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  Citizens' Uprisings: Germans Discover Direct Democracy

Citizens' Uprisings Germans Discover Direct Democracy

By Markus Deggerich

Part 2: A Political Proxy War

There is a long tradition of mistrust of citizens among politicians in Germany. In 1948, Theodor Heuss, a German politician and former president, expressly warned against direct democracy in the Parliamentary Council, describing it as a "premium for every demagogue." Article 20 of the German constitution states, simply, that "all authority comes from the people." But in Germany, as the philosopher Karl Jaspers complained, the fathers of the constitution were apparently "afraid of the people." The German constitution reduces "the effectiveness of the people to a minimum," Jaspers acknowledged in 1966.

The Swiss-style national referendum is still nonexistent in Germany today. Three parties, the Free Democrats, the Green Party and the Left Party, are preparing draft legislation to give a voice to the people at the national level. The conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is the only party that is still fundamentally opposed to national referendums. Direct democracy, warns Wolfgang Bosbach, a CDU politician and expert on domestic policy, usually represents nothing but individual interests. "But we politicians must keep the big picture in mind," he insists. Skeptics like Bosbach are especially troubled by the simple yes-or-no structure of referendums, which "is no good for complex problems."

In fact, constructive initiatives, like those of the Berlin-based "Pro Reli" group, tend to be the exception. Pro Reli has done some of the parliamentarians' work for them and wants to see draft legislation it wrote voted on this fall. The legislation calls for schools in the German capital to be required to offer both ethics and equivalent religious instruction.

Sidestepping Party Politics

"People are now more well-informed when it comes to educational and economic issues," says Gerald Häfner of Mehr Demokratie (More Democracy), a nationwide initiative. Nevertheless, there is still plenty of room for experimentation in devising the ideal relationship between direct and representative democracy. It wasn't until the 1990s that most states gradually introduced petitions for referendums and referendums themselves. Since then, the public's interest in sidestepping the parties' power structures has grown steadily.

Volker Mittendorf, a researcher with the University of Marburg, says this experience can have a positive effect. "Once people have tried it and have been successful, they become increasingly interested in getting involved in politics." For many people, says Mittendorf, it is no longer enough to go to the polls once every few years and, in the interim, to observe the shenanigans of their elected representatives with dismay.

The parties are not just responding defensively to the new trend, they are also trying to connect with the people. But when that happens, Häfner fears, "grassroots democracy ends up becoming a political proxy war between the parties -- as is the case in Berlin."

In Berlin, opposition leader Friedbert Pflüger, a Christian Democrat and once a bitter opponent of direct democracy, is trying to turn the vote on Tempelhof Airport into a referendum on the city's left-leaning government. The coalition of the SPD and the Left Party had voted to close the downtown airport, which is steeped in history, in light of plans to build a new mega-airport on the outskirts of the city in Schönefeld. Pflüger recognized the controversial issue's potential as a vote-getter, especially in West Berlin, where the airport is associated with memories of the Berlin Airlift. A citizens' initiative, with strong support from the business community, forced through the referendum.

The organization of Sunday's referendum will cost a total more than €2 million ($3.2 million), and 2.45 million voting notices were sent to residents. Hundreds of polling places must be set up this week, and thousands of election workers will have to be hired. The campaign itself has already taken on the character of a parliamentary election rather than a referendum about a runway.

Supporters and opponents have been heating up the atmosphere for weeks with their large posters throughout the city and full-page ads in the papers. Both sides have since turned the decision into a test for the city's government. Paradoxically, the ballots contain nothing but a simple request: "We ask the Berlin Senate to abandon its intentions to close the airport immediately." In other words, the referendum would not even be legally binding. This means that Mayor Wowereit will be able to completely ignore Berliners' Tempelhof decision, a fact that he has already made clear in his famously callous way.

Democracy experts like Häfner warn that cases like this could also trigger a backlash. According to Häfner, "failed referendums can even amplify political apathy."

Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan

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