Participatory Democracy

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Participatory democracy  or  participatory democracy  (from  participation 'partaking', '  taking part' and  democracy 'rule of the people') describes a predominantly  normative  current of democratic theory that  calls for the political participation of as many people as possible in as many areas as possible. The expansion of the principle of democracy to various social and economic areas and in part - especially in feminist democracy theories - also to the private sphere is at the center of participatory democracy theories. The legitimacy of a democracy is accordingly guaranteed through participation in and influence on decisions at various political levels and in civil society . Thus, participatory democracy theories place a strong emphasis on political input  from citizens.

Conception and models of participatory democracy

Fundamental to participatory democracy is a perceived lack of opportunities for participation in the existing liberal representative democracies, which is critically assumed by the theories of participatory democracy. Proceeding from this, however, the participatory democracy theories are not a homogeneous theoretical structure, but a diverse spectrum of approaches that share different basic features:

  • The social decisions should "result from the effective and equal participation of all members of society."
  • Participatory democracy theories generally value the participation and political decision-making of the citizens higher than the representation and effectiveness of political control.
  • The demand that democratic participation should be extended beyond the area of ​​traditional political institutions such as government and political parties to areas such as the economy, the world of work, the educational system and - especially in feminist theory - also to the private sphere is of great importance.
  • The directness of citizen participation is a central feature of different variants of participatory democracy.
  • Participatory democracy theories assume that “average citizens are or can be empowered to participate more and more effectively” and in this respect have an optimistic view of citizens.

The deliberative theories of democracy are sometimes counted among the participatory theories of democracy . Given this premise, deliberation can be identified as a further central feature of various models of participatory democracy. On the other hand, there are also efforts to differentiate between participatory and deliberative democracy.

The individual representatives of participatory democracy have different ideas about implementation, for example when it comes to the extent to which civil society institutions such as associations and other initiatives should be involved in decisions and tasks, or rather the existing (state) institutions with more citizen participation in the decision-making and implementation process should work (see for example Benjamin R. Barber's “Strong Democracy”).

Differentiation from other theories of democracy

In general, participatory-democratic approaches are characterized by:

  • greater scope of the democratic principle, that is, democracy not only as a form of government, but also as a form of life or being; Consequently:
  • an expansion of the political to all spheres of society as well as ultimately
  • the ultimate goal of immediate popular rule.

Criticism of classic representative democracy :

  • Representation is understood by the theorists of participatory democracy as a transfer of power and leads to rule less over many ( oligarchy ). It is questioned whether elected parties or politicians are really considered democratically legitimized. (A large abstention from voting by the citizens delegitimized the elected politicians to speak “in the name of the people”.)
  • Participation is inhibited by choice, initiative is suppressed, social self-organization cannot develop fully.

Differences to direct democracy :

  • In general, direct democracy can also be viewed as a form of participatory democracy, since here too more citizens are involved in the political decision-making process.
  • Direct democracy - in the narrower sense and / or restricted to its instruments (or "elements") - wants to decide "political questions directly by referendum", while participatory democracy understands participation not only as voting, but also as other forms of participation.
  • Participatory democracy aims to extend the democratic principle to other areas such as the economy.

Theory variants

The following theoretical concepts can (although in part only in a broader sense) be assigned to the democratic theoretical trend of participatory democracy:

Examples in Germany

The Volunteer Survey , the Enquête Commission on the Future of Civic Engagement of the Bundestag and the International Year of Volunteers are examples of the importance of the third sector ( voluntary work ) today and its support by the state and politics.

A citizens' workshop , such as that set up by the city of Bonn in October 2005 to design the area in front of the main train station , can also be an option for the active involvement of citizens on the part of the state.

The development of society towards an information society is taken into account in various approaches of e-democracy and liquid democracy .

Participatory Democracy in Europe

European Union

Elements of participatory democracy were already found in the draft constitution of the European Union . The Lisbon Treaty adopted this article 1: 1 into the EU treaty that has been in force since 2009 :

" Art. 11 TEU

1. The Union institutions shall, by appropriate means, give citizens and representative associations the opportunity to make known and publicly exchange their views on all areas of Union action.

(2) The institutions of the Union shall maintain an open, transparent and regular dialogue with the representative associations and civil society.

(3) In order to ensure the consistency and transparency of Union action, the Commission shall conduct extensive hearings with interested parties.

