Participatory Budgeting in Germany: Citizens as Consultants

This chapter examines the current landscape of participatory budgets in Germany, which currently includes just under 100 local authorities that are actively involved in participatory budgeting (PB). Based on the history of PB in Germany, it shows how German participatory budgets typically pursue the objective of making local government more responsive, which is the reason why most participatory budgets in Germany are based on the consultative model. Under this model, citizens act as advisors to policymakers and administrators. Based on data collected in the autumn of 2012 for the sixth status report of the information portal www.buergerhaushalt.org, the chapter identifies ‘typical’ features that characterise German participatory budgets. According to this analysis, the majority of participatory budgets in Germany are consultative, allow proposals on the entire budget – including proposals both for investments and for cost-saving measures, and make intensive use of the Internet. There is great room for improvement with regard to accountability, for which a general report has so far been the norm. Ninety-six participatory budgets in Germany are currently listed on Germany’s information portal for participatory budgeting, www.buergerhaushalt.org. 1 A further 104 local authorities are discussing the possible introduction of PB. 2 Since the first participatory budget in Germany was launched in 1998, more and more municipalities have come to rely on this instrument of civic participation for all issues concerning the use of public money. Even fifteen years later, this participatory instrument is generally still seen as a ‘learning process’ for all concerned. In other words, there is no single formula for success. Nonetheless, over the years particular features that we can consider ‘typical’ of German participatory budgets have become increasingly evident. The most striking feature is that right from the outset, the German procedure had little in common with the Brazilian model pioneered by the city of Porto Alegre. At this point a number of questions arise: What does the ‘typically German participatory budget’ look like, in what ways is it ‘different’, and what current trends are evident with regard to PB in Germany? This chapter will focus on these questions. The first section will discuss the objectives of participation in the context of the history and development of PB in Germany. On that basis, the second section will explore the basic issue of how participatory budgets in Germany are structured, and how they are defined. This provides the basis for the third section, which takes a more precise look at the current PB landscape in Germany. Using data collected for the sixth status report of the information portal www.buergerhaushalt.org on PB in Germany, the ‘typical’ distinctive features of German participatory budgets are outlined, and evaluated with respect to objectives and current debates. 1 The online information portal www.buergerhaushalt.org has been jointly run by Germany’s Federal Agency for Civic Education and the Service Agency Communities in One World since 2007. An English version of the website will be online from May 2013 onward. 2 To obtain these data, all German municipalities with a population of more than 40,000 were surveyed in October & November 2012. Furthermore, since 2007 a regular press screening has been carried out that has also captured PB in municipalities with populations of less than 40,000. However, we make no claim to completeness. There are a total of around 11,250 municipalities in Germany.