Local referendums in France: a disappointing experience

Abstract

The rise of direct democracy in France is worth taking note of. For a long time the so-called ‚Republican‘ tradition has been suspicious that the intervention of ordinary citizens in political decision-making processes would only create opportunities for special interests to become mixed up with the interests of the general public. That is why it was only the elected representatives of the citizens, not local communities themselves, which were entitled to protect and defend the Nation's interests. Moreover, the history of the 19th century reminds us that the 1852 national referendum – when Napoleon III managed to turn the 1848 Republic into an imperial regime – was the first example of political manipulation. Since then France has been reluctant to use what have been termed plebiscites. A hundred years later President De Gaulle dared to call for national referendums as a way of overcoming opposition to his proposals from MPs within both the majority and the opposition parties. That is why it is only recently – years after it turned to decentralisation – France has embarked on direct democracy as a means for modernising government. Nowadays, as in other European countries, local direct democracy seems to be a fashionable cure for the growing deficit in the citizens' confidence in their councillors' capacity to manage local affairs in the best interests of local communities. Tools for direct democracy comprise a mixture of all the processes that allow citizens to be more closely connected with the making of regulations and policies that are usually the exclusive responsibility of local councils, or to the elaboration of major decisions that are related to local services and utilities. So it can be said that direct democracy can take place at various stages in a local authority's life: upstream of decision-making processes, through information and consultation, within the process, usually through some kind of co-decision-making with the responsible local institution; but also in some cases downstream, when it relates to monitoring and evaluating the enactment of policies.