4. At least one million citizens from a significant number of Member States may call on the Commission to submit appropriate proposals on subjects which citizens consider that Union act is necessary in order to implement this Constitution. The provisions on the special procedures and conditions that apply to such a citizens' initiative are laid down by a European law. "

The Treaty of Lisbon created the legal basis for a European citizens' initiative . But beyond this specific instrument, the foundations for participatory democracy in the EU were laid down. In the EU, the European Economic and Social Committee is also seen as an instrument of participatory democracy.

Municipalities

Many municipalities and regions in Europe apply the principle of participatory democracy in one form or another. Citizen participation takes place here in different areas and in different areas of the communal or regional decision-making levels: participatory budgeting , communal building planning and other specialist areas of communal self-government.

criticism

The following points of criticism are expressed against participatory democracy theory (1–6 according to Manfred G. Schmidt , Democracy Theories):

  1. Primacy of the normative: Bachrach's assertion (see quotations) is not empirically backed up and mainly relates to younger citizens with post-material values,
  2. Tocqueville's problem: comprehensive democratization increases the risk of minority or majority despotism
  3. Destabilization through over-mobilization: the excess of participation and claims can destabilize the political order,
  4. One-dimensionality: Quality and consequential problems of political decisions are largely neglected,
  5. Overly optimistic view of man : Citizens try to maximize individual self-interest and are only motivated to cooperate for the common good under special conditions,
  6. Overestimation of citizen competencies: Citizens who are supposed to make sensible decisions may not be empowered to
  7. Active and passive public: Usually only active citizens participate. How can citizens who are inherently passive but still entitled to vote participate in the decision-making process?

Quotes

  • John S. Dryzek : "If democracy is a good thing ..., then more democracy should presumably be an even better thing - if democracy is something good, then more democracy is something even better". (In: John S. Dryzek: Political Inclusion and the Dynamics of Democratization . APSR 87, pp. 48-60)
  • Jürgen Habermas : "Democracy works on the self-determination of humanity." (See study Student and Politics .)
  • Peter Bachrach : “The majority of individuals can only gain self-confidence and develop their abilities better through more active participation in important decisions of the community. The people therefore generally have a twofold political interest - interest in the end results and interest in the process of participation. "(See Peter Bachrach: Die Theoretical Democratic Elite Rule , 1970, pp. 119f.)

See also

literature

  • Bernhard Kornelius, Dieter Roth: Political Participation in Germany. Results of a representative survey . Ed .: Bertelsmann Stiftung (= Federal Agency for Civic Education [Ed.]: Series of publications . Volume 471 ). Bonn 2004, ISBN 3-89331-583-7 ( short description ( memento of October 7, 2005 in the Internet Archive )).
  • Elke Rajal, trafo.K, Oliver Marchart , Nora Landkammer, Carina Maier (eds.): Making Democracy - Negotiations of Freedom, Equality and Solidarity in Everyday Life , transcript, Bielefeld 2020, ISBN 978-3-8376-5016-7 Download ( PDF; 13 MB).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Cf. Manfred G. Schmidt : Participatory Democracy. In: ders .: Dictionary on Politics (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 404). 2nd, completely revised and expanded edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-520-40402-8 , p. 524.
  2. ↑ a b c Cf. Dieter Fuchs: Models of Democracy: Participatory, Liberal and Electronic Democracy. In: André Kaiser and Thomas Zittel (Eds.): Democracy Theory and Democracy Development. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2004, pp. 19–53, here p. 35.
  3. ↑ See: Clausjohann Lindner: Critique of the theory of participatory democracy. Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen 1990, p. 15., p. 20.
  4. ↑ Claus Johann Lindner: criticism of the theory of participatory democracy. Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen 1990, p. 15.
  5. ↑ See: Manfred G. Schmidt: Democracy Theory. An introduction. 5th edition, VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2008, p. 238.
  6. ↑ See: Clausjohann Lindner: Critique of the theory of participatory democracy. Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen 1990, p. 20.
  7. ↑ Manfred G. Schmidt: Democracy Theory. An introduction. 5th edition, VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2008, p. 240 f.
  8. ^ For example, Carole Pateman: Participatory Democracy Revisited. In: Perspectives on Politics . 2012, Vol. 10, No. 01, pp. 7–19, here p. 8.
  9. ↑ See Bernd Hüttemann : European government and German interests . Democracy, lobbyism and Art. 11 TEU, first conclusions from "EBD Exklusiv", November 16, 2010 in Berlin. In: EU-in-BRIEF . No. 1 , 2011, ISSN  2191-8252 ( netzwerk-ebd.de [PDF; 267 kB ; accessed on April 15, 2020]).