Long pieces of text with many difficult words. City council documents are often full of jargon. Councilor Robin Peters (26) from Echt also regularly struggles with it.
“I think that the language is often incomprehensible to many citizens and that this is partly the cause of the gap between politics and citizens,” he explains.
Youngest councilor
Four years ago, at the age of 22, Peters joined the city council of Echt-Susteren on behalf of the CDA. He is currently the youngest councilor in that borough. “In the beginning, the language took a lot of getting used to. Sometimes concepts really come up that you have no idea what they mean. But at a certain point you get used to it.”
In the run-up to the municipal elections, Peters believes it is important that extra attention is paid to this subject. “I think the low turnout in the elections is partly because people feel a distance because of the difficult words. That is why we have to keep our political language simple. Everyone should be able to understand it.”
Sample
A random sample on the street shows that many people do not understand a randomly chosen council proposal. “No, I wouldn’t know. GR, DB, AB, all those abbreviations. I really wonder why it has to be. Often they write down words of which they themselves do not know what it means. I am convinced of that”, says a gentleman. Another passer-by makes an attempt: “I think DB stands for daily management. But for many people this part is probably incomprehensible.”
Abbreviations
Peters himself often struggles with abbreviations in city council documents. “That makes it difficult to read. I can well imagine that citizens wonder what certain abbreviations mean when they touch items. Sometimes you can’t find them on the internet either.”
Behind the scenes, the councilor often talks about it with colleagues. “I emphasize that it must be understandable for everyone. I don’t use jargon myself. I write and speak in a normal way, just like I have contact with friends.”
Code of law
According to Peters, the use of jargon is rooted in the civil service system. “Documents are often drawn up by civil servants and also have interfaces with the code. Then you get jargon in it faster.” But that’s not the only reason, Peters thinks. “It is probably also a matter of habituation and age.”
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