the participative democracy’s development

3. I. The juridical tools • The local referendum or Bürgerbegehren • A consultation organized by request of the citizens • Questions submitted to referendum that vary depending on the community codes • Decisions resulting of referendums that have the same value as the municipality decrees • A possible judiciary appeal in case of non-application by the municipality of decisions taken by referendum

4. 2)The citizen’s requests: The Bürgerantrag • A mecanism between the referendum and the petition • The possibility for the citizen to ask to the municipality council to take care of a specific matter • A request that require the approval of a minimal number of citizens

5. 3) The assemblies or Bürgerversammlung • The regular sitting of citizen’s assemblies that could make propositions • Examination of the municipality’s affairs by the citizens • Obligation of such a sitting once a year if asked by at least 10% of the citizens • The questions and answers or Einwohnerfragestunde : The citizens can ask questions during public sessions of the municipality council

6. 4) The district’s councils and the juries of citizens a. The district’s councils or Ortsbeiräte • Election of citizens for the same duration as the city’s council • The option to make propositions about the district’s affairs b. The Berliner juries of citizens • A mixed composition (citizens/civil society) but an exclusive participation by the district’s citizens • A voluntary participation and the indemnity to this participation • The funds of these authorities allotted to support local’s initiatives in the district

7. II. The local participative democracy in practice • A tool in practice : the berliner citizen’s juries a. Assessment • Real leway and ressources granted by authorities • Flexible procedures that allowed involment of residents • Priority given by residents to social infrastructure and cultural projects and to small projects

8. b. Limits • Discussions behind closed doors • Local micro-initiatives • Budgetary resources too ambitious because of the precarious financial position of the city of Berlin • Lack of political dimension: the inhabitants' managers' and non-citizens • Experience renewed and expanded despite criticism • Institutionalization of a new decision amending the territorial balance

9. 2) Citizen participation in the framework of the European programm « Urban » • The same European and German will to promote the involvement at the local level through the management area • A program for sustainable urban development: a decline in inequality, economic recovery of priority areas and consideration of environmental issues • Some people associated with three levels of representation within the decision-making body within the work teams, and at the assembling of projects (funding for projects from residents)

10. Conclusion • A German institutional system supports local participation (federalism, subsidiarity) • Heterogeneity of local contexts conducive to experimentation in terms of participatory democracy • Experiments (citizen juries) that make the tools "traditional" (referendum) obsolete • A new form of governance: Towards democratic local neighborhood? • What possible export of German model?