Facts and Arguments about the Introduction of Initiative and ...
Facts and Arguments about the Introduction of Initiative and ...
Facts and Arguments about the Introduction of Initiative and ...
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that <strong>the</strong> system could hardly be used. More or less anything<br />
concerning finance was excluded, as were town planning<br />
proposals <strong>and</strong> one-<strong>of</strong>f development proposals. The latter excluded,<br />
for example, major projects such as <strong>the</strong> expansion<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> port or <strong>the</strong> construction <strong>of</strong> an additional tunnel under<br />
<strong>the</strong> Elbe river. In order to obtain a referendum, no less than<br />
10 percent <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> people entitled to vote had to go to <strong>the</strong> town<br />
hall to submit <strong>the</strong>ir signatures within 2 weeks. At city level<br />
<strong>the</strong>re was a virtually unachievable approval quorum: citizens’<br />
initiatives which contained an ordinary legislative proposal<br />
must, besides gaining a simple majority <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> votes, also be<br />
approved by 25 percent <strong>of</strong> all <strong>the</strong> people entitled to vote, while<br />
citizens’ initiatives that wanted to change <strong>the</strong> constitution not<br />
only had to secure a two- thirds majority <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> votes, but also<br />
be approved by 50 percent <strong>of</strong> all <strong>the</strong> people entitled to vote.<br />
Mehr Demokratie <strong>the</strong>n decided once again to use <strong>the</strong> bad referendum<br />
instrument to obtain a better referendum. Toge<strong>the</strong>r<br />
with several local partners, it drew up two citizens’ initiatives:<br />
one for <strong>the</strong> introduction <strong>of</strong> direct democracy at <strong>the</strong> district<br />
level, <strong>and</strong> a second for improving <strong>the</strong> existing system at <strong>the</strong><br />
city level. Because <strong>the</strong> second citizens’ initiative required a<br />
constitutional amendment – <strong>and</strong> thus <strong>the</strong> sky-high authorisation<br />
quorum had to be obtained – <strong>the</strong> activists aimed to<br />
combine <strong>the</strong>ir referendum with <strong>the</strong> national parliamentary<br />
elections <strong>of</strong> 1998. The beginning was laborious; <strong>the</strong>re were<br />
only a couple <strong>of</strong> thous<strong>and</strong> marks (<strong>about</strong> one thous<strong>and</strong> euros)<br />
as initial capital <strong>and</strong> some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> partner organisations<br />
wanted to postpone <strong>the</strong> entire campaign to <strong>the</strong> future. Collection<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> first 20,000 signatures required could only commence<br />
in May 1997, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> activists had to hurry if <strong>the</strong>y<br />
still wanted to combine <strong>the</strong> initiative with <strong>the</strong> elections. This<br />
time pressure actually seemed to work to <strong>the</strong>ir advantage.<br />
The majority <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> signatures were finally collected in <strong>the</strong><br />
second half <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> campaign. By autumn 1997, no less than<br />
30,000 signatures had been ga<strong>the</strong>red for submission. At <strong>the</strong><br />
discussions in <strong>the</strong> parliament, several members <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> parliament<br />
said that <strong>the</strong>y considered <strong>the</strong> citizens’ initiatives to be<br />
contrary to <strong>the</strong> constitution. But <strong>the</strong> stipulated period within<br />
which <strong>the</strong> initiatives should have been presented to <strong>the</strong> Constitutional<br />
Court for its ruling was allowed to expire.<br />
Thus <strong>the</strong> initiative moved into its second stage, in which 10<br />
percent <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> eligible voters (120,000 people) had to go to<br />
<strong>the</strong> town hall or <strong>the</strong> municipal <strong>of</strong>fices to give <strong>the</strong>ir signatures<br />
in <strong>the</strong> two weeks from 9 to 23 March 1998. Mehr Demokratie<br />
was helped because <strong>the</strong> municipal authorities sent a postcard<br />
to all those entitled to vote announcing <strong>the</strong> citizens’ initiatives<br />
<strong>and</strong> saying where <strong>and</strong> when <strong>the</strong> signatures <strong>of</strong> support<br />
could be given. On <strong>the</strong> back <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> postcard was an example<br />
<strong>of</strong> how to express support by post. This provision had, incidentally,<br />
been approved in <strong>the</strong> 1996 law <strong>and</strong> was completely<br />
unique in Germany. The atmosphere was quite tense because<br />
<strong>the</strong> municipal authorities only wanted to make a single<br />
announcement <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> intermediate position at <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
first week. However, <strong>the</strong> second stage was a resounding success:<br />
by <strong>the</strong> first intermediate position (after 5 days), 85,000<br />
citizens had already supported <strong>the</strong> initiatives <strong>and</strong> at <strong>the</strong> close<br />
<strong>of</strong> signature collection on 23 March, <strong>the</strong> number had risen to<br />
more than 218,000 (18.1% <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> people entitled to vote) for<br />
<strong>the</strong> first initiative (for referendums at <strong>the</strong> district level) <strong>and</strong><br />
more than 222,000 (18.4%) for <strong>the</strong> second initiative (direct<br />
