Ten parties support citizens' assemblies
On 8 March 2026, 21 parties contested the state elections in Baden-Württemberg. Ten of them promised more citizens' assemblies in the state. The other eleven parties make no statements on the subject in their election manifestos.
As a consequence of the disputes surrounding the ‘Stuttgart 21’ railway station project, the state government has been practising what it calls a ‘policy of being heard’ since 2011. Since then, dialogue-based participation formats have been intensively promoted. With the State Councillor for Civil Society and Citizen Participation, the Service Centre for Dialogic Citizen Participation and the Alliance for Participation, there are three institutions that organise citizen forums, as citizens' assemblies are called in Baden-Württemberg, or advise on their preparation and implementation.
On 8 March, the future of democracy by sortition will also be up for election. So what do the parties want here in the future?
‘Interlinking dialogical and direct democracy’
The Greens promise to ‘continue to develop important laws and government projects (...) with citizen forums and other forms of participation and consultation’. Dialogical participation and direct democracy in the form of referendums are to be interlinked.
The CDU wants ‘a state that takes its citizens seriously. We will therefore retain tried and tested forms of dialogical citizen participation,’ according to the Christian Democrats' election manifesto.
‘A participatory culture that is fun’
The FDP announces: "With us, Baden-Württemberg will have a participatory culture that is uncomplicated and fun. From participatory budgeting, which allows local people to decide on projects, to digital idea platforms and modern citizens' assemblies that create a direct link between the population and politics – we want to spark a new enthusiasm for participation.‘
The Left Party wants to ’financially support dialogical citizen participation (...) through a suitable funding programme, but refrain from focusing on sortition-based small groups."
‘Regaining trust in politics’
According to the Freie Wähler (Free Voters", ‘referendums, citizens' initiatives and mandatory citizens' assemblies (...) can help to regain trust in politics.’ The Klimaliste (Climate List) wants political decisions to become ‘transparent, verifiable and open to discussion’ through climate citizens' assemblies that are firmly integrated into decision-making processes. The ÖDP advocates ‘increased use of citizens' forums in legislative projects.’
The Volt party has announced its intention to enshrine annual citizens' assemblies in each district in the state's municipal code. ‘The mini-publics will address a key district issue and make recommendations to the district council, with the implementation of the citizens' assemblys' recommendations being made verifiably transparent. In addition, participatory budgeting will ensure tangible successes for the citizens' assemblies,’ according to the party's election manifesto.
The Partei des Fortschritts (Party of Progress - PDF) is in favour of ‘citizens' forums and citizens' assemblies as an advisory supplement to referendums.’ The Tierschutzpartei (Animal Protection Party) wants to ‘introduce citizens' assemblies on key issues for the future.’
2021 coalition agreement
In 2021, the Greens and the CDU agreed in their coalition agreement to open up state and local politics to the widespread use of random selection. However, only some of the announced reforms have been implemented. Contrary to what was agreed, there is still no possibility of initiating the convening of a state-wide Citizens' Forum through a popular petition.
In November 2022, the state government's cabinet decided to precede more legislative projects than before with a forum of randomly selected citizens. ‘We are giving a voice to the silent citizens,’ said Minister President Winfried Kretschmann when presenting the decision. Since then, various state-wide citizens' forums have been held on topics such as school policy and the protection of non-smokers.