Overview
The Bürgerrat Demokratie is a one-of-a-kind pilot scheme for Germany. Randomly selected citizens developed solutions to strengthen and further develop the country’s democracy, working closely with the government. The project began with regional conferences in six different places in Germany. Interested parties from civil society discussed with members of the national and regional parliaments which Citizens’ Assembly topics should be discussed at federal level. The national Citizens’ Assembly discussed these topics over two weekends in September 2019 and developed proposed solutions to strengthen democracy. The citizens’ report with 22 recommendations to the government was publicly presented on the “Tag für die Demokratie” [“Day for Democracy”] on 15th November 2019 and handed over to the President of the German Bundestag Wolfgang Schäuble. Following the handing over of the recommendations, support by the civil society for the political implementation of the recommendations is planned.
Achievements
- Designing, organizing, carrying out and assessing the six regional conferences in Germany with about 60 citizens and members of the national and regional parliaments per conference
- Conceptual consulting, event organization and moderation of a Germany-wide Citizens’ Assembly with about 120 randomly selected citizens
- Designing, organizing and carrying out the public event “Day for Democracy” to hand over the citizens’ report to the President of the Bundestag Wolfgang Schäuble
