Referendum

Ballot for a referendum on Hildegardplatz in Kempten on April 10, 2011.

A referendum is an instrument of direct democracy in Germany at the local level . With it, the citizens of a local authority (municipality, district, district) can decide on issues relating to their own sphere of activity . All citizens of a municipality who are entitled to vote can decide in a referendum based on the principles of free, equal and secret voting on a matter put to the vote. The referendum is equal to the decision of the elected local council. The referendum corresponds to it at the state or federal level .

In the Federal Republic of Germany, referendums and referendums were first introduced in Baden-Württemberg in 1956. In the course of the German unification process , however, this instrument of direct democracy was introduced in all federal states by 2005 - most recently in Berlin.

Procedure

Citizens' decisions can be made in all municipal authorities in Germany. These can be either by the citizens via public petition - that is by collecting a certain minimum number of signatures be brought about, or by the elected local representatives by majority vote in a - voter Council desire (also: Council referendum).

The formal prerequisites for the admissibility of a referendum is that the question put to the vote has to be answered with "Yes" or "No" and is within the competence of the municipality (within its sphere of activity). In the case of referendums initiated by referendums, it is possible that the elected municipal representative formulates a counter-proposal to the one made by the initiative. In the vote, the citizens then have the option of voting “Yes” or “No” on both proposals. Often, the voters can then determine their preference in a so-called key question , if both proposals receive a majority of yes votes.

In some federal states, those entitled to vote receive an information brochure together with the voting documents before the actual decision . This contains both the text of the resolution to be voted on and the arguments of both the supporters and the opponents of the proposal on the vote in equal parts .

The vote usually takes place on a Sunday, although in some federal states, votes are also permitted on public holidays. Analogous to the process and the principles of an election , the municipality will set up voting booths in which helpers check the eligibility of the voters, ensure that the voting process is correct and, after the voting booths have closed, count the votes . If an election takes place in the same period, the referendum can be merged with it in terms of time and location. In some federal states it is also possible to take part in a referendum by mail . The municipality bears the costs of handling a referendum.

Conditions of use

Success condition

With the exception of Hamburg, approval quorums apply to referendums in all federal states . For the successful acceptance of a request, not only the simple majority of the voters, but also the approval of a certain percentage of all eligible voters for the submission is required. The previously partially valid participation quorums have been gradually converted in recent years due to the associated problems (see article Quorum ), most recently in February 2011 in Berlin. Since there is no quorum in Hamburg, the simple majority of those who vote will decide there.

Commitment

Citizens' decisions are binding and have the same status as an identical resolution by the elected municipal representative. This distinguishes it from the non-binding citizen survey , which is merely a recommendation. However, the binding nature of referendums does not prevent the municipal representation from taking a decision at a later date that changes or repeals the result of the referendum. In this context, the introduction of embargo periods is discussed on various occasions, which for a certain period of time forbids the municipal representation from arbitrarily counteracting the essence of a decision that has been reached through a referendum.

Due to their nature as a unified municipality , the binding force of citizens' petitions is potentially restricted in the city states of Berlin and Hamburg. The respective senate there always has the possibility of withdrawing tasks from the sphere of activity of the municipality with reference to the interests of the entire city-state, whereby the resolutions made in the municipality are broken by higher-ranking resolutions at the state level.

Embargo period before the referendum

In some federal states, there is a waiting period between the successful request and the referendum, which prohibits the municipal representatives from taking any action on the issue under consideration. Particularly in the case of referendums initiated by referendums, this regulation is intended to prevent the municipal representation from creating facts before the vote and the decision ultimately referring to a situation that has since changed. A hypothetical example of this would be the felling of avenue trees initiated by the municipality, the preservation of which is scheduled for a referendum for the following month.

Embargo after the referendum

In most federal states, questions on which there has already been a referendum are subject to a treatment ban for several years or the current electoral term. Before the deadline has expired, no further referendum initiated by a referendum may be held on these questions. On the one hand, this is intended to prevent a “war of desire”, for example between two conflicting initiatives, in the event of very controversial and tight votes. On the other hand, the aim is to prevent a topic from being put to the vote on request so often that the initiators see the correct result. This blocking period does not apply, however, if a referendum on an issue that has already been dealt with is initiated by a council request.

Except in Bavaria and Brandenburg, such embargo periods after referendums can be found in all federal states.

