Instruments Of Direct Democracy Research Articles

Current Trajectories of Democracy – Diagnosis, Implications, Proposals

type="graphical" xml:id="gpol12219-abs-0001"> There is agreement across the various contributions to the special issue that the state of democratic systems has deteriorated – not only in Europe but also in the United States. Of course, attention must be paid to the different contexts, reasons and the degrees to which democracies are experiences a period of unease. There is also agreement as to the necessity of national democracies - and the EU as a supranational political actor - to re-think current practices and to allow for a new democratic ethos that gives greater room for contestation.

Sense or sensibility? Political attitudes and voting behaviour of party members, voters, and supporters of the Italian centre-left

We consider the effect of primary elections on party membership and electoral behaviour. Direct democracy instruments trigger significant changes in the role and behaviour of grassroots members. The case of the Italian centre-left parties, and particularly the Democratic Party, is in this sense relevant, as for over a decade these parties have been reaching out to supporters in order to include them into decision-making processes, such as the selection of party leaders and candidates to legislative and executive offices. The distinction between members and supporters has blurred. The article focuses on voting behaviour and party attachment of three different groups of primary voters – namely, party members, supporters, and external voters. What is the difference between these three groups with regard to voting behaviour and motivations in primary elections? And what is the difference with regard to voting intentions in general elections? We examine these issues using original survey data collected in 2012 during the centre-left coalition’s primary elections. We highlight the consequences of the differences between members and supporters with regard to their voting behaviour and motivations.

Towards integrated urban agriculture systems: economic and valuation aspects

The Paper defines an integrated urban agriculture system (A-URBIS), outlining the complications associated with its launching and implementation, and a methodological guidelines for the valuation of an A-URBIS, taking into account the inclusive and qualitative impacts on the community. Finally the Paper proposes a Direct Deliberative Monetary Valuation procedure which derives from the combination of a participatory deliberative process, which is necessary to develop instruments of direct democracy, and Stated Preference Techniques, which are essential to capture the value related to inclusive use.

Deliberativa, diretta o partecipativa?

Representative democracy is currently challenged in all Western political systems. In Italy this challenge in recent years has been launched in a distinctive way by the Movimento Cinque Stelle (M5s, Five Star Movement). According to the leader of this Movement, Beppe Grillo, the widespread diffusion of information technology tools enables direct democracy, allowing citizens to take part in political decisions without politicians and political parties’ intermediation. The article aims, first, to explore the links and differences between the concepts of deliberative, direct and participatory democracy. On the basis of this conceptual clarification it then identifies which “idea” of democracy inspires the M5s. Analysis of documents and statements of the M5s shows that, in a very contradictory way, the Movement tries to combine three different challenges to representative democracy: a reformist challenge (through the strengthening of a set of instruments of direct democracy, such as referenda, within an institutional frame that remains centered on the parliament), an utopian challenge (the complete transcendence of representative democracy through the massive use of ICT tools) and a plebiscitary challenge (which is expressed via a top-down use of the web).

Signature requirements and citizen initiatives: Quasi-experimental evidence from Germany

Signature requirements are often used as hurdles to prevent overuse of direct democratic instruments such as citizen initiatives. We evaluate the causal effect of lowering signature requirements on the number of observed citizen initiative petitions. Based on municipal-level data for Germany, we make use of changes in signature requirements that occur at specific population thresholds to build an identification strategy using a regression discontinuity design. We find that reducing the signature requirement by 1 % point increases the probability of observing an initiative petition in a given city-year by 8–10 % points.

