Bürgerbeteiligung als Politikberatung?

Abstract

Zusammenfassung:Der "Werkstattbericht" gibt einen Einblick in ein aktuelles, ambitioniertes und noch nicht abgeschlossenes Bürgerbeteiligungsprojekt auf Länderebene: Politikberatung durch Bürgerbeteiligung! Rheinland-Pfalz ist das erste Bundesland, das im Rahmen einer Kommunalund Verwaltungsreform -neben den klassischen Politikberatungsinstrumenten -von Beginn an Bürgerbeteiligung als Politikberatung einsetzt.. Aufwand und Kosten des Verfahrens schaffen Erwartungen, denen sich die Politik nur schwer entziehen kann. Die Einbeziehung der Ergebnisse in den Reformprozess wird daher immer wieder von der Politik betont. Die Bürgerbeteiligung wird in mehreren Stufen durchgeführt. Die erste Stufe, auf die sich dieser Praxisbericht bezieht, ist bereits abgeschlossen und erste Ergebnisse der empirischen Begleitforschung liegen vor. Zum Einsatz kamen drei Elemente: Regionalkonferenzen, Bürgerkonferenzen und "Planungszellen", die jeweils als Beratungselemente in den Entscheidungsprozess eingebracht werden sollen.Schlagworte: Bürgerbeteiligung · Landesebene · Kommunal-und Verwaltungsreform · Rheinland-Pfalz · Bürgerkonferenz · "Planungszelle" Abstract: This "workshopreport" focuses on an ongoing project of civil society involvement into political reform carried out in the German state (Land) of Rhineland-Palatinate. The project is as ambitious as it is up to date: its topic is policy consultation through citizen participation. Rhineland-Palatinate is the only German "Land" which in the process of administrative and local government reform utilizes citizen participation as a mechanism of public consultation alongside more traditional consulting instruments. The project's substantial costs create expectations, which politicians and administrators cannot afford to ignore. Henceforth, the inclusion and utilization of preliminary results of the public consultation procedure into the reform process is emphasized over and over again by the government. Citizen involvement is conducted as a multi-stage process: the first stage, to which this report refers, has already ended and the first results of the accompanying field research have become available. During the first stage of the citizen participation process three varieties of civic participation were applied as consultation devices to the decision-making process: regional conferences, civic fora and "planning cells".

Participatory Budgeting

“…Basically, all forms of public participation are mainly aimed at an increasing legitimacy, responsiveness, efficiency, effectiveness of political decision-making and problem-solving processes (Sarcinelli, König, & König, 2008;Storl, 2009;Teorell, 2006;Yang & Pandey, 2011). As a result, several sub-objectives can be derived and therefore conditions for successful participation processes implied.…”

“…Especially consultative participation approaches meet the modern need of citizens for freedom of expression with their non-binding opportunities to participate and their problem focus (Pfenning & Benighaus, 2008). Hereby, the needs of public participation in decision-making processes are addressed without demanding a permanent involvement or a long-term organizational commitment (Roth, 2011;Sarcinelli et al, 2008). This is also supported by electronic participation methods (e.g.…”

“…Furthermore, the increasing active participation of citizens represents a remarkable resource for politics and administration (Banner, 1998;Herzberg & Cuny, 2007;Schwickert & Collet, 2011). The growing complexity and interdependence of social problems caused a significant increase in political consultation needs (Sarcinelli et al, 2008;Schwickert & Collet, 2011). However, public involvement broadens the repertoire of politically perceived alternatives and therefore helps to face the addressed problems (Aichholzer, 2008;Storl, 2009).…”

“…Acceptance is the basic premise for governmental and municipal administrations to ensure that public participation will be applied and repeated (Märker, 2009;Vetter, 2008). Furthermore, the political perception of civil skills and the added value through citizens' participation are crucial (Banner, 1998;Sarcinelli et al, 2008). Even citizens that do not attend participation processes can benefit from this.…”