Democratic structure of a housing cooperative

The board of representatives taking a vote, Wohnungsgenossenschaft WEISSENSEE

Housing cooperatives are democratic member enterprises.

Each shareholder has special rights to a say in the enterprise's decisions. The Cooperative Act prescribes democratic institutions such as the board of representatives, the supervisory board and the board of directors. Every cooperative has the same construction as stipulated by law.

All members of coops with more than 1,500 co-owners elect representatives for the board of representatives. This organ chooses delegates from amongst its members for the supervisory board that is the highest controlling committee and advisory board. It appoints the executive board of directors which runs the business for the cooperative.

In concordance with the basic democratic ideas of the cooperative each member has only one vote. Here, the number of votes does not depend on the numbers of shares a member has acquired: in cooperatives, it is membership not shareholding that counts.

Furthermore, a variety of other codetermination committees and advisory boards in most cooperatives exist, in order to infuse the idea of democratic participation into everyday life. These bodies handle statute questions, social issues, construction and rehabilitation measures or the management of open space. In addition one can find several instances of local committees or house speakers, whose role is to mediate the relationship between members and management in the housing cooperative. Committees dealing with neighbourhood conflicts have a special role within the various participatory bodies, dedicated to resolving disputes and promoting neighbourly relations in cooperative living.

Communication is an important condition for the participation of the members in the enterprise's events. Therefore, member newsletters are widespread and the new media, especially web sites, has grown in importance in recent years.