Pension at risk? Greens call for citizens' council for new solutions!

Pension at risk? Greens call for citizens' council for new solutions!

In the debate about the future of pension insurance, Green politician Ricarda Lang is calling for the introduction of a citizens' council. She emphasizes that the possibility of citizen participation in Germany is very limited at the federal level. According to Lang, the younger generation in particular is losing confidence in the existing pension system, while the “boomer” generation, born between the late 1950s and the late 1960s, is now retiring. Empirical studies show that 82 percent of Germans have the impression that they are not heard politically. Lang advocates that citizens should discuss social security systems together and highlights the excessive demands placed on them by social security contributions. A citizens' assembly could develop valuable recommendations for action, which could then be presented to the Bundestag.

But how does such a citizens' assembly work? According to information from daily news This consists of 160 randomly selected people aged 16 and over, who are urgently needed to reflect the opinions and diversity of society. This form of citizen participation has a long tradition in Germany. Since 1972 there have been a total of 298 proceedings involving around 35,500 people. The aim is to reflect society through representative groups. However, until now the activities of the citizens' councils have not been recorded centrally, which is now set to change.

Citizen participation and direct democracy

The importance of more citizen participation is also underlined by the results of a survey by the “More in Common” initiative. This shows that the majority of Germans are dissatisfied with the state of democracy. According to the Citizens' Council 70.3 percent of those surveyed agree that more opportunities for citizens to participate are necessary in order to strengthen trust in democracy. Over 64 percent support the introduction of citizens' councils to develop proposed solutions. The combination of randomly drawn citizens' assemblies and nationwide referendums is viewed as extremely positive.

Citizen participation can not only tackle problems, but also strengthen political interest and trust in democracy. Lang vehemently advocates that such procedures should be made binding in order to avoid fictitious participation. She points out that the 160 members of the last citizens' meeting presented concrete demands to Bundestag President Schäuble that should enable a serious discussion of the issues.

Citizens' councils as pioneers for change

In recent years, citizens' assemblies have become more and more in focus. Between 2010 and 2019, an average of six citizens' assemblies were held per year, while between 2020 and 2023 there were almost 30 per year. This development shows that the need for and interest in direct democracy is increasing. A citizens' assembly follows a structured process: starting with defining topics and randomly selecting participants through to advice and the development of recommendations for action. Such recommendations could soon also be applied to pension policy in order to close the gap between society and politics to some extent.

The debate about citizens' councils and direct democracy is therefore in full swing. Political decision-making could not only be made more transparent but also fairer through the voices of citizens. Ultimately, it's about ensuring that the people who are affected by political decisions also have the opportunity to actively participate in them.