Do referenda really matter in local democracy? Consider the cases of France and Germany

Thèmes abordés

Direct democracy, local referenda, French communes, German communes, local democracy

Résumé du document

Since the beginning of the nineties, local political systems have introduced more and more participatory instruments and direct democracy procedures. In Germany, the Lander included the binding popular initiatives and local referendum. In France, binding referenda were created in 1971 for the questions of communal borders but the current legislation maintains a mixed system with the possibilities of binding and consultative referenda. The article examines the effects of the institutionalization of local referenda on citizen participation. The comparison of France and Germany enables us to analyze the effects of referenda on local decisions.

The question is whether local referenda really influence some decisions of local representatives or if they are just an occasion for citizens to take part in local political life. In order to evaluate the results of local referenda, two main variables will be distinguished between: the respect of the legislation (objective variable) and the satisfaction of the point of view of the initiators (subjective variable). The topic's influence on the turnout will be also considered to see if local referenda have a real function of agenda-setting.

In Europe, the systems of local democracy have changed since the beginning of the nineties. Different laws allowed the citizens to interfere with local decisions. The participation of the citizens in the creation of policies which affect their environment is one of the characteristics of the evolution of local democracy. In the field of political science, the local level has been studied in terms of implementation of policies. Local democracy is not only the idea of a representative system at the local level, but includes all the tools that citizens have at their disposal to influence public policies. Local democracy refers to the quality of public debates and to the interaction between representatives and citizens.

As a matter of fact, it is expressed via specific instruments which highlights the deliberative aspect and the influence of citizens on local decisions. Local referenda are a part of direct democratic procedures which enable citizens to approve or reject a concrete question. The European Council recommended the use of local referenda in the Chart of local autonomy in 1985 when the local borders had to be modified. The right of local participation is emphasized by this Chart as far as the legislation grants it .

In some East European countries, local referenda were institutionalized just after the organization of free elections at the local level and the collapse of Communist regimes. In Poland, the local referendum was recognized by the Law of 11 October 1991, one and a half years after the municipal law (Kleb, 2002, 42). If local referenda were institutionalized as participatory instruments, it is essential to know whether they have an impact on local decisions. The representative systems included referenda at a local level in order to strengthen the participation of citizens without threatening the local powers. Can local referenda help citizens to influence the action of representatives outside elections? It is therefore necessary to study the different ways that local referenda were inserted in systems of local politics.

Extraits

[...] It is calculated on the basis of all electors. For all the Länder, the average quorum of signatures is about 10% degressive quorum is mentioned for some Länder where the size of the commune is taken into account in the calculus of the quorum), the average delay for popular initiatives is between six weeks and two months and the average approval rate about 25%. Obviously, the legislation in Hamburg and Bavaria is in favour of direct democracy, which results in a strong practice of popular initiatives and local referenda. [...]

[...] The focus on the evolution of local referenda will be made through a personal set of data on local referenda in France and Germany. Last but not least, we will show whether the topics of local referenda reveal the transformation of citizen values in both countries. Our investigation is based on an instrumental perspective (Mangabeira 263-277) which aims at examining the impact of democratic instruments on citizen participation. Direct Democracy at the local level Nowadays, local direct democracy is mainly expressed by the use of local popular initiatives and referenda. [...]

[...] In France, the Law of 1 August 2003 institutionalized a quorum of signatures for consultative popular initiatives and 20% for communes under inhabitants). The referendum is binding if the turnout is but there is no approval rate. The simple majority of voters wins if and only if the turnout is above 50%. The binding referenda were introduced for the first time with the Law of 16 July 1971 where they only concerned the topic of communal borders. From 1975 until 1992, we counted 270 communal consultations, less than one fifth of which were binding referenda on the reunion or separation of communes. [...]

[...] Out of these 122 local referenda did not reach the required quorum. [...]

[...] Do referenda really matter in local democracy? The cases of France and Germany Abstract Since the beginning of the nineties, local political systems have introduced more and more participatory instruments and direct democracy procedures. In Germany, all the Länder included the binding popular initiatives and local referenda. In France, binding referenda were created in 1971 for the questions of communal borders but the current legislation maintains a mixed system with the possibilities of binding and consultative referenda. The article examines the effects of the institutionalization of local referenda on citizen participation. [...]