Instruments Of Direct Democracy Research Articles

Explaining the impact of citizens’ initiatives on social movements: insights from the Spanish housing movement

ABSTRACT How do instruments of direct democracy affect the social movement organisations that sponsor them? Drawing on social movement studies and direct democracy research, we argue that direct democracy has a transformative effect on its sponsors because it triggers a triple process of movement building, learning, and bargaining with political elites. This triple process sets in motion enduring trends within the organisation that has undertaken the burden of promoting the initiative. We illustrate this argument with the case of a people’s legislative initiative (a non-binding mechanism of direct democracy) organised by a housing rights organisation between 2011 and 2013 to counter the eviction crisis in Spain. This initiative did not result in the reform that activists demanded. Nevertheless, it contributed to consolidating the sponsor organisation, innovating its repertoire of action, and broadening its strategic options.

The system functions of direct democracy - a ranking of 103 countries in the world

We introduce a new framework of the functions of direct democracy within a democratic political system. These are: (1) channeling political input into the decision-making arenas by circumventing organized interests (input function), (2) channeling political issues out of the representative decision-making system (exit function), and (3) producing decisions about political questions (decision function). Based on the analysis of 277 instruments of direct democracy on the national level in 103 countries around the world, we find that the input and exit functions are rather unbalanced in their dynamics. The exit function shows a tendency to strengthen the concentration of power, whereas the input function rarely allows for access to both decision-making arenas. However, once issues reach the referendum, the impact is often strong, and only a small minority of states conduct referendums without any formal consequences. Beyond these results, the presented approach allows to start long-time observations of the state of direct democracy in democratic systems.

Equality via bottom-up referendums? The role of initiators

Direct democratic instruments are discussed by politicians and academia as a means to bring citizens “back in” and thereby to increase support for democracy. Especially bottom-up referenda are expected to offer disadvantaged groups an opportunity to put their issues on the agenda. Yet, the question remains open whether they are really successful in this regard. Are disadvantaged groups able to pursue their interests via direct democratic instruments? Or are (successful) bottom-up referenda mostly initiated by groups that are already influential to further improve their status? Encompassing, comparative research is missing. In order to close these research gaps, this paper addresses the following questions empirically: (1) Which groups initiate bottom-up votes? (2) How do the bills proposed by different groups relate to equality? And finally, (3) which bills succeed at the ballot? To answer these questions, we employ a descriptive analysis of all national direct democratic votes in European democracies between 1990 and 2015. We detect that bottom-up direct democratic instruments can give disadvantaged groups an opportunity to put their issues on the agenda. Our findings can serve as a basis for further, in-depth statistical analyses.

Do populists want direct democracy? Examining how thick and thin populist attitudes are associated with the Finnish Citizens’ Initiative

ABSTRACT Theoretical works suggest that populist attitudes are associated with demands for direct democracy in the form of referendums. However, it remains unclear how populist attitudes relate to other direct-democratic instruments such as citizens’ initiatives. We therefore examine whether populist attitudes affect the attitudes toward the Citizens’ Agenda Initiative (CI) in Finland with the help of the national election study from 2019 (n = 1598). We study (1) whether populist attitudes are associated with positive attitudes towards the CI (2) whether populist attitudes increase the use of the CI, and (3) the interplay between anti-elitism, anti-immigration, and anti-pluralism as driving forces behind attitudes towards and using the CI. The results suggest that anti-elitism has a negative link to satisfaction with the CI, and anti-pluralism is associated with lower likelihood of using the CI. Hence there is little to suggest that populist attitudes are strong drivers of involvement in this kind of direct-democratic participation.

