Podcast: Nationwide referendums? So what?

Let’s assume there are nationwide referendums. Would people be happier with politics? Or would corporations with a lot of money and populist votes have more influence? A thought experiment.

Justus Kliss
ARD capital studio

Referendums have been a common instrument for more direct democracy in the federal states for years. At the federal level, however, there are no referenda. In the Basic Law, this option is only available for two cases: when it comes to a new constitution or a merger of federal states.

For the Bundestag election, the Left and AfD promise to make nationwide referendums possible in the future. The CDU was always strictly against it. The other parties in the Bundestag have spoken out in favor of it earlier, but they propose other forms of citizen participation in the election manifestos.

What happened if…

What if nationwide referendums were possible on all topics in the future? What if, for example, the population could vote on speed limits on motorways and climate protection measures throughout Germany? Do we then have more influence on politics? Or would corporations with a lot of money and populist votes have more influence?

The two correspondents answer these questions Vera Wolf Fight and Justus Kliss from the ARD capital studio in Berlin and search for the future podcast of daily News together with experts for answers.

Thought experiments in the Tagesschau podcast

“sometimes accepted” is the award-winning * future podcast of the daily News. Every week a six-person team of correspondents thinks from the ARD capital studio in Berlin a current political idea into the future and plays through the possible consequences in a thought experiment: Let’s assume that Germany would no longer export weapons – what would the political consequences be? Or suppose that cash would be abolished – what effects would that have on our everyday lives and the economy?

Numerous experts help to find answers to these questions, positive examples from other countries show what is already possible elsewhere today and thus provide new impulses in political debates.

You can listen to the audio podcast “once accepted” at home or on the go on your smartphone at any time. Every Thursday a new episode appears here on our website in the Tagesschau app, in the ARD audio library and on numerous other podcast platforms.

* Winner of the “Prix Europa” 2020 in the “Digital Audio Project” category