Framework conditions in the federal states

Framework conditions for referendums by federal state
country	regulated in	quorum
Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg	Section 21 of the municipal code is not permitted at district level	20%
Bavaria Bavaria Main article : Citizens' petitions and referendums in Bavaria	Art. 18a of the municipal code , Art. 12a of the district code	10-20%
Berlin Berlin (districts) Main article : Citizens' petitions and referendums in Berlin	Section 45 of the District Administration Act - there are no districts	10%
Brandenburg Brandenburg	Section 20 of the municipal code, Section 18 of the district code	25%
Bremen Bremen	Art. 69–71 of the state constitution, sections 8–26 of the referendum law , there are no districts	20%
Bremerhaven	Section 15b of the Constitution of the City of Bremerhaven, Sections 1–4, 6 and 8 of the Citizens' Participation Act , there are no districts	20%
Hamburg Hamburg (districts) Main article : People's legislation (Hamburg)	Section 32 of the District Administration Act - there are no districts	no quorum
Hesse Hesse	Section 8b of the municipal code is not permitted at the district level	15-25%
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania	Section 20 (municipality) and Section 102 (districts) of the municipal constitution	25%
Lower Saxony Lower Saxony	Section 33 of the NKomVG	20%
North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia	Section 26 of the municipal code, Section 23 of the district code	10-20%
Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate	Section 17a of the municipal code, Section 11e of the district code	15%
Saarland Saarland	Section 21a (municipality) and Section 153a (district) of the Municipal Self- Administration Act	30%
Saxony Saxony	§ 24 SächsGemO, § 22 SächsLKrO	25%
Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt	§ 26 (PDF; 339 kB) of the municipal regulations § 19 (PDF; 81 kB) of the district regulations	20%
Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein	§ 16g of the municipal regulations § 16f (PDF; 99 kB) of the district regulations	8-20%
Thuringia Thuringia	Section 17 (municipality) and Section 96a (district) of the municipal constitution	10-20%

rating

Citizens' petitions and referendums can help to provide important and possibly also controversial municipal issues with a space for public discourse and the discussion of the respective pros and cons. In this context, the referendum plays the important role of process closure. It ends the public discourse with a democratic vote and reveals the actual preferences of the voters. If the result is recognized by all parties involved, the referendum makes an important contribution to the disclosure and democratic clarification of conflicts of interest in the municipality.

Overall, referendums contribute to a higher level of knowledge and information about specific municipal issues in the population. Since they involve a much larger group of people than resolutions of an elected municipal body, they often increase the legitimacy and acceptance of the decision made in the population. At the same time, they strengthen the identification of the individual with his / her immediate political environment and thus consolidate the democratic claim of a community supported by the citizens.

Fears often expressed in the past regarding the populist instrumentalization of referendums or misappropriation as a vehicle for well-organized special interests, however, have proven to be largely unfounded in practice.

literature

Frank Rehmet u. a .: Citizens' petition report 2018 published by Mehr Demokratie eV in cooperation with the Institute for Democracy and Participation Research, University of Wuppertal and the Research Center for Citizen Participation and Direct Democracy, University of Marburg. Berlin, 2018.
Hofmann, Theisen, Bätge: Local law in NRW. 14th completely revised edition, pages 174-213, Bernhardt, Witten 2010, ISBN 978-3-939203-11-7 .
Peter M. Huber : The provisions of the Basic Law for municipal petitions and referendums . In: Archives of Public Law . 126 Vol., 2001, ISSN 0003-8911 , pp. 165-203.
Andreas Kost (ed.): Direct democracy in the German countries. An introduction . Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2005, 382 pages, ISBN 3-531-14251-8 .
Andreas Paust: Direct democracy in the commune. On the theory and empiricism of referendums and referendums . Verlag Stiftung Zusammenarbeit , Bonn 1999, ISBN 3-928053-65-5 (= contributions to the development of democracy from below no. 14).
Andreas Paust: Working aid for citizens' petitions and referendums . 2nd revised edition, Verlag Stiftung Zusammenarbeit, Bonn 2005 ISBN 3-928053-74-4 .
Dominic Krutisch and Uwe Broch: Requirements for the cost recovery proposal within the framework of a referendum against municipal privatization projects . In: Local Services . 2004, ISSN 0450-7169 , pp. 435-440.

Web links

Wiktionary: Citizens' decision - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Commons : referendums - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

^ GemO Baden-Württemberg v. July 25, 1957, Journal of Laws p. 129.

↑ If there is a quorum in the referendum, this is always an approval quorum .

↑ ^a ^b The quorum is graded in descending order according to the size of the municipality.

↑ In the city of Bremen, referendums are also referred to as referendums . Initially, the provisions for referendums set out in the constitution of the state of Bremen apply. Different regulations for referendums in the city of Bremen are set out separately in the referendum law.

↑ For historical reasons, Bremerhaven regulates its municipal affairs on its own responsibility.

[1] GemO Baden-Württemberg v. July 25, 1957, Journal of Laws p. 129.

[2] If there is a quorum in the referendum, this is always an approval quorum .

[Gemeinde-3] The quorum is graded in descending order according to the size of the municipality.