democracy at <strong>the</strong> city level).<br />
At first, <strong>the</strong> city council had wanted to hold <strong>the</strong> referendums<br />
shortly after <strong>the</strong> national parliamentary elections. This was<br />
initially a setback for <strong>the</strong> people at Mehr Demokratie, but <strong>the</strong>y<br />
1<br />
recovered rapidly <strong>and</strong> lobbied <strong>the</strong> members <strong>of</strong> parliament to<br />
combine <strong>the</strong> elections <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> referendums on <strong>the</strong> grounds<br />
that a lot <strong>of</strong> citizens’ time <strong>and</strong> public money (because <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
higher costs) would o<strong>the</strong>rwise be wasted. The lobbying was<br />
successful <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> referendums were eventually combined<br />
with <strong>the</strong> parliamentary elections <strong>of</strong> 27 September 1998.<br />
In <strong>the</strong> meantime, as in Bavaria, Mehr Demokratie had put toge<strong>the</strong>r<br />
a large coalition <strong>of</strong> all kinds <strong>of</strong> – mostly small – social<br />
organisations. Never<strong>the</strong>less, <strong>the</strong>y had to take on <strong>the</strong> two major<br />
parties in Hamburg – <strong>the</strong> SPD <strong>and</strong> CDU – as well as <strong>the</strong><br />
chamber <strong>of</strong> commerce <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> powerful Bild-Zeitung newspaper<br />
belonging to <strong>the</strong> Springer group. The combined opposition<br />
beat <strong>the</strong>ir big drums with slogans such as: “Minorities<br />
will be bullied”, “Referendums with low turnouts lead to<br />
sham democracy”, “The port <strong>and</strong> airport will be paralyzed by<br />
tighter noise legislation” <strong>and</strong> “The beginning <strong>of</strong> a fatal development”.<br />
Newspaper advertisements warned that an ‘activists’<br />
dictatorship’ would be introduced if <strong>the</strong> Mehr Demokratie<br />
proposals were to be adopted. “No ‘argument’ was too primitive<br />
not to be brought out”, writes Efler (2001).<br />
In Hamburg, <strong>the</strong> parliament has <strong>the</strong> right to put a counterproposal<br />
to <strong>the</strong> vote at <strong>the</strong> same time as <strong>the</strong> citizens’ initiative.<br />
The parliament presented its counter-proposal only<br />
four weeks before <strong>the</strong> referendum. The citizens’ initiative<br />
wanted referendums on ordinary laws to be decided by a<br />
simple majority <strong>and</strong> constitutional amendments by a twothirds’<br />
majority, with no fur<strong>the</strong>r turnout requirements. In<br />
<strong>the</strong> parliamentary counter-proposal, <strong>the</strong> high thresholds<br />
mainly remained intact: ordinary laws had be adopted by<br />
a majority that constituted at least 20 percent <strong>of</strong> all those<br />
entitled to vote, <strong>and</strong> amendments to <strong>the</strong> constitution by a<br />
two-thirds’ majority that constituted at least 40 percent <strong>of</strong><br />
all eligible voters. Thus if 70 percent voted for an amendment<br />
to <strong>the</strong> constitution, <strong>the</strong> turnout would have to be almost<br />
60 percent to reach <strong>the</strong> 40 percent minimum share<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> total eligible electorate. The citizens’ initiative wanted<br />
to partly abolish <strong>the</strong> taboo on financial matters, whereas <strong>the</strong><br />
parliamentary counter-proposal wanted to exclude all subjects<br />
that had an effect on <strong>the</strong> budget. “What important issue<br />
nowadays has no effect on <strong>the</strong> budget?”, Efler asked (2001).<br />
Because <strong>the</strong> subject <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> differences between <strong>the</strong> two<br />
proposals were quite technical, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>re was little time for<br />
a full campaign because <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> parliament’s delaying tactics,<br />
Mehr Demokratie focussed on highlighting <strong>the</strong> differences<br />
<strong>and</strong> comparing <strong>the</strong> two proposals point for point, adding <strong>the</strong><br />
question: Why would politicians surrender power voluntarily?<br />
Mehr Demokratie also made its campaign very visual: it<br />
used images <strong>of</strong> ballot papers marked in support <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> initiatives<br />
in its newspaper <strong>and</strong> cinema advertisements <strong>and</strong> on<br />
posters which were put up on referendum day in front <strong>of</strong><br />
all <strong>the</strong> polling stations. On voting day, 27 September 1998,<br />
74.0% <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> voters voted for <strong>the</strong> Mehr Demokratie proposals<br />
at <strong>the</strong> city level, <strong>and</strong> 60.0% for <strong>the</strong> same at <strong>the</strong> district level.<br />
The turnout was 66.7%. This meant that <strong>the</strong> high approval<br />
quorum was reached for <strong>the</strong> referendum at <strong>the</strong> district level,<br />
because it would be introduced by means <strong>of</strong> an ordinary law,<br />
but not for <strong>the</strong> referendum at <strong>the</strong> city level, for which <strong>the</strong><br />
constitution had to be amended. The parliament’s delaying<br />
tactics meant that voters received <strong>the</strong>ir referendum material<br />
– which could also be used for a postal vote – much later<br />
that that for <strong>the</strong> simultaneous parliamentary elections. Mehr<br />
Demokratie subsequently calculated that if <strong>the</strong> referendum<br />
material had been sent at <strong>the</strong> same time as <strong>the</strong> election material,<br />
<strong>the</strong> approval quorum would also have been obtained<br />
for <strong>the</strong> proposal for <strong>the</strong> city level.