EINWURF 2/2014 EN - Voting, Deliberating, Deciding – How More Diversity Strengthens Our Democracy

The political culture in Germany has changed and become more participatory. Voting alone is no longer enough, as citizens want to be able to participate in deliberations and decide things for themselves. In their view, the greatest need for improvement lies with referendums. In any case, our democracy has become more diverse – and that’s a good thing, as more citizens’ participation strengthens our democracy. While citizens have already embraced a diverse democracy for some time, political elites continue to cling more strongly to the representative system.