2025 review: Citizens' assemblies remain popular
The participatory instrument of citizens' assemblies continues to boom: in 2025, 58 mini-publics were launched or completed in Germany, and planning began for 32 more. To date, there have been a total of over 400 citizens' assemblies in Germany – at all political levels and in a wide variety of forms. This is according to the report ‘Citizens' Assemblies 2025’, published on 4 February 2026 by the Institut für Demokratie- und Partizipationsforschung (IDPF) der Bergischen Universität Wuppertal (Institute for Democracy and Participation Research at the University of Wuppertal) and the professional association Mehr Demokratie (More Democracy).
‘Citizens' assemblies are booming steadily,’ says IDPF director Detlef Sack. The peak so far was reached in 2022, when 76 new procedures were launched or completed. At the federal state level, 2025 saw a record number of 15 mini-publics being held, completed or newly planned. ‘More than ever before,’ says Prof. Sack.
‘Citizens' assemblies have proven their worth’
‘Sortition-based citizens' assemblies have proven their worth in practice. In Germany, too, they are now being combined with direct democratic,’ says Claudine Nierth, federal executive spokesperson for Mehr Demokratie. She refers to the three model municipalities of the ‘Klima trifft Kommune’ (Climate Meets Municipality) project, which is supported by Mehr Demokratie. There, a Citizens' Assembly draws up proposals for municipal climate policy, which the population then votes on in a binding referendum.
Whether it's the prospects for the Rhineland mining region after lignite mining or the topic of ‘artificial intelligence and freedom’ in Baden-Württemberg, the momentum is being driven by citizens' assemblies at the municipal and, increasingly, at the state level. Mini-publics have now taken place in all federal states.
Good examples
Citizens' assemblies are proving effective in many places. Following a Citizens' Forum, the state parliament of Baden-Württemberg decided in January 2025 to implement a major education reform with numerous innovations for the school system. In Warendorf in the Münsterland region, a Citizens' Jury helped to settle a dispute over the naming of several streets. In the Bavarian municipality of Kircheseeon, almost all of the 73 recommendations on the future of the municipality decided upon by a Citizens' Jury are to be implemented.
A study on the Bördehalle Citizens' Assembly in Welver, Westphalia, shows that mini-publics can contribute to increasing the democratic satisfaction of the entire population.
One federal Citizens' Assembly in 2025
At the federal level, there was only one Citizens' Assembly in 2025: the Citizens' Debate on fair Taxes and Finances, supported by the Bund der Steuerzahler (Taxpayers' Association), the Netzwerk Steuergerechtigkeit (Tax Justice Network) and Mehr Demokratie. Among other things, the citizens' report of the mini-public calls for fair taxes on large fortunes and more public participation in government spending. It was the 47th federal Citizens' Assembly in the last 50 years.
The 2025 Citizens' Assembly Report is based on data collected in the Citizens' Assembly database established in 2024.
