# Referendums in Germany

Referendums in Germany are an element of direct democracy. On the federal level only two types of a mandatory binding referendum exist – adopting a new constitution and regional referendums in case of restructuring the states. On the state level, all states have various types of statewide and municipal referendums.

## Forms of referendums

The German referendum system differentiate between three types.
* Volksbegehren (literally people's request) is a citizens' initiative – if the state parliament ignores the request it could directly lead into a "Volksentscheid"
* Volksbefragung (literally people's inquiry) is a non-binding ballot question and
* Volksentscheid (literally people's decision) is a binding plebiscite.
The term Volksinitiative (people's initiative) is a synonym of Volksbegehren. On the municipal level the three types are paralleled with
* Bürgerbegehren (literally citizens' request) as the local citizens' initiative
* Bürgerbefragung (literally citizens' inquiry) for a local non-binding ballot question and
* Bürgerentscheid (literally citizens' decision) for a local binding plebiscite.
Note that in the city states the state citizens' initiative types are commonly called Bürgerbegehren while being at the same legal level as Volksbegehren in other states. Note that the term "Bürgerinitiative" (literally citizens' initiative) is used informally for non-partisan local campaign organizations (political action groups).

## Federal concept

Following World War II the new republic was founded with only minor elements of direct democracy. At the federal level, there are only two mandatory constitutional referendum types. One type is for enacting a new constitution. Changes to the constitution do not require a public vote and there is no provision for an initiative for a constitutional amendment. There has never been a referendum of this type, although there was an argument in that direction during German reunification.
The other type requires a regional public vote in case of restructuring the States (Neugliederung des Bundesgebietes, "New Arrangement of the Federal Territory") which led to a number of effectless referendums to recreate states or change the territory of a state. In addition there was a referendum on the merger of Baden and Württemberg into Baden-Württemberg in 1951 (accepted) and a referendum on the merger of Berlin and Brandenburg into Berlin-Brandenburg in 1996 (rejected).

## Bundesländer

Originally, only some of the Bundesländer (federated states of Germany) had provisions for a general binding referendum (Volksentscheid, "people's decision") on popular initiatives (Volksbegehren, "people's request"), with Hesse and Bavaria also having a mandatory binding referendum on changes to the state constitution.
Over the years all states have changed their constitutions to allow various types of statewide and municipal referendums. In all states, there is now a general right for referendums on statewide popular initiatives, which was used in Hamburg to push the state government to pass a law on a facultative binding state referendum in 2007. Most states have a form of non-binding ballot question (Volksbefragung, "people's inquiry") which has rarely been used - the most important of these had been the 1955 Saar Statute referendum. General forms of direct democracy were introduced in the communities with facultative ballot questions (Bürgerbefragung, "citizens' inquiry") and public initiatives (Bürgerbegehren, "citizens' request") which are both non-binding. In some areas, this has been expanded into a binding referendum type (Bürgerentscheid, "citizens' decision").