Climate change in Switzerland: a review of physical, institutional, and political aspects

Climate change is clearly discernible in observed climate records in Switzerland. It impacts on natural systems, ecosystems, and economic sectors such as agriculture, tourism, and energy, and it affects Swiss livelihood in various ways. The observed and projected changes call for a response from the political system, which in Switzerland is characterized by federalism and direct democratic instruments. Swiss climate science embraces natural and social sciences and builds on institutionalized links between researchers, public, and private stakeholders. In this article, we review the physical, institutional, and political aspects of climate change in Switzerland. We show how the current state of Swiss climate science and policy developed over the past 20 years in the context of international developments and national responses. Specific to Switzerland is its topographic setting with mountain regions and lowlands on both sides of the Alpine ridge, which makes climate change clearly apparent and for some aspects (tourist sector, hydropower, and extreme events) highly relevant and better perceivable (e.g., retreating glaciers). Not surprisingly the Alpine region is of central interest in Swiss climate change studies.This article is categorized under: Trans‐Disciplinary Perspectives > National Reviews

Direct Democracy and Political Trust: Enhancing Trust, Initiating Distrust Or Both?

This study investigates the relationship between direct democracy and political trust. We suggest a solution to the controversy in research centering on positive versus negative effects of direct democracy by analytically differentiating between the availability of direct democratic rights and the actual use of those rights. Theoretically, greater availability of direct democratic rights may enhance political trust by increasing citizens’ perception that political authorities can be controlled as well as by incentivizing political authorities to act trustworthily. In contrast, the actual use of the corresponding direct democratic instruments may initiate distrust as it signals to citizens that political authorities do not act in the public’s interest. We test both hypotheses for the very first time with sub-national data of Switzerland. The empirical results seem to support our theoretical arguments.

Direct Democracy and Political Trust: Enhancing Trust, Initiating Distrust–or Both?

AbstractThis study investigates the relationship between direct democracy and political trust. We suggest a solution to the controversy in research centering on positive versus negative effects of direct democracy by analytically differentiating between the availability of direct democratic rights and the actual use of those rights. Theoretically, greater availability of direct democratic rights may enhance political trust by increasing citizens' perception that political authorities can be controlled as well as by incentivizing political authorities to act trustworthily. In contrast, the actual use of the corresponding direct democratic instruments may initiate distrust as it signals to citizens that political authorities do not act in the public's interest. We test both hypotheses for the very first time with sub‐national data of Switzerland. The empirical results seem to support our theoretical arguments.

Parliaments and popular law-making: the German and Estonian experience in the interwar years

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.

Populism as a theoretical framework: modern aspect for political system

In the article considered the common and special approach in different European countries to the definition of populism, traced the evolution of the concept from the ancient period. Thus, we can state that the concept of populism is a multifaceted political construct that performs the integrative-cognitive function of structuring and constructing a complex and controversial political reality with elements of social, discursive and praxeological eclecticism. A characteristic feature of the actualization of populism is the extreme parameters of the functioning of the state-political organism of society and the value projections of its existence. The crisis of society, which generates a conceptual platform of populism, reflects the objective need for democratization of the foundations of social order and social life. In particular, the anti-elite orientation of populism is due to the need to expand the influence of the subject field and instruments of direct democracy and direct democracy. The anthropological optimism of populism contrasts with the static-consensual metaphysics of the elitis.

Populism as a theoretical framework: modern aspect for political system

In the article considered the common and special approach in different European countries to the definition of populism, traced the evolution of the concept from the ancient period. Thus, we can state that the concept of populism is a multifaceted political construct that performs the integrative-cognitive function of structuring and constructing a complex and controversial political reality with elements of social, discursive and praxeological eclecticism. A characteristic feature of the actualization of populism is the extreme parameters of the functioning of the state-political organism of society and the value projections of its existence. The crisis of society, which generates a conceptual platform of populism, reflects the objective need for democratization of the foundations of social order and social life. In particular, the anti-elite orientation of populism is due to the need to expand the influence of the subject field and instruments of direct democracy and direct democracy. The anthropological optimism of populism contrasts with the static-consensual metaphysics of the elitis.

