FAQ

It is important for us to facilitate direct exchange between randomly selected individuals, who reflect a portion of the diversity of society, and representatives through lottery-based procedures. However, achieving this on a nationwide scale with all Bundestag representatives simultaneously is quite challenging.

Germany is divided into 299 electoral districts (constituencies), each home to approximately 250,000 to 300,000 eligible voters. All representatives are also based in an constituency, making them direct points of contact for local political issues. Thus, Constituencies hold a special significance within Germany’s democratic system: they serve as places of representation and foster the relationship between the public and politicians.

However, this level of governance has not yet become one with which people identify. While representatives spend at least half the year in their electoral districts, few people actually know who their representatives are. We aim to strengthen this relationship to reduce the perceived distance between constituencies and politics in the Bundestag. This goal is further supported by taking regional differences and specificities into account at the electoral district level.

Constituency Days differ significantly from Citizens' Assemblies. 

Citizens' Assemblies aim to provide recommendations to a decision-making body on a specific topic. In the case of national Citizens' Assemblies, for example, a representative group of randomly selected individuals from Germany (approximately 160 people) comes together and, with the help of scientific input, excursions, and experts, develops recommendations over an intensive multi-week process that influence government decisions or provide guidance. Citizens' Assemblies seek to enrich government decisions with the perspectives of citizens, thereby improving them. 

In contrast, Constituency Days aim to strengthen relationships. They focus on exchanging views on a nationally relevant topic, allowing Members of Parliament to learn about the realities of life in their constituency while participants gain a better understanding of how parliamentary work and political processes function. Constituency focus more on the process, less on the results.

In the "Hallo Bundestag" project, both directly elected Members of Parliament and those who entered the Bundestag via state lists were invited. During the pilot phases, the Electoral District Days were conducted solely with the directly elected representatives. However, the evaluation shows that trust in politicians, political processes, and parties increases significantly when multiple Members of Parliament from different parties are present. Our experience indicates that witnessing a constructive and amicable exchange among Members of Parliament across party lines has a substantial impact on participants. This experience presents a very different image than what is often portrayed in the media regarding political interactions.

In the German Parliament election, voters can cast two votes on the ballot: in the left column for the first vote (Erststimme) and in the right column for the second vote (Zweitstimme). With the first vote, a candidate from the voter's own electoral district is elected directly. Germany has 299 electoral districts. The second vote is used to select a party list established in the federal states. The number of second votes determines how many candidates a party can send to the Bundestag in total (see bpb).

However, there is no constitutional difference in the responsibilities and duties of representatives based on whether they were elected directly or via a list. We aim to strengthen the relationship of all representatives with the people living in their electoral district. Therefore, we strive to avoid a separation of roles among representatives.

The goal of our Constituency Days is to provide representatives with a clear understanding of what people in their electoral district think, what concerns them, and what attitudes and opinions they hold on issues relevant to politics. Since we cannot engage all 300,000 residents of a constituency in conversation with their representatives, we must make a selection. Random selection ensures that all individuals in the constituency have the same chance of being chosen. Furthermore, the characteristics of the population are better represented in a smaller group through random selection than if we were to ask, for example, "Who would like to participate?" This approach allows us to include many individuals who would not have signed up for such an event on their own.

Initially, we submitted a request for group information to the registration offices of the respective constituencies to obtain a random selection from them. The Federal Registration Act (§ 46) specifies which data can be requested and allows for group information if public interest is ensured. This means that the interests of the public, rather than those of individuals, are promoted. The scientific service of the Bundestag confirmed to us that Constituency Days serve the public interest.

One challenge was that data for a constituency cannot usually be obtained directly from the federal state. In this case, we had to submit a request for each municipality—potentially up to 39 for a single electoral district. Subsequently, we wrote to all selected individuals to inform them that we had received their data for potential random selection. This is necessary for data protection reasons.

Using our Es geht LOS app, which ensures a secure and data-friendly selection process, we then randomly selected participants and contacted them by letter. Those who did not respond received a reminder letter. If they still did not reply, we visited them personally at home to determine whether and how we could facilitate their participation. Common needs include childcare, support in obtaining time off from their employer, or simply feeling that their voice truly matters and can only be contributed by themselves.

This method is called a "proactive random selection process." It ensures that individuals who would not voluntarily respond to an invitation to a participation process are also included.

-> More information about the outreach random selection method