Science advises on politics of being heard

The scientific advisory board for civil society and citizen participation advises politics in the country in terms of citizen participation. It is important to the state government to expand citizen participation.

"Citizen participation is a trademark of our state government. We are leading nationwide. We want to receive this lead. The Scientific Advisory Board for Civil Society and Citizens 'Participation For years, our goal has been successfully expanding our goal for years, ”said State Councilor for Civil Society and Citizens' Participation Barbara Bosch on October 4, 2022. In his current composition, the committee came together for the second time. The State Councilor emphasized: "It is very helpful for our practical work to get an independent look mirrored. In these crisis times it is crucial how we communicate and deal with protests." Topics of the meeting were the evaluation of citizens 'forums from Baden-Württemberg and Austria, the satisfaction of democracy in Baden-Württemberg and the exchange about how coordination questions could be formulated more clearly in the event of citizens' decisions.

Prof. Dr. Frank Brettschneider from the University Hohenheim had already raised satisfaction with politics in Baden-Württemberg and throughout Germany. In his current study "Citizen participation and direct democracy from the perspective of the citizens: Inside in Baden-Württemberg, 2022", satisfaction with the functioning of democracy in Baden-Württemberg fell to 68 percent compared to the previous survey. In other federal states, 59 percent are satisfied with the functioning of democracy in their state, explained Brettschneider. Furthermore, the dialogical citizen participation A high level of importance: Wanted a democracy in which the elected MPs in principle made the political decisions, in which they previously listened to the citizens and include their recommendations in their considerations. "If people take part in dialogical participation and are satisfied with the procedure or the result, their satisfaction of democracy increases. The dissatisfied people with the functioning of democracy, the more they demand procedures of direct democracy. This mainly concerns supporters of the AfD and the left party," says Brettschneider.

Coordination questions in the case of citizens' decisions more easier to formulate

Prof. Dr. Arne Pautsch and his employee Florian Feigl from the Administrative University Ludwigsburg were invited as guests. They legally check the government coalition's promise that voting questions can be formulated more easily in the future. In the municipal context in particular, many citizens have to vote with “yes” if they are directed against planning the municipality. "With the possibilities of law, we would like to improve the quality of the objects of citizens' decisions as a whole, for example by making voting alternatives possible," said Pautsch. At this point, the coalition plans a regulation as in Bavaria, in which two opposite votes can also be carried out.

The Viennese political scientist and democratic consultant Dr. Tamara EHS and Prof. Dr. Ulrich Eith from the University of Freiburg presented their evaluations of citizen forums. In Austria there had been citizen forums for climate protection at the federal level and in the state of Vorarlberg. Dr. EHS stated here that "the selection of participants is not very important. The legitimation of citizen councils is fueling the fact that they reflect the population. In fact, in the examined climate councils, younger participants, those with migration history and those who are skeptical about the topic." Prof. Dr. Eith examined the citizens' forums carried out online in Baden-Württemberg. "Video conferences not only have organizational advantages, such as a time saving," says Eith. The results from chats and votes could also be recorded better. "However, the personal encounter of people, social learning and the intensive exchange can hardly be compensated online even in small rounds. However, online or mixed formats can be used in the case of nationwide or regional participation processes," says the scientist.

pandemic as a game changer for online participation

The state council has described the recent years with pandemic as a game changer for online participation: "To participate online, is now something completely different from a few years ago. In the past, it was based on written exchange. With the pandemic, we were forced to get the formats of citizen participation into the digital," State Councilor.

In the next meeting, the scientific advisory board deals with the evaluation of the Service Citizens' Participation and with the social cohesion in times of the energy crisis.

Scientific Advisory Board for Civil Society and Citizen Participation

Under State Councilor Barbara Bosch, the Scientific Advisory Board for Civil Society and Citizens' Participation was reorganized. He is supposed to support the work of the State Councilor. In addition to the aspects of citizen participation and civil society, the advisory board also takes on questions of planning acceleration and social cohesion.

The scientific advisory board advises on the subject areas of citizen participation and direct democracy, social cohesion, attitudes towards Europe and political education. Concrete projects of the state government in these areas are accompanied by the advisory board. He meets three times a year and comprises seven members:

• Prof. Dr. Frank Brettschneider, University of Hohenheim, Communication Science
• Prof. Dr. Ulrich Eith, University of Freiburg, Wiesneck Study House
• Laura-Kristine Krause, more in common, managing director
• Prof. Dr. Ortwin Renn, Scientific Director of the Institute for Transformative Sustainability Research (IASS), Potsdam
• dr. Tamara Ehs, Democratic Advisor / SFU Vienna and Goethe University Frankfurt
• Prof. Dr. Monika Waldis Weber, Director ZDA and Head of Political Education and History didactics
• Prof. Dr. Dr. H.C. Jan Ziekow, director of the German Research Institute for Public Administration, Speyer

Scientific Advisory Board for Civil Society and Citizen participation