Direct democracy and equality: context is the key

AbstractDirect democratic instruments are increasingly applied in many European countries. They are subject to an ongoing public—and often highly controversial—debate. The question of how direct democracy relates to equality, i.e. if direct democratic instruments have the potential to foster equality or if they lead to more inequality, is crucial in this debate. Research has struggled to come up with a general answer to this question with scholars assuming equality as well as inequality-promoting effects of direct democratic outputs. In this paper, we try to shed new light on this controversial debate and argue that the impact of direct democracy on equality essentially depends on the social and political context in which the decisions take place. In order to examine the impact of context factors on direct democratic outputs, we first analyze the influence of country-specific variables such as the level of equality and the age of democracy—applying large-N multilevel logistic regressions. Yet, these statistical analyses offer no clear results: the effects of the country-specific variables are rather blurry and hard to make meaning of. The result suggests that other factors than the ones we included in the regressions are decisive for the effect of direct democratic instruments on equality. Therefore, in a second step, we demonstrate how country-and case-specific variables such as social and political characteristics impact the outcomes of direct democracy, using the same-sex marriage referendums in Ireland and Slovenia in 2015 as examples. We conclude that context factors are too complex to be grasped in a large-N, statistical analysis. This means that to understand how context influences the effects of direct democratic instruments on equality, for now, one has to go beyond the lens of statistical analysis and look at the respective cases in great depth and detail.

Nation-Building in Kazakhstan: Ethno-Confessional Contexts

The scientific article is devoted to current issues - the study of the development of nation-building and the unique model of interethnic and interfaith relations in Kazakhstan.Aim. To propose a periodization of the main stages of transformational and socio-political processes of nation-building in the Republic of Kazakhstan, at each of which the corresponding regulatory legal acts of their legitimization were adopted.Tasks. To analyze the periods of development of nation-building, changes in the sphere of interethnic relations in the republic over the years of independence, in accordance with the constitutional reform approved in a popular referendum on June 5, 2022. Conduct a political analysis of the transformation into the socio-political practice of the fundamental principle of the Basic Law of the country — “public harmony” and in general in the regulation of interethnic relations.Methods. To substantiate the results of the study, a variety of scientific methods were used, reflecting the peculiarities of the development of national development. Taking into account the specifics of ethno-political and integration processes in the social and regional context, determining their nature, comparative analysis, prolegomens, communication platforms and social networks were used. The methods of crowdsourcing, forsyth, road map are widely used.Results. The management of ethno-professional processes is undoubtedly one of the most important aspects of the functioning of the State and the tasks of society. The competent definition of problem areas allows for the development of preventive measures and the avoidance of both inter-ethnic and intra-ethnic tensions and the minimization of negative impact on the development of State and religious relations. The proposed recommendations will improve the mechanisms and tools of ethno-political management in State national policy, consolidate the model of social harmony and national unity in political documents and legislative practice.Conclusions. The effective Kazakh model of ethno-confessional harmony is based on two main components: popular representation as a reflection of the political integration of Kazakhstanis and coverage of the entire spectrum of legal ethnicities and confessions in socio-political processes. The creation and activities of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, during the years of independence, as a key socio-political structure in national politics, acts as an instrument of direct democracy and is, in fact, a people’s representation.

Libertanska politika, građanstvo i sloboda: politički izazovi direktne demokratije

Libertarian politics in pluralistic democracies should be implemented within the constitutional-democratic framework of government, which is based on the constitutional logic of rights and obligations. Without this, libertarian politics cannot fulfill its fundamental political purpose in democratic regimes of government. There are several modalities by which it is possible to produce politics with libertarian elements in contemporary polyarchies, and most often this is achieved through different forms of direct political participation. Citizens can thus expand the milieu of participation in politics, at least when the unhindered use of the instruments of direct democracy or the autonomous gathering and non-violent protest of individuals against the government is ensured, but the key problem is that often different political actors and state power manipulate the practical use of the institute of direct democracy and so deliberately destroy their libertarian potential. Since contemporary government regimes have an emphasized representative, pluralistic, and democratic nature, in political freedom, equal political treatment, and the rights of citizens are normatively ensured by the policy of constitutionalism, while the disadvantages of representative government are tried to be prevented, reduced and eliminated through the supplementary application of different forms of direct democracy or direct political participation. However, it is not always easy to ensure that all individuals and target groups feel protected, satisfied and equal in modern states, primarily due to the contingent nature of polycentric politics. Keywords: libertarian politics, citizenship, freedom, direct democracy, participation, referendum populism, emancipation, manipulation. Literatura

MODERN TOOLS OF DIRECT DEMOCRACY IN THE US PUBLIC LIFE

Nowadays, in the era of multiple digital platforms for decision-making, the public and governmental interest towards direct democracy instruments is constantly growing. The goal of this article is to determine the spheres of social life where direct democracy is most effective. The study will contain the analysis of existing societies where direct democracy is already implemented, the US society in particular. The definition of the modern direct democracy instruments will be given, as well as the legislative base of such instruments in various states of the USA and the criteria for analyzing all precedents of direct democracy in the USA in 2011-2020, taking into consideration their legal status in different states. The conclusion of this article is the percentage ratio of direct democracy precedents in the USA in different spheres of social life.

