Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: Citizen participation at risk – reforms necessary!

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: Citizen participation at risk – reforms necessary!

In Germany, the topic of citizen participation is more relevant than ever. The focus of the discussion is particularly on implementation and opportunities for co-determination at local and state levels. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, however, the picture is rather bleak. Loud Northern Courier The conditions for citizens' initiatives and referendums in the northeast are anything but optimal. While the legal basis varies from federal state to federal state and Bavaria and Bremen score relatively good results, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is at the bottom of the list.

The current publication of the referendum ranking by the More Democracy trade association shows that Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is among the bottom performers with an overall rating of 4.2. Especially at the local level, the country defends its position in the bottom third with a grade of 4.3. In comparison, Bavaria and Bremen take first place with a grade of 2.3, while Hamburg lags behind slightly (2.4).

Barriers to citizens' decisions

A frightening finding is the high number of topic exclusions that limit citizens' participation in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. “There are too many hurdles for referendums,” is the criticism expressed in political circles. Loud More democracy Lowering the hurdles would mean that more topics could come to the vote. Urban land use planning in particular is often mentioned here as a central point that requires a broader debate.

In total, of 29 popular initiatives in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, only six found their way into the state parliament, and two were partially successful. A referendum that took place in 2015 even failed completely. Although approval and signature quotas have been lowered in the past, the options remain limited. An approval quorum of 25% and a signature quorum of 100,000 seem to be insurmountable hurdles for many citizens.

Lack of knowledge about participation

Another problem is the lack of awareness among citizens about their opportunities for political participation. “Many people don’t know that they can actively influence their fate,” the results of the ranking make clear. This is where the aspect of education comes into play. Loud politicaleducation.de It is a state task to educate citizens about the various ways of participation in order to strengthen trust in democratic processes.

Although there is interest in political participation, public discussions also call for a departure in direct democracy. The first citizens' assembly in Germany showed that randomly selected citizens can develop interesting and implementable recommendations for political decisions. There is an opportunity here for innovative approaches such as eParticipation to be heard even more and for citizens to be actively involved in processes.

In summary, it can be seen that the need for action in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is high. The path to true citizen participation is full of hurdles, and it is important to both break down legal barriers and promote knowledge of opportunities for participation. Given current developments, it remains to be seen whether politicians will have the courage to bring about the necessary change or whether citizens will have to continue to forgo their voice.