Direct democracy at the national level in Poland. The case of referendum

The aim of the article is to analyze a referendum as the main institution characteristic of direct democracy at the national level in Poland. The article consists of two parts. First of them is connected with direct democracy before 1989, and the second one after 1989. Direct democracy has never been or is particularly esteemed in Poland. The referendum of 30 June 1946 was essentially instrumental and the initiators utilized it as a way to hold power and legitimize it. High expectations were placed on the transformation period after 1989. The referendum of 30 June 1946 was essentially instrumental. The initiators utilized it as a way to hold power and legitimize it. The next referendum of 29 November 1987 also became part of the negative practice of politicizing this instrument of direct democracy. High expectations were placed on the transformation period after 1989. The President’s referendum bill of November 1995 concerning the general granting of property rights to citizens was passed. This motion was approved because it was initiated by the President and then supported by the motion of a group of the SLD Deputies concerning the sharing out of State property. Under such circumstances those submitting the motion had a guaranteed majority necessary for taking an appropriate resolution. It became the grounds for the referendum which was held on 18 February 1996. The next referendum was the Constitution-approving one of 25 May 1997. The political scene was clearly divided into the supporters and opponents of the new Constitution. On 17 April 2003 the Sejm passed a resolution on ordering a nationwide referendum concerning Poland’s membership of the European Union.

The Paradoxes of Parliament–Citizen Connections in Hungary: A Window on the Political System

The main argument of this article is that parliament–citizen connections in Hungary have been conditioned by broad political systemic features between 1990 and 2010. After a brief review of the institutional choices that lead to the current parliamentary set-up, the connections between representatives and the represented are mapped out by examining the level of trust in the legislature, the focus of representation, types of MP–voter contact and diverse constituency-related activities. Further, direct democracy opportunities and the role of new communication techniques are investigated before and during the 2010 election campaign. The findings confirm some paradoxes: although MPs' activity towards citizens has increased, citizens do not connect with MPs to any greater degree; or when direct democracy instruments reach out towards parliament, parties can be found in the background. All in all, parliament's role has diminished with vague representation and accountability patterns.

The Influence of Direct Democracy on Political Interest, Electoral Turnout and Other Forms of Citizens’ Participation in Swiss Municipalities

Based on the data of a survey conducted among Swiss municipalities, this article inquires into the relationship between different institutional settings of local democracy and the amount of political interest of citizens as well as electoral participation and new forms of citizen participation like participatory planning or local agenda 21. The study identifies six distinct settings of local democracy in Switzerland, ranging from pure direct democracy to representative democracy. The analysis shows that the institutional setting of local democracy has no impact on the political interest of the citizens. It also reveals that instruments of direct democracy do not significantly weaken representative democracy as far as electoral participation is concerned. New forms of citizen participation are predominantly used alongside with means of direct democracy.

How to Tame Two Leviathans? - Revisiting the Effect of Direct Democracy on Local Public Expenditure

We explore how the vertical structure of direct democracy in a federal context affects expenditure decisions of sub-central governments. In so doing we revisit previous research on the effect of direct democratic institution on public policies. Particularly, the effect of upper-level (state) existence of direct democratic control on local expenditure. Empirically we exploit the fact that both states (cantons) and local governments (municipalities) enjoy a high autonomy in setting their degree of direct democracy. This allows us to take into account vertical differences between institutions, i.e. we can distinguish the effect of state direct democracy on local expenditures for municipalities with and without own direct democratic instruments. Considering 119 municipalities belonging to 22 Swiss cantons for the period 1993-2007 we highlight that municipalities without fiscal referenda belonging to cantons with fiscal referenda present higher expenditure, while the effect is much reduced and statistically significantly different for municipalities that also avail of referenda.

How electoral systems affect MPs’ positions

The question how different electoral systems affect the representation of voters in parliaments has been a thorny issue for a considerable time. While some research suggests that first-past-the-posts systems should lead to a closer correspondence between the preferences of the electoral district’s median voter and of its representative, other work concludes that in proportional representation (PR) systems, especially with open lists, candidates have an incentive to cultivate a strong personal vote.To study this question we take advantage of two peculiarities of the Swiss political system, namely that in the same chamber of the parliament some members are elected in PR and some in plurality elections and that direct democratic instruments play an important role. The second element, given that for a series of votes in parliament voters have to decide on the same issue, allows us to estimate the policy positions of members of parliament (MPs) and the median voter of each electoral district in the same policy space. We find that MPs elected in plurality elections are on average closer to their respective median voter. In PR districts MPs are much more widely spread around the median voters’ preferences.

