Since 2006, when it was tested for the first time, more than 50 so-called Civic Councils have been established on the local, regional and state level in Vorarlberg.
In 2013, the Vorarlberg state government has anchored the approach of a participatory democracy in its State Constitution and since that time, one to two state-wide Civic Councils are held each year, with the aim to include the population more intensely in major questions of state development.