Abstract
Are direct-democratic decisions more acceptable to voters than decisions arrived at through representative procedures? We conduct an experimental online vignette study with a German sample to investigate how voters’ acceptance of a political decision depends on the process through which it is reached. For a set of different issues, we investigate how acceptance varies depending on whether the decision is the result of a direct-democratic institution, a party in a representative democracy, or an expert committee. Our results show that for important issues, direct democracy generates greater acceptance; this finding holds particularly for those voters who do not agree with a collectively chosen outcome. However, if the topic is of limited importance to the voters, acceptance does not differ between the mechanisms. Our results imply that a combination of representative democracy and direct democracy, conditional on the distribution of issue importance among the electorate, may be optimal with regard to acceptance of political decisions.
Highlights
How can individual’s preferences be mapped into political outcomes that are broadly acceptable to the constituents who must comply with collective choices? This is a longstanding question in the history of democratic thought, and two avenues have been discerned ever since: democratic decision-making through ‘‘representative’’ and through ‘‘direct’’ processes
For a set of different issues, we investigate how acceptance varies depending on whether the decision is the result of a direct-democratic institution, a party in a representative democracy, or an expert committee
With the upsurge of what is perceived by many as a loss of confidence in the institutions of representative government, direct democracy increasingly has been seen as a preferable option for collective decision-making in recent decades: ‘‘Tensions have grown in most Western nations between the existing processes of representative democracy and calls by reformists for a more participatory style of democratic government’’ (Dalton et al 2001, p. 141)
Summary
This is a longstanding question in the history of democratic thought, and two avenues have been discerned ever since: democratic decision-making through ‘‘representative’’ and through ‘‘direct’’ processes. 14 et seq.), for one, wrote: The people, in whom the supreme power resides, ought to have the management of everything within their reach: what exceeds their abilities must be conducted by their ministers. With the upsurge of what is perceived by many as a loss of confidence in the institutions of representative government, direct democracy increasingly has been seen as a preferable option for collective decision-making in recent decades: ‘‘Tensions have grown in most Western nations between the existing processes of representative democracy and calls by reformists for a more participatory style of democratic government’’ The question arises whether voters see directdemocratic decisions as more acceptable than decisions achieved through representative procedures
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