The state of Berlin has three instruments of direct democracy. These enable German citizen residents to directly influence policy, in addition to

indirect democracy Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy or electoral democracy, is a type of democracy where elected delegates represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies funct ...

via elected officials in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

. In addition, there are two instruments at the borough level.

Types

The three direct democracy instruments at the Berlin state level are: * Agenda initiative (), a petition which forces the Berlin House of Representatives to debate a certain topic; * Referendum (), which requires a , which in turn requires an . Referendums require 25% quoracy; * Constitutional referendum (), a referendum that changes the state constitution. In addition to the requirements of regular referendums, it requires a vote in the House of Representatives with a two-thirds majority and at least 50% turnout. This was used once, in 2006. In addition to these instruments for direct democracy at the city-state level, there are two instruments at the lower, borough, level: * Residents' request (), a petition which forces the borough assembly () to address a certain topic; * Citizens' decision (), which requires the collection of signature of at least 3% of eligible voters (citizens' initiative, ), see .

History of the framework of direct democracy in Berlin

In 2020, the Berlin government started a reform that would make it easier to organise petitions and referendums at both the Berlin and borough levels.

Past Berlin-wide initiatives

Past agenda initiatives

Democracy for All (2022)

The agenda initiative "Democracy for All" was a petition passed in 2022 with three demands. Firstly, it asked for a reduction of the voting age from 18 to 16 for

Berlin House of Representatives The of Berlin (House of Representatives) () is the state parliament (''Landtag'') of Berlin, Germany according to the city-state's constitution. In 1993, the parliament moved from Rathaus Schöneberg to its present house on Niederkirchnerstraße ...

elections and referendums. Secondly, the petition set out that non-German citizens could vote after living in Germany for three years. For this purpose, the petition asked the House of Representatives to request a Bundesrat initiative from the Berlin Senate, which represents Berlin in the Bundesrat. The initiative would give full active and passive voting rights for elections to municipal councils, state legislatures (including the Berlin House of Representatives), to the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

and to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

. Thirdly, the initiative demanded that Berlin agenda initiatives and referendums could be initiated and signed digitally. As a result of the agenda initiative, in December 2022 the Berlin House of Representatives passed a motion to implement parts of the agenda initiative. Under the motion, the first of the three demands (voting from 16 years on) would be met, and foreigners would be allowed to vote after five years of residency instead of three. However, the motion passed under a red-green-red coalition government and set out its implementation only after the 2023 re-run of the Berlin elections.

Past referendums

Referendum to municipalise housing (2021)

Referendum to make Berlin climate-neutral by 2030 (2023)

: Legend: Percentages indicate the share of 'yes' voters in the referendums.
Colours of the borough numbers: former West Berlin, former East Berlin, contains former East and West territories

Past borough-level initiatives

Mitte

In 2008, a

Mitte Mitte () is the first and most central borough of Berlin. The borough consists of six sub-entities: Mitte proper, Gesundbrunnen, Hansaviertel, Moabit, Tiergarten and Wedding. It is one of the two boroughs (the other being Friedrichshain-Kreuz ...

citizens' decision against parking charges failed to achieve quoracy.

Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg

In 2008, the "Spreeufer für alle!" (Spree riverfront for all!) citizens' decision passed with 87% 'yes' votes. It asked the borough of

Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg () is the second Boroughs of Berlin, borough of Berlin, formed in 2001 by merging the former East Berlin borough of Friedrichshain and the former West Berlin borough of Kreuzberg. The historic Oberbaum Bridge, formerly ...

to block construction on the banks of the Spree river by the

Mediaspree Mediaspree is one of the largest property investment projects in Berlin. It aims to establish telecommunication and media companies along a section of the banks of the river Spree (river), Spree as well as to implement an urban renewal of the s ...

project. Five years later, the borough government was criticised for implementing it only partially. In 2016, a citizens' decision to block a costly refurbishment of the

Landwehr Canal The Landwehr Canal (), is a canal parallel to the Spree river in Berlin, Germany, built between 1845 and 1850 to plans by Peter Joseph Lenné. It connects the upper part of the Spree at the eastern harbour () in Friedrichshain with its low ...

's Fraenkelufer failed to achieve quoracy.

Pankow

Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf

Spandau

Steglitz-Zehlendorf

Tempelhof-Schöneberg

In 2009, a citizens' decision passed in the borough of

Tempelhof-Schöneberg Tempelhof-Schöneberg () is the seventh borough of Berlin, formed in 2001 by merging the former boroughs of Tempelhof and Schöneberg. Situated in the south of the city it shares borders with the boroughs of Mitte and Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg in ...

to award monument protection to the former

Tempelhof Airport Berlin Tempelhof Airport () was one of the first airports in Berlin, Germany. Situated in the south-central Berlin borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg, the airport ceased operating in 2008 amid controversy, leaving Tegel and Schönefeld as the ...

, which had been shut in 2008. This was followed by a Berlin-wide referendum in 2014, the .

Neukölln

Treptow-Köpenick

In 2014, a citizens' decision kept parking in the

Treptow-Köpenick Treptow-Köpenick () is the ninth Boroughs of Berlin, borough of Berlin, Germany, formed in Berlin's 2001 administrative reform by merging the former boroughs of Treptow and Köpenick. The borough was formerly part of East Berlin. Overview Among ...