Now Even the Public Has a Voice in Democracy

Animal welfare labels, nutrition labels, sugar taxes, or a weekly veggie day in workplace cafeterias: proposals for the future of food affect us all and are regularly the subject of public debate. But who is actually part of these conversations? More often than not, it is politicians debating in parliament or engaging in heated exchanges on talk shows, supported by expert advice. Citizens rarely have the opportunity to discuss these issues themselves in a setting that allows their voices to be heard by political decision-makers.

The Citizens’ Assembly on Food Policy, which has met over recent months at the request of the German Bundestag and will present its recommendations to parliament in the form of a citizens’ report at the end of February, has changed that. This is good news for democracy. The growing willingness of policymakers to engage in meaningful dialogue with citizens, and even to seek their advice, shows that our democracy continues to evolve.

A total of 160 people took part in the Citizens’ Assembly on Food. The selection process began with 20,000 randomly chosen residents receiving an invitation. From those who responded positively, participants were then selected by lot to create a group that reflected the wider population as closely as possible in terms of characteristics such as gender, age, and eating habits. This proved highly successful. For example, women made up 50.6 percent of the Citizens’ Assembly, almost identical to their 50.7 percent share of the overall population. By comparison, women account for only 35.1 percent of the German Bundestag.

Chance therefore plays a central role in this type of process. It ensures that not only the loudest voices are heard, but that the silent majority also has a say.

The Citizens’ Assembly met nine times to discuss different thematic priorities. Participants received input from experts, deliberated together, and ultimately developed nine recommendations for future food policy. Among other proposals, the Assembly recommended requiring supermarkets to donate edible surplus food to charitable organisations rather than disposing of it. It also called for all children in nurseries and schools to be provided with a free, healthy lunch.

As the name suggests, a Citizens’ Assembly has an advisory role only. Whether its recommendations are ultimately implemented is, rightly, a decision for the Bundestag as the democratically elected body. To ensure that the Citizens’ Assembly does not become a form of token participation, it is important that the Bundestag has committed to discussing the proposals both in plenary sessions and in committee meetings. Once these deliberations have been completed, it is essential to communicate transparently which recommendations will be implemented and, where applicable, explain why others will not.

Citizen participation can complement and enrich representative democracy in many ways. At its best, it can lead to better solutions by drawing on the knowledge and experience of many people. It can also increase public acceptance of political decisions, because people are not merely informed or consulted but genuinely involved in shaping outcomes. Citizens’ assemblies and other participatory formats strengthen a sense of community and help counter the growing disconnect between politics and the public. In doing so, they help create the conditions in which democracy can thrive.

Opinion polls regularly ask people for a snapshot of their views on a particular issue. But that is something entirely different from participating in democratic discourse. Democracy requires not only opinions, but also factual knowledge and the exchange of arguments. Democracy thrives on debate. It is only through engaging with people who hold different views that we can develop informed and well-founded positions.

Dialogue-based forms of citizen participation have existed at the local level since the 1970s, for example in the form of so-called planning cells, a model that was largely developed in Germany. In the field of consultative citizen participation, Germany is in fact an international pioneer, with only Japan having implemented more such processes to date. At the national level, a Citizens’ Assembly in Ireland successfully developed broadly supported recommendations on same-sex marriage and abortion. Now the German Bundestag has also taken the step of seeking advice not only from experts and inquiry commissions, but for the first time from a citizens’ forum. More than 50 years after its emergence, citizen participation has finally reached the highest political body in our country, and that is a welcome development.

In his famous Gettysburg Address of 1863, Abraham Lincoln described democracy as government of the people, by the people, for the people. If citizens in Germany now participate more frequently in public debate and develop recommendations for policymakers, this does not pose a threat to democracy. On the contrary, it strengthens and advances it. In a democracy, we should welcome citizens’ participation in political discourse, because that is what democracy is all about.