## Initiative quorum

Following World War II the right to petition to the government was installed with high barriers. Any popular initiative had to be filed with the authorities and the signatories have to identify before their signature is accepted. This is called official collection (German: Amtseintragung literally administrative inscription) in most legal areas. The other type is commonly referred to as free collection (German: Freie Sammlung) where letters may be accumulated before being handed over. Naturally some of the latter signatures are found to be illegal which can be a source of dispute.
In order to push the government the initiative must reach a certain amount of valid signatures. The "quorum" is defined differently by each state.
Referendums in Germany by State :
| State | Legal foundation | Signature quorum / time limit / collection type | Excluded of topics |
| Baden-Württemberg | Art. 59 und 60 of the state constitution §§ 25–39 of the Volksabstimmungsgesetz | 16.67 % 14 days Official collection | Abgabengesetze, Besoldungsgesetze, Staatshaushaltsgesetz |
| Bavaria | Art. 18(3), 71, 72(1) und 74 of the state constitution Art. 63–74 of the Landeswahlgesetz | 10 % (1,000,000 when demanding reelections) 14 days Official collection | Staatshaushalt |
| see also: → de:Volksgesetzgebung in Bayern |||
| Berlin | Art. 59, 62, 63 of the state constitution §§ 10–28 of the Abstimmungsgesetz | 7% (20% for constitutional changes) 4 months Free collection | Landeshaushaltsgesetz, Abgaben, Tarife öffentlicher Unternehmen, Personalentscheidungen |
| see also: → de:Volksgesetzgebung in Berlin |||
| Brandenburg | Art. 22 of the state constitution §§13–25, 56 und 60 of the Volksabstimmungsgesetz | 80,000 (200,000 when demanding reelections) 4 Monate Official Collection | Landeshaushalt, Dienst- und Versorgungsbezüge, Abgaben, Personalentscheidungen |
| Bremen | Art. 70 und 71 of the state constitution §§ 8–21 of the "Gesetz über das Verfahren beim Volksentscheid" | 10% (20% when demanding constitutional changes or reelections) 3 months Free collection | Haushaltsplan, Dienstbezüge, Steuern, Abgaben, Gebühren |
| Hamburg | Art. 50 of the state constitution §§ 6–17 des Volksabstimmungsgesetzes | 5 % 21 days Free collection | Bundesratsinitiativen, Haushaltspläne, Abgaben, Tarife der öffentlichen Unternehmen, Dienst- und Versorgungsbezüge |
| see also: → de:Volksgesetzgebung (Hamburg) |||
| Hesse | Art. 124 of the state constitution §§ 1–15 of the Volksbegehrensgesetz | 20 % 14 days Official collection | Haushaltsplan, Abgabengesetze, Besoldungsordnungen, Verfassungsänderungen |
| Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | Art. 60 of the state constitution §§ 11–17 of the VaG §§ 1–8 of the Durchführungsverordnung | 120,000 no time limit Free collection | Haushaltsgesetze, Abgabengesetze, Besoldungsgesetze |
| Lower Saxony | Art. 48 of the state constitution §§ 12–23 of the Volksabstimmungsgesetz § 62d of the Geschäftsordnung des Landtages | 10 % 6 months Free collection | Landeshaushalt, öffentliche Abgaben, Dienst- und Versorgungsbezüge |
| North Rhine-Westphalia | Art. 2, 68 und 69 of the state constitution §§ 6–21 of the VIVBVEG §§ 2–8 of the Durchführungsverordnung VIVBVEG | 8 % 8 weeks Official collection | Finanzfragen, Abgabengesetze, Besoldungsordnungen |
| Rhineland-Palatinate | Art. 107–109 of the state constitution §§ 61–76 of the Landeswahlgesetz §§ 75–83 of the Landeswahlordnung | 300,000 2 months Official collection | Finanzfragen, Abgabengesetze, Besoldungsordnung |
| Saarland | Art. 61, 99 und 100 of the state constitution §§ 2–13 of the Volksabstimmungsgesetz §§ 1–7 of the Volksabstimmungsordnung | 20 % 14 days Official collection | may not include topics with financial implications, Abgaben, Besoldungen, Staatsleistungen, Staatshaushalt, Verfassungsänderungen |
| Saxony | Art. 70, 72–74 of the state constitution §§ 16–25 des VVVG | 450.000 6–8 months Free collection | Abgaben-, Besoldungs-, Haushaltsgesetz |
| Sachsen-Anhalt | Art. 81 of the state constitution §§ 10–19 of the Volksabstimmungsgesetz | 11 % 6 months Free collection | Haushaltsgesetze, Abgabengesetze, Besoldungsregelungen |
| Schleswig-Holstein | Art. 42 der state constitution §§ 11–19 of the Volksabstimmungsgesetz | 5 % 6 months Official collection | Landeshaushalt, Dienst- und Versorgungsbezüge, öffentliche Abgaben |
| Thuringia | Art. 81 und 82 of the state constitution §§ 9–18 of the "Gesetzes über Verfahren beim Bürgerantrag, Volksbegehren und Volksentscheid" | 10% (8%) 4 months (2 months) Freie Sammlung (Amtseintragung) | Landeshaushalt, Dienst- und Versorgungsbezüge, Abgaben und Personalentscheidungen |
| Federal Republic of Germany | Art. 29 GG Abs. 4–6 of the Basic Law §§ 14, 24, 26 und 36 of the law on referendums and initiatives ("Gesetzes über das Verfahren bei Volksentscheid, Volksbegehren und Volksbefragung") in 29 GG Abs. 6 GG §§ 1–45 und 93 of the regulation on conduct ("Verordnung zur Durchführung des Gesetzes nach Art. 29 GG Abs. 6 GG") | 10% of the voters in the affected area | the referendum may only target questions of territory changes (see de:Neugliederung des Bundesgebietes") |

## Official collection

In the context of direct democracy, an official collection of signatures in Germany, refers to the collection of petition signatures for a referendum under supervision in a town hall or at other officially determined locations (normally a government building). This is in contrast to the free collection, where people may sign a petition that is freely circulated by the public. In a few German federal states, official collection is also required by law for the collection of campaign signatures for local elections.
In the German state of Brandenburg as a reaction to the criticism of the official collection, including from the SPD and Die Linke political parties a reform in 2012 created the possibility for municipal administrations to be able to determine further registration offices (e.g. bank and post office branches, shops).

## Notable referendums in Germany
### Federal

* 1926 German property expropriation referendum
* 1929 German Young Plan referendum
* 1933 German League of Nations withdrawal referendum

### State
#### Territory of the Saar Basin (1920–1935)

* 1935 Saar status referendum

#### Saar Protectorate (1947–1956)

* 1955 Saar Statute referendum

#### Eastern Germany (1949–1990)

* 1951 East German referendum
* 1954 East German referendum
* 1968 East German referendum

#### post-1990 Germany

* 1995 Bavarian referendum on introduction of local referendums
* 1998 Bavarian referendum on the abolition of the Bavarian Senate
* 2010 Bavarian referendum on a smoking ban in gastronomy
* 2011 Baden-Württemberg referendum on Stuttgart 21
* 2011 Berlin water referendum
* 2013 Berlin energy referendum
* 2021 Berlin referendum