Referenda w Księstwie Liechtensteinu

REFERENDA IN THE PRINCIPALITY OF LIECHTENSTEINAfter the end of the First World War, Liechtenstein abandoned its previous ties with Austria and turned – politically and economically – towards its other neighbour, Switzerland. The result of these ties was, among other things, the adoption of certain political solutions, typical of Helvetia and adopted by the Principality in the constitution in 1921. One of these solutions became referenda, used as an instrument of direct democracy. Their reception was successful, and today Liechtenstein is the second European country in terms of numbers (after Switzerland) to use this method of decision-making. Until 1st October 2022, 87 referenda had been held in which citizens answered 114 questions, accepting just over 40 per cent of them. This tool will probably continue to be used in the near future, as it is a solution that is already tried and tested and well -established in the country’s political system. Referendum questions in Liechtenstein mostly concerned constitutional matters, the adoption of specific laws, as well as infrastructure projects requiring approval for certain costs. These issues generally did not differ from referendum questions in other European countries.

Demokracja bezpośrednia w Austrii – praktyka i perspektywy rozwoju

DIRECT DEMOCRACY IN AUSTRIA – PRACTICE AND DEVELOPMENT PROSPECTS First, the article traces the historical development of and legal regulations related to the instruments of direct democracy in the Second Republic. It details such forms of direct democracy as: the obligatory and optional referendum (Volksabstimmung), consultative referendum (Volksbefragung) and popular legislative initiative (Volksbegehren), as well as provides historical examples of their use. The latter part of the article elaborates on the positions of the main political parties in Austria and federal coalition plans for the years 2003-2020 against the backdrop of popularisation of forms of direct democracy. The research hypothesis adopted assumes that there is no agreement among the Austrian establishment as to whether direct democracy should become a permanent and significant supplement to representative democracy. The scarce interest in referendums and non-binding (consultative) referendums in Austria results from institutional and legal barriers, which make it difficult to initiate any forms of direct democracy, as well as from the huge influence of political parties that support representative democracy.

Legal Instruments of Social Control in Swiss and Polish Self-Government: A Doctrinal and Legal Study

Abstract One of the basic instruments of direct democracy is the referendum, which is particularly developed in Switzerland. In Poland, due to historical conditions, there is no tradition of using referendums; however, in recent years, the participation of citizens in public co-decision has started to be implemented through the instruments of governance (participatory democracy), i.e. the village council fund and participatory budgeting. Apart from the basic function, i.e. active participation in making public decisions, all the above-mentioned instruments should also fulfill another important role: it is social control in the financial sphere. Therefore, this study attempts to answer the following research question: do the instruments of direct and participatory democracy fulfil the function of social control in the field of public financial decisions, and if so, how? According to the adopted hypothesis, both the forms of direct and participatory democracy also constitute (contain) elements of social control of the activities of public authorities. And by their very nature, these legal instruments of social control are implemented in the form of ex ante external control. To verify this view, the study interprets the content of foreign and domestic acts of universally binding law (cantonal constitutions, statutory provisions).

Mapping Political Populism in the European Post-Transitional Periphery

This article comparatively analyzes the manifestations and various factors of political populism in the European post-transitional periphery. The main difficulty in mapping political populism in the European post-transitional periphery and defining populist parties most accurately is that, unlike most political forces in developed democracies, such parties do not belong to traditional parties. Moreover, their ideology combines the positions of both right and left parties, which makes it extremely difficult to place them on the classical right-left scale of the party spectrum. The political agenda of the populist parties of the European post-transition peripheral countries has a different content, but it usually comes down to updating issues that are hushed up by the political establishment: protecting national and cultural identity, taking tough measures aimed at combating corruption and crime, protecting traditional family values, and even harsh criticism of the Council of Europe, the OSCE and the EU and their institutions. A distinctive feature of the populist forces was also that in their majority they called for the protection of the rights and interests of ordinary people and the wider use of the instruments of direct democracy, and thus directly opposed one of the fundamental principles of liberal democracy, taking into account the opinion of the minority. The article analyzes the emergence of a populist environment, where the responsibility, trust and dignity of politicians are distorted, which in turn leads to a crisis of understanding and civiliarchic culture. The influence of populist parties has grown and most European post-transitional peripheral countries have at least one successful populist party, and populists are among the most influential parties. It is noteworthy that civil society organizations have identified the activities of populist leaders and their parties as the main threat facing the Eastern Partnership countries. Using populist technologies, mainly in the context of an election campaign, leaders and their political groups seek to manipulate public opinion and change the alignment of political parties in the European post-transitional periphery.

