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While the Citizens\u2019 Assembly 2025 went ahead at the national level in Switzerland last year, a similar project in Geneva was cancelled at short notice by local authorities in early 2026. <\/p>\n
Keystone \/ Alessandro Della Valle <\/p>\n
In Switzerland, a long-planned citizens\u2019 assembly was cancelled by Geneva authorities shortly before it was due to begin. With similar developments observed internationally, are these democratic tools in crisis?\u00a0\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
This content was published on <\/p>\n
April 29, 2026 – 09:00\n<\/p>\n
In recent years, around 20 citizens\u2019 assemblies have taken place in Switzerland at local, cantonal and national levels. A key question is whether the experimental gatherings can help develop political solutions.<\/p>\n
Canton Geneva had planned a citizens\u2019 assembly for democracy that was scheduled to start in March. Citizens selected by lot were to discuss how democracy could be improved in the canton, which has a population of around 500,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Switzerland, we are sometimes caught in a perfection trap,\u201d says Victor Sanchez-Mazas, a political researcher at the University of Geneva. Since Swiss democracy performs well in international comparisons, problems such as low voter turnout are overlooked. Sanchez-Mazas spent years preparing the project for a citizens\u2019 assembly along with university colleagues and government officials.<\/p>\n
Geneva pulls plug on citizens\u2019 assembly<\/p>\n
This preparatory work now appears to have been in vain. At the end of February, the canton cancelled the citizens\u2019 assembly, at least for 2026. The move followed a resolution passed by a majority in the cantonal parliament opposed to the assembly. The project lacked a \u201cspecific mandate\u201d and existed in a \u201cvague institutional space\u201d, the parliamentary majority criticisedExternal link<\/a>. There was also criticism over the transparency of the funding.<\/p>\n Sanchez-Mazas says the decision sends \u201ca bad signal at a time of global democratic backsliding\u201d. Geneva\u2019s politicians, he says, may have overlooked Switzerland\u2019s role as a champion of democracy.<\/p>\n \n More<\/p>\n More <\/p>\n Democracy\n <\/p>\n Swiss youth seek ways out of mental health crisis <\/p>\n This content was published on <\/p>\n Nov 24, 2023 <\/p>\n Eighty adolescents and young adults chosen by lot are looking for solutions. Will Swiss politics listen to them? <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Read more: Swiss youth seek ways out of mental health crisis Citizens\u2019 assemblies are no panacea for problems such as populism or polarisation. Yet Sanchez-Mazas is convinced that democracy must engage citizens and keep evolving. \u201cWe should not see the democratic institutions from the 19th century as no longer perfectible,\u201d he argues. <\/p>\n The Geneva citizens\u2019 assembly was intended as an open debate on how to strengthen democracy. Instead, it made headlines for its last-minute cancellation rather than any new ideas. A thousand people had registered to participate.<\/p>\n Momentum after Irish citizens\u2019 assembly success<\/p>\n By Swiss standards, the rejection was abrupt. But is the decision part of a broader global trend?<\/p>\n Democracy is losing ground, and populist parties are gaining support in many places. For decades, the world has grown more autocratic. Against this backdrop, many welcomed the news in 2018 that a citizens\u2019 assembly in Ireland had helped to pave the way for broadly supported abortion legislationExternal link<\/a>. The idea of bringing randomly selected citizens together in the form of assemblies was gaining momentum.<\/p>\n Many saw the solutions-oriented, intensive exchange of arguments \u2013 known as deliberation \u2013\u00a0 as bridging the gap between elected-party politics and citizens. Unlike polarised referendum campaigns, such assemblies were intended to prevent populist decisions and develop workable solutions.<\/p>\n Ireland is \u201cregarded as a pioneer in the use of citizens\u2019 assemblies\u201d, says the country\u2019s official website, while also noting: \u201cThere is currently no active citizens\u2019 assembly.\u201d<\/p>\n The situation in Germany and Belgium<\/p>\n In Germany, the new federal government abolished the \u201ccitizen participation unit\u201d in 2025.<\/p>\n The association Mehr Demokratie criticised the decision, noting that citizens\u2019 assemblies were \u201cbooming everywhere\u201d \u2013 at least at the local level. Around 50 local processes take place each year in Germany, and activity at the level of the federal states has reached a \u201crecord high\u201d, the association tells Swissinfo.<\/p>\n \n More<\/p>\n More <\/p>\n Global elections\n <\/p>\n How decades of debate over Stuttgart\u2019s train station boosted local democracy <\/p>\n This content was published on <\/p>\n Mar 18, 2026 <\/p>\n In the debate over Stuttgart\u2019s main railway station, politicians have learned lessons and, with Swiss support, bolstered local democracy. