The Mini-Public on Citizens’ Participation (Bürgerbeteiligung) was initiated by the parliament of Salzburg and its Enquete-Kommission. Across 1.5 days in October 2014, 24 participants created a set of 75 recommendations regarding political participation in Salzburg.
Problems and Purpose
Background History and Context
Organizing, Supporting, and Funding Entities
The regional parliament of Salzburg (Landtagsdirektion) and its committee of enquiry (Enquete-Kommission) organized this Bürgerrat (mini-public) to get citizens’ input, using the Vorarlberg region as a role model. This first regional mini-public in Salzburg was facilitated by two professional organizations.
Participant Recruitment and Selection
Inspired by the model used in the Vorarlberg Region, 600 people were invited using population registers to form a representative sample; 24 responded positively. It is unclear however which criteria were applied to select the participants among the random population.
Methods and Tools Used
The Vorarlberg Bürgerrat model, aka Citizens' Councils
What Went On: Process, Interaction, and Participation
Discussions on "how citizens want to shape participation in Salzburg" took place face-to-face. The mini-public was split into two groups and through consensus, the two groups formulated 75 recommendations on how democracy and participation can be reformed in Salzburg.
Influence, Outcomes, and Effects
Recommendations were presented on October 24th at the Salzburger Landtag (Chiemseehof) in front of politicians, public servants and citizens. After the initial presentation, a world-café took place. These recommendations and discussions were then taken back to the committee of enquiry (“Enquete-Kommission”), which developed a political reform proposal for the region regarding participation and democratic practices. Meetings took place on December 18th 2014 and January 15th 2015. Eventually, the region Salzburg decided in March 2016, like the role model Vorarlberg, to include participatory democracy into the regions’ constitution, with a clear commitment for future mini-publics.
Analysis and Lessons Learned
See Also
The Vorarlberg Bürgerrat model, aka Citizens' Councils
References
External Links
Notes
This entry is based on the POLITICIZE dataset. More information can be found at the following links:
- Paulis, Emilien; Pilet, Jean-Benoit; Panel, Sophie; Vittori, Davide; Close, Caroline, 2020, "POLITICIZE Dataset", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/Z7X6GT, Harvard Dataverse, V1
- Pilet J-B, Paulis E, Panel S.,Vitori D & Close C. 202X The POLITICIZE Dataset: an inventory of Deliberative Mini-Publics (DMPs) in Europe. European Political Science.