FEATURES OF DIRECT DEMOCRACY IN SWITZERLAND: POLITICAL AND LEGAL ANALYSIS

The tools of realization of direct democracy in Switzerland are considered. The Swiss political system, levels of government and distribution of powers between institutions are analyzed. Emphasis is placed on the fact that direct democracy allows the population to directly influence important decisions at all levels. Swiss citizens have the opportunity to vote on their own through a popular initiative and a referendum, which is optional and mandatory. The historical principles of development of instruments of direct democracy are considered. Assumptions are made about possible risks and shortcomings in the process of implementing direct democracy. The point is that extreme right-wing forces may abuse the instruments of democracy to amend existing legislation. The goal is to promote politicians' own interests. With the help of political technologies, in particular the use of populist slogans, inaccurate statistics and false facts, the leaders of radical parties manipulate the opinion of citizens, inciting them to put forward certain projects to national referendums. The assumption is substantiated that the vote of citizens can lead to the tyranny of the majority. Legislation and responsibility of citizens minimize the risk of such a scenario. The political and legal bases for the use of direct democracy in Switzerland are analyzed. Comparing the advantages and risks of decision-making with such a system, it is concluded that it is optimal for today. The focus of Switzerland's direct democracy is a compromise dialogue between citizens and the authorities. The draft law «On Local Referendum» № 5512 was considered. Its purpose is to return to the citizens of Ukraine the constitutional right to independently resolve issues of local significance by the territorial community by direct vote. Suggestions for improving the content of this bill have been formulated. We are talking about: the expediency of dividing referendums into types; analysis of the percentage of turnout when considering issues of local importance, increasing the number of questions for voting, etc. It is noted that in order to successfully use the Swiss experience in Ukrainian society, these proposals require broad discussion with the involvement of political scientists and lawyers, awareness of their own responsibility to politicians and the public.

The impact of direct democracy on policy change: insights from European citizens’ initiatives

Scholarship about both politics and policy tends to represent tools of direct democracy as veto points that are used to prevent policy change. In this study, we move beyond this unidimensional view and explain the conditions under which instruments of direct democracy can be conducive to policy change. We investigate both the direct and indirect effects of citizens’ initiatives to show that, under certain conditions, these can provide an opportunity for incremental yet potentially transformative policy change. We offer a systematic and comparative assessment of the policy effects generated by a set of European Citizens’ Initiatives (ECIs). ECIs provide an ideal setting for uncovering the potential indirect policy effects since they are not legally binding. Interestingly, some ECIs had tangible effects on EU policies, and these effects materialised over time and at different levels of the EU’s political system, and can be regarded as building blocks for potentially transformative policy change.

Comparative Solutions of Referendum Democracy Concerning Bosnia and Herzegovina

The authors consider the referendum as the most pronounced form of direct democracy, which is direct decision-making where citizens express themselves by direct and secret ballot on a particular issue. It is not a substitute for representative democracy, but its corrective factor. In this paper, the authors give a systematic overview of good practice of referendums as an instrument of direct democracy, primarily in Switzerland, Italy, Croatia, Denmark, Serbia, Slovenia, Germany, USA, UK, etc., but also the place of referendum democracy in the legal order of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The authors will try to show that a referendum in some of these countries can be a great democratic step forward, but that it can often be not only an instrument for direct will but a negation of direct democracy in several cases. In support of this claim, the authors will point out the legal and political aspects of conducting the referendum.

