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<p>To what extent are democratic innovations employed by German municipalities in the provision of public services? A&#xa0;quantitative frequency analysis of the period 1990–2024 was conducted to examine the emergence of citizens’ initiatives and referendums (N = 8936) and citizens’ councils (N = 168) in municipal public services. The analysis shows that nearly half of single-issue referendums cover technical infrastructure. Pluralistic citizens’ assemblies also frequently focus on technical infrastructure (around a&#xa0;third), but around a&#xa0;quarter focus on climate and environmental protection. This topic frequency analysis is based on new data pools and adds significant value to local political research and research on democratic innovations. The following section examines what impacts democratic innovations can have. In the first place, democratic innovations disrupt administrative action and set the agenda. Using case studies, possible variants of policy and organizational change (with a&#xa0;small or large scope) in municipal public services are categorized and classified. This brings us to the ongoing debate about measuring the impact of democratic innovations. The added value for research lies at the descriptive-categorical level. Politically and pragmatically, the authors argue for an expansion of democratic innovations and improvements in their design.</p>

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Demokratieinnovationen in der kommunalen Daseinsvorsorge: Varianten des Policy- und Organisationswandels

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2025年11月26日

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  • Detlef Sack,
  • Jannos Karabotsos-Galonski,
  • Lea-Marie Kurp,
  • Joel Werner Müller

摘要

To what extent are democratic innovations employed by German municipalities in the provision of public services? A quantitative frequency analysis of the period 1990–2024 was conducted to examine the emergence of citizens’ initiatives and referendums (N = 8936) and citizens’ councils (N = 168) in municipal public services. The analysis shows that nearly half of single-issue referendums cover technical infrastructure. Pluralistic citizens’ assemblies also frequently focus on technical infrastructure (around a third), but around a quarter focus on climate and environmental protection. This topic frequency analysis is based on new data pools and adds significant value to local political research and research on democratic innovations. The following section examines what impacts democratic innovations can have. In the first place, democratic innovations disrupt administrative action and set the agenda. Using case studies, possible variants of policy and organizational change (with a small or large scope) in municipal public services are categorized and classified. This brings us to the ongoing debate about measuring the impact of democratic innovations. The added value for research lies at the descriptive-categorical level. Politically and pragmatically, the authors argue for an expansion of democratic innovations and improvements in their design.