How do representation approaches differ in local government participation formats regarding climate policy-making? Insights from a comparative perspective

The paper analyses the different representation approaches in metropolitan governments for citizen participation formats regarding the development of climate strategies. The participation formats considered are formats that fall under the concept of democratic innovation and include aspects of deliberation. The basis for the analysis is a comparative study of the cities of Berlin, Paris and Buenos Aires. After introducing the research frame and main findings, the paper focusses on the observed different representation approaches. The dimension of representation is crucial, among others, because the idea of who is particularly affected by the climate crisis or which conflicts need to be negotiated determines which group(s) should be more involved. We show that the main conflict between the different approaches to representation lies between Fishkin’s approach of "mirroring" the population (e.g. Berlin) or involving those particularly affected (youth, elderly) (e.g. Buenos Aires). Subsequently, the paper discusses the upsides and downsides of these representation approaches with regard to the goals of deliberation and citizen participation in the context of the climate crisis. The discussion is primarily centered around the goal of social acceptance of climate policy as a reference point. This - not unproblematic - objective was identified in our study as a clear objective of local citizen participation in relation to climate policy.