There is a growing trend in modern democracies towards giving the public the opportunity to participate in a wide range of decision-making processes. People are not satisfied with casting their votes in an election every four or five years. Rather, they also expect to be heard on specific issues during the legislative term between elections, and they want to hold their Member(s) of Parliament to account for how they are exercising the mandate that has been entrusted to them. In the absence of suitable mechanisms and instruments for citizen participation and dialogue, there is a significant risk of a rift between the political class and the rest of society, leading to a shrinking acceptance of representative democracy and to a rise in populist demagogues.

About the development of citizen participation in Germany and some crucial aspects derived from it.