Abstract
SUMMARYThe two pioneers in introducing direct democratic instruments in modern Europe were France and Switzerland from the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. After the First World War different kinds of referendums and popular initiatives were also adopted by other countries. The Weimar Republic and the Republic of Estonia had the most noteworthy practice with direct democracy. This article examines the regulation and practice of popular rights in these two countries focusing on their function in the political system and on the relation of direct democracy and representative state organs. It seeks an answer to the question of how Parliaments were challenged by popular initiatives and how representative power reacted to direct democratic events.
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