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Read more: How decades of debate over Stuttgart\u2019s train station boosted local democracy The most active examples can be found in Belgium. In German-speaking regions, they are an key part of local politics. \u201cBelgium is further ahead than Switzerland: we have been experimenting with citizens\u2019 assemblies for 25 years,\u201d says Julien Vrydagh, an associate professor in social sciences at Hasselt University. \u201cIn the German-speaking regions, where politics are less polarised and many politicians work part-time, I haven\u2019t noticed any slowdown.\u201d<\/p>\n The situation is different in Brussels and in French-speaking Wallonia. There, so-called deliberative committeesExternal link<\/a> have a legal basis within the political system. Yet no new proceedings have been launched since 2024. A citizens\u2019 assembly on climate issues took place in 2025. \u201cCitizens\u2019 assemblies are part of the institutional landscape by law, but there is a lack of political will to activate them,\u201d says Vrydagh.<\/p>\n The political right is critical of citizens\u2019 assemblies<\/p>\n The reason lies in shifting majorities. \u201cRight-wing parties are now the largest political force in both regions,\u201d Vrydagh explains. \u201cThey are critical of citizens\u2019 councils. They find the processes too expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n In Geneva, too, a centre-right parliamentary majority opposed the project. Vrydagh sees a fundamental problem in the relationship between citizens\u2019 assemblies and elected officials. \u201cCitizens\u2019 assemblies are always dependent on the goodwill of politicians,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n This could be avoided if their recommendations carried more political weight. \u201cFor example, if citizens\u2019 councils had the right to veto legislative proposals from parliament, parliament would have to work with them,\u201d he says. He also points to another approach: letting the public initiate a citizens\u2019 assembly themselves, as is already possible in Belgium\u2019s German-speaking community.<\/p>\n According to Vrydagh, it was primarily the Greens in Belgium who promoted citizens\u2019 assemblies. \u201cThe Greens had a huge agenda for democratic reform,\u201d he says, and worked to build broad acceptance.<\/p>\n He also criticises the current government in Wallonia for failing to act on the recommendations of a climate citizens\u2019 assembly. One of the \u201cbiggest risks of citizen participation\u201d, he argues, is setting up assemblies without using their results. \u201cThen it will backfire. If you don\u2019t take up the recommendations, people feel instrumentalised. Not even just the participants, but the entire public following the project,\u201d he says, referring to the \u201cFrench situation\u201d.<\/p>\n \n More<\/p>\n More <\/p>\n Democracy\n <\/p>\n Our democracy newsletter <\/p>\n If you are a fan of democracy, then you\u2019ve come to the right place. We report on the latest democratic developments, debates and challenges. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Read more: Our democracy newsletter The national climate assembly in France<\/p>\n Following the Yellow Vests protests, President Emmanuel Macron convened a national climate council to draft measures that would be widely accepted \u2013 unlike the policy proposals that had sparked the protests in the first place.<\/p>\n However, the authorities implemented only a very small number of the 150 proposals put forward by the citizens\u2019 assembly.<\/p>\n Macron\u2019s \u201chighly public U-turn on the promise of an unfiltered adoption\u201d may have \u201creinforced mistrust of political institutions\u201d, says a scholarly analysisExternal link<\/a> of climate citizens\u2019 assemblies in several countries.<\/p>\n Part of the politicisation of a democratic instrument: activists from the radical climate action group Extinction Rebellion calling for a citizens\u2019 assembly in autumn 2022, whilst chaining themselves to the fence outside the British Parliament. <\/p>\n Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved <\/p>\n Rikki Dean, an associate professor of politics at the University of Southampton, contributed to this analysis. He cites another reason why such assemblies might fail: their politicisation.<\/p>\n This could also be a factor in the Geneva case.<\/p>\n In general, Dean has observed an increase in citizens\u2019 assemblies in recent years, \u201cespecially on climate topics\u201d.<\/p>\n The politicisation of citizens\u2019 assemblies<\/p>\n Yet, according to Dean, citizens\u2019 assemblies are \u201cincreasingly seen as a left-wing intervention\u201d.<\/p>\n He outlines where support lies across the political spectrum: \u201cThe centre-left and, more surprisingly, the environmental left have been very in favour of these processes, but reactions of the centre-right have been quite mixed, varying from country to country.\u201d The far right, he adds, is generally very critical of the format, preferring more direct forms of participation such as referendums.<\/p>\n \n More<\/p>\n More <\/p>\n Global elections\n <\/p>\n Why the AfD is keen on Switzerland\u2019s direct democracy <\/p>\n This content was published on <\/p>\n Feb 24, 2025 <\/p>\n The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has long advocated for \u201cSwiss-style\u201d direct democracy. What does the party hope to achieve with this? <\/p>\n![\"Person](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/5f36e1c8ae183f62bdb25b0e8b226383-dsc00512-data.jpg\")
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