From 2001 to 2003, several citizen juries (Berliner Bürgerjurys) were held in Berlin, with the task of selecting community development projects to be funded and implemented by the city. Each jury had 15–30 members, and met regularly to vote on proposals by qualified majority.
Problems and Purpose
Background History and Context
Organizing, Supporting, and Funding Entities
Funding came from a state-wide program called “Soziale Stadt– Stadtteile mit besonderem Entwicklungsbedarf” which started in 1999 and was targeted at poor, segregated neighborhoods. 17 neighborhoods in Berlin were selected in the framework of this program. The juries were organized and supervised by elected representatives (from the Senate and the districts) and by “neighborhood managers” (Quartiersmanager), which were mostly members of urban planning agencies working for the municipality.
Participant Recruitment and Selection
In theory, the selection of residents was purely random (based on population registers). In practice, some informal measures were sometimes taken to ensure that women, youths, and foreigners were represented on an equal basis (e.g. in case the number of participants was insufficient, the organizers recontacted some of the selected citizens and targeted these demographics in priority). A total of 4,000 people (200-300 per neighborhood) were contacted, approximately 25% responded, and about 14% ultimately participated.
Each jury had 15 to 30 members (depending on the size of the neighbourhood, which ranged between 5,000 and 30,000 inhabitants) and was attributed a budget of about 500,000 euro for two years.
Methods and Tools Used
What Went On: Process, Interaction, and Participation
Participants were expected to meet for evening sessions (lasting 2-3 hours) on a regular basis (every 3 weeks, e.g. approx. 15 times a year) and to vote on proposals by qualified majority.
Influence, Outcomes, and Effects
Most of the funded proposals (several hundred) targeted children or youths; a minority were related to urban planning. The juries ceased to exist in 2003, although it is unclear why.
Analysis and Lessons Learned
See Also
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.