Local Turnout in Germany Under Pressure

Local government in Germany has a remarkable degree of autonomy and German local government not only plays a crucial role with regard to service delivery but also with regard to citizen participation within the German multi-level political system. Although many new forms of citizen participation have evolved during the past years (mainly at the local level), local elections still remain the most often used means of political participation. Research about local turnout in Germany is rather limited due to difficulties in data availability. Looking at trends in local turnout between 1951 and today, two remarkable results emerge: First, we find consistent differences in local turnout between the states for a time span covering more than 50 years. Second, we see a dramatic decline in turnout during the last years: While turnout rates were still about 70% on average at the beginning of the 1990s, nowadays less than half of the eligible voters cast their ballots in local elections. The decline seems to have been sharpest during the 1990s and in the beginning of 2000. This paper first looks at the development of local turnout rates in the German states from the beginning of the 1950s until today and asks a) what effects might account for the differences in turnout between the 16 states and b) how the decline in local electoral participation since the 1990s can be explained by focusing on two competing hypotheses: The hypothesis about a “democratic innovation effect” and the “enlargement of the electorate”- hypothesis.