Single issue EU referendums: tying hands, domestic effects and the challenge of consentification

ABSTRACT Single-issue referendums – which give voters a say on specific European Union (EU) policies or general questions of European integration – were rarely employed before the 2000s, but they have since become commonplace. Examples include Greece’s 2015 referendum on negotiations with the EU and International Monetary Fund (IMF), Hungary’s 2016 referendum on the relocation of refugees between EU member states and the UK’s 2016 vote to leave the EU. This article asks why we are seeing more single-issue referendums in the EU. Surveying different theoretical perspectives on the conditions under which such votes occur, it considers single-issue referendums as being driven by (1) the search for strategic advantage in a two-level game, (2) domestic effects and (3) problems of consentification. Case studies of eight single-issue referendums show that domestic effects matter but offer limited evidence of hand tying. Most single-issue referendums, it finds, were called by governments wrestling with issues that could win legal approval but not political legitimacy. This instrument of direct democracy will remain a feature of EU politics, we contend, as member states wrestle with domestic effects and the challenge of (de)legitimating EU decisions through traditional means.

Attitudes vs. actions? Direct-democratic preferences and participation of populist citizens

Direct-democratic instruments are often seen as a cure for the current disenchantment with representative democracy. While research has begun to investigate whether direct-democratic instruments match the procedural preferences of populist citizens, it is an under-researched question whether populist citizens and populist voters would actually participate in direct-democratic voting. This study advances existing research by focussing both on direct-democratic preferences and effective direct-democratic participation of different types of populist citizens in Germany—populist voters on the right and left and citizens with general populist attitudes. Analyses based on survey data from 2018 show that while populist citizens and right-wing populist voters display strong attitudinal sympathy for direct-democratic instruments, especially right-wing populist voters fail effectively to participate in direct-democratic voting. Those who strongly participate in direct-democratic procedures are sophisticated and postmaterialist citizens whose preferences hardly align with those of right-wing populist voters and citizens, widening rather than closing the ‘representation gap’.

Parliament–government–citizens. The place of the institution of direct democracy in the discussion on the shape of San Marino-European Union relations in the context of the referendum of 2013

The subject of the article is the issue of using the institutions of direct democracy in the process of shaping the directions of a very specific element of foreign policy – relations with the European Union, of which San Marino is not a member. While most of the referenda related to the European Union concern the accession of countries to this organization, the vote in 2013 was of a slightly different nature. Therefore, the author attempts to indicate how the use of the instruments of direct democracy by citizens, in a way in opposition to the institution of indirect democracy (parliament and its dependent government), can contribute to the decision-makers making political decisions desired by citizens, even in seemingly rather unusual (apart from the aforementioned accession referenda) for direct democracy, spheres as the directions of foreign policy.

Does Direct Democracy Enhance Politicians’ Perceptions of Constituents’ Opinions? Evidence from Switzerland

AbstractElected members of parliament (MPs) are supposed to represent their constituents and, thus, to have an accurate perception of citizens’ policy preferences. It is often assumed that direct democracy instruments, such as the popular initiative and the referendum, have a positive impact on MPs’ perceptual accuracy. This study assesses whether direct democracy has the expected positive effect in Switzerland. It measures how accurately MPs perceive their constituents’ opinions on a variety of policy proposals through a parallel survey of 97 national MPs and 4677 citizens. Empirical evidence shows that MPs perceive policy proposals that have been subjected to a direct democracy vote more accurately. Furthermore, MPs have a higher perceptual accuracy if the policy proposal submitted to a popular vote was conflictual with a narrow ballot outcome. Direct democracy thus fosters political representation as popular votes constitute an important source of information and sustain MPs’ ability to accurately assess citizens’ preferences.

If the Cure for the Ills of Democracy Is More Democracy, Might the Cure Be Worse than the Disease?☆

Declining turnout, declining party membership, declining aggregate vote for mainstream parties and increasing vote for anti‐party‐system parties all suggest a crisis of liberal party democracy. One suggested cure for the crisis of party democracy is more democracy within parties. But increased intraparty democracy, and increased use of instruments of direct democracy, such as recall, have their own potential costs. Following the example of de Tocqueville in looking to the United States, where intraparty democracy has a longer and deeper history, for lessons and warnings that might be applicable to Europe, this article points to polarization, alienation, intransigence, and decreased responsibility of political leaders – all feeding the anti‐party‐system narrative – as suggesting that the cure of more democracy may indeed be worse than the disease.