Does Deliberative Participatory Governance Strengthen Representative Democracy

The liberal model of representative democracy is under pressure. Political fragmentation, ideological polarization and the rise of populist parties can be observed in a large number of democratic countries. The debate on a crisis of legitimacy recurs. Though recent electoral turnout increased slightly in some places, the general level remains rather low, especially in local elections. Participatory and deliberative democratic theory suggest that the implementation of new forms of participatory procedures might serve as a counterweight to the challenges of representative democracy. Proponents argue that participatory procedures supplement the institutions of representative democracy and give citizens voice and (at least theoretically) influence on the policy process with effects on the legitimacy of political decisions and the institutions of representative democracy in general. Critics could argue that these new and more direct forms of citizen influence on political decision-making might undermine the relevance and legitimacy of representative institutions. Does deliberative participatory governance strengthen or undermine representative democracy? The proposed paper contributes to this question by looking at how the extent of participatory governance on the local level affects local electoral turnout. The analysis is based on comparative data on the practice of deliberative participatory democracy on local level of 831 municipalities in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany, and electoral data from the local council elections 2019.