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The state of Berlin has three instruments of direct democracy. These enable German citizen residents to directly influence policy, in addition to indirect democracy via elected officials in the House of Representatives. In addition, there are two instruments at the borough level.
The three direct democracy instruments at the Berlin state level are:
In addition to these instruments for direct democracy at the city-state level, there are two instruments at the lower, borough, level:
In 2020, the Berlin government started a reform that would make it easier to organise petitions and referendums at both the Berlin and borough levels.[8]
The agenda initiative "Democracy for All" was a petition passed in 2022 with three demands. Firstly, it asked for a reduction of the voting age from 18 to 16 for Berlin House of Representatives elections and referendums. Secondly, the petition set out that non-German citizens could vote after living in Germany for three years. For this purpose, the petition asked the House of Representatives to request a Bundesrat initiative from the Berlin Senate, which represents Berlin in the Bundesrat. The initiative would give full active and passive voting rights for elections to municipal councils, state legislatures (including the Berlin House of Representatives), to the Bundestag and to the European Parliament. Thirdly, the initiative demanded that Berlin agenda initiatives and referendums could be initiated and signed digitally.[9][10]
As a result of the agenda initiative, in December 2022 the Berlin House of Representatives passed a motion to implement parts of the agenda initiative. Under the motion, the first of the three demands (voting from 16 years on) would be met, and foreigners would be allowed to vote after five years of residency instead of three. However, the motion passed under a red-green-red coalition government and set out its implementation only after the 2023 re-run of the Berlin elections.[11][12]
Nr | Borough
(Bezirk) |
Keep Tempelhof airport open (2008) | ProReli (2009) | Water contract transparency (2011) | Re-municipalise energy grids (2013) | KeepTempelhofer Feld empty (2014) | Keep Tegel airport open
(2017) |
Municipalise housing (2021) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mitte | 58.4 % | 44.8 % | 97.8 % | 87.1 % | 65.2 % | 54.7 % | 63.7 % |
2 | Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg | 39.2 % | 25.8 % | 98.2 % | 92.9 % | 77.0 % | 44.9 % | 72.4 % |
3 | Pankow | 34.0 % | 28.7 % | 98.4 % | 88.1 % | 62.5 % | 43.0 % | 60.8 % |
4 | Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf | 71.6 % | 60.3 % | 98.4 % | 80.2 % | 60.7 % | 68.3 % | 50.1 % |
5 | Spandau | 75.8 % | 69.2 % | 97.9 % | 75.7 % | 59.0 % | 57.1 % | 51.9 % |
6 | Steglitz-Zehlendorf | 73.8 % | 66.3 % | 98.2 % | 75.6 % | 61.2 % | 66.5 % | 44.0 % |
7 | Tempelhof-Schöneberg | 70.1 % | 60.9 % | 98.2 % | 81.2 % | 69.4 % | 62.5 % | 53.4 % |
8 | Neukölln | 74.1 % | 61.8 % | 97.8 % | 84.3 % | 74.4 % | 58.9 % | 60.7 % |
9 | Treptow-Köpenick | 44.3 % | 26.1 % | 98.4 % | 85.6 % | 63.8 % | 58.6 % | 58.5 % |
10 | Marzahn-Hellersdorf | 33.4 % | 22.8 % | 98.3 % | 82.5 % | 57.5 % | 52.4 % | 55.8 % |
11 | Lichtenberg | 30.4 % | 21.3 % | 97.8 % | 84.6 % | 60.0 % | 47.7 % | 60.9 % |
12 | Reinickendorf | 77.0 % | 69.1 % | 98.2 % | 73.3 % | 55.5 % | 63.8 % | 45.1 % |
Berlin (total) | 60.1 % | 48.4 % | 98.2 % | 83.0 % | 64.3 % | 56.4 % | 57.6 % | |
Result | Failed quoracy[19] | Failed[20] | Passed[21] | Failed quoracy[22] | Passed[23] | Passed but overridden by state[24] | Passed[25] |
In 2008, a Mitte citizens' decision against parking charges failed to achieve quoracy.[26]
In 2008, the "Spreeufer für alle!" (Spree riverfront for all!) citizens' decision passed with 87% 'yes' votes. It asked the borough of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg to block construction on the banks of the Spree river by the Mediaspree project. Five years later, the borough government was criticised for implementing it only partially.
In 2016, a citizens' decision to block a costly refurbishment of the Landwehr Canal's Fraenkelufer failed to achieve quoracy.[27]
In 2009, a citizens' decision passed in the borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg to award monument protection to the former Tempelhof Airport, which had been shut in 2008.[28][29] This was followed by a Berlin-wide referendum in 2014, the Tempelhofer Feld referendum .
In 2014, a citizens' decision kept parking in the Treptow-Köpenick borough free of charge.[30]
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