Obstacles to citizen participation by direct democracy in Latin America: a comparative regional analysis of legal frameworks and evidence from the Costa Rican case

Starting from the 1980s, institutions of direct democracy were introduced into most Latin American constitutions. To date, the practical application of these institutions remains almost exclusively restricted to the subtype of government plebiscites while the use of citizen initiated instruments remains scarce. To explain the region's low frequency of use of citizen initiated instruments of direct democracy this explorative study proceeds in three sections. The first recapitulates regulatory legislation on, and practical experience with direct democracy in Latin America. The second proposes and applies an index for the comparative measurement of legal obstacles provided by institutional frameworks and goes on to discuss further explanatory propositions on factors that may interact with these legal obstacles to obstruct direct democratic citizen participation. Finally, these hypotheses are tested through an interview-based study with actors involved in the recent practical experience with direct democracy in Costa Rica. The study concludes that the institutional design of citizen initiated instruments of direct democracy alone does not suffice to explain the frequency of their practical application. Rather than this, application frequency appears to be a function of the combined interactive effects of legal institutional factors with sociological and political party factors such as strategic action preferences and party elites' attitudes.

Direct Democracy in Southern and East Africa: Referendums and Initiatives

There seems to be a worldwide trend towards direct democracy instruments such as referendums and initiatives. The African Union Charter (2007) and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) strategy papers (2003) recommend these instruments. Is direct democracy the panacea for the problem of strong personalisation of African party politics? If electoral democracy is the problem, is direct democracy the solution? The article describes the legal framework and the implementation in countries in Southern and East Africa. Referendums, which are solely implemented at the national level, were often used to support regime change in the 1960s (independence) and in the 1990s (multiparty systems) and to strengthen and finalise conflict resolution. Plebiscites, characterised by strong executive governmental campaigning and party dominance predominate and citizen initiatives are not common. The implementation of citizen initiatives at both national and local level could be an additional way of strengthening accountability.

Direct Democracy in the United States

The United States is hardly a model of direct democracy. Historically, our system has been notable for several institutions of government that might more accurately be described as distinctly and undemocratic. Against this backdrop of indirect undemocracy, we might ask how it happened that the instruments of direct democracy -- initiative, referendum, and recall -- gained a place in the American political system. This manuscript is a brief history of how direct legislation became a part of state and local government in America during the twentieth century.

Ex Interim Voting: An Experimental Study of Referendums for Public-Good Provision

In political economics, there is a growing interest in the analysis of outcomes under different constitutional rules. The empirical analysis in this field aims at testing the causal effects of constitutional differences by comparing political outcomes of one group of observations, which is treated by a constitutional rule, and a control group not treated by this rule. Prominent constitutional settings that are explored in this way are presidential and parliamentary regimes as ways to elect the executive, and majoritarian and proportional representation systems as ways to elect legislatures (Persson and Tabellini [2000], [2003]). Another comparison involves direct and representative democracy. Whereas Frey [1994], based on works by Pommerehne [1978], [1983], emphasizes the differences between direct and representative democracy as broad concepts of decision-making in his survey, more recent analyses compare outcomes of different instruments of direct democracy, such as the existence of a fiscal referendum or of a legislative initiative (see the surveys by Matsusaka [2004], Feld and Kirchgassner [2006]). According to that evidence, fiscal referendums and popular initiatives lead to more favorable fiscal and economic policy outcomes than purely representative democracy. While this literature mainly draws on field evidence, and thus has to cope with shortcomings of these data, the effect of voting on outcomes in public goods and tax-evasion games is increasingly studied in experimental analyses (see Alm, McClelland, and Schulze [1999] for referendum voting on public-good provision, fines, or the intensity of control; Feld and Tyran [2002] and Tyran and Feld [2006] on referendum voting on fines; and GUTH et al. [2004] on referendum voting versus delegation of choice of policy measures). These experimental analyses enable one to test the effects of individual characteristics of referendums exactly and thus provide more differentiated results than field studies. The paper by Fischer and Nicklisch [2007] belongs to this class of experimental studies that test the effect of referendums on public-good provision. In contrast