Local Referenda Research Articles

Forms and mechanisms of participatory democracy

The most important aspects of effective citizen-government interaction, successful development of civil society institutions, community and state depend on forming, legal consolidation and practical use of an effective forms and mechanisms of participatory democracy in Ukraine. Effective practical use of participatory democracy depends on the legal framework, the government's willingness to cooperate, as well as the competence and willingness to engage with civil society activists and the proper development of civil society institutions that contribute to democratization and development of Ukrainian society. The levels of citizen-government interaction including an informational, informational-consultative, mutual participation have been expanded by singling out the constant dialogue and mutual participation, public control and e-democracy. The citizens’ appeals, electronic petitions, public hearings, meetings of citizens at the place of residence, local initiatives, local referendum, advisory bodies, self-organization bodies, public discussions and public expertise as the forms of participatory democracy have been described in the article. The differences between the forms of participatory democracy in terms of the order of their preparation, implementation and legal consequences have been indicated. The role of public participation in the budget process has been determined and the participation budget was singled out as a tool of the community for better understanding of local budget and forming their own projects. The advantages of practical use of participatory democracy for the public and the government have been clarified, in particular, strengthening the level of mutual dialogue, increasing its efficiency and the government's response to public problems; growing citizens' trust in the government; improving the image of government through the implementation of transparency, openness and involvement; and consideration of public recommendations by the subjects of power within the framework of certain procedures.

Postanowienia komisarza wyborczego dotyczące jednostek samorządu terytorialnego

Przedmiot badań: Przedmiotem artykułu jest charakterystyka postanowień komisarza wyborczego odnoszących się do jednostek samorządu terytorialnego. W obowiązującym stanie prawnym wy­stępują wątpliwości, czy postanowienia komisarza wyborczego mają charakter aktów stosowania, czy stanowienia prawa, które mogą być traktowane jako źródła prawa. Problematyka ta jest istotna zarówno w kontekście samodzielności samorządu terytorialnego oraz klasyfikacji aktów pochodzą­cych od komisarza wyborczego przez pryzmat prawnych form działania administracji.
 Cel badawczy: Celem badawczym jest pytanie o charakter prawny postanowień komisarza wy­borczego dotyczących samorządu terytorialnego.
 Metoda badawcza: W artykule została zastosowana metoda formalno-dogmatyczna. Artykuł obejmuje analizę regulacji prawnych upoważniających komisarza wyborczego do wydawania postanowień dotyczących jednostek samorządu terytorialnego zawartych w ustawach samorzą­dowych, kodeksie wyborczym oraz ustawie o referendum lokalnym. Artykuł uwzględnia także przegląd stanowisk doktryny oraz orzecznictwa sądów administracyjnych w tej materii.
 Wyniki: Na podstawie przeprowadzonych w artykule rozważań zostały sformułowane następujące konkluzje odnoszące się do postanowień komisarza wyborczego dotyczących jednostek samorządu terytorialnego: są to akty publicznoprawne o charakterze obligatoryjnym, które z punktu widzenia ich charakteru prawnego tworzą kategorię niejednolitą. Występują postanowienia komisarza wybor­czego będące aktami stosowania prawa o charakterze indywidualnym i konkretnym, które wykazują cechy zbliżone do aktów administracyjnych (np. postanowienie o stwierdzeniu wygaśnięcia manda­tu wójta czy radnego). Występują również postanowienia komisarza wyborczego wykazujące cechy właściwe dla aktów stanowienia prawa o charakterze powszechnie obowiązującym (postanowienia w sprawie tworzenia obwodów głosowania oraz okręgów wyborczych). Ta kompetencja komisarza wyborczego wywołuje wątpliwości z punktu widzenia zgodności z Konstytucją, która nie upoważ­nia tego organu do wykonywania funkcji prawotwórczych.

Article 35 Section 2 of the Act on the Local Referendum in the Light of the Constitutional Principle of Proportionality

Article 35 Section 2 of the Act on the Local Referendum in the Light of the Constitutional Principle of Proportionality

Deliberative Mini-publics Facilitating Voter Knowledge and Judgement: Experience from a Finnish Local Referendum

ABSTRACT This article examines the use of a Citizens’ Jury as a source of voter information in the context of a government-initiated (top-down) referendum. Several studies show the capacity of the Citizens’ Initiative Review (CIR) to enhance voters’ knowledge and capacity of judgement in ballot initiative processes. However, similar procedures have not been tested outside the U.S.A. or in the context of government-initiated referendums. Our case is a Citizens’ Jury on Referendum Options organised in the municipality of Korsholm (Finland) in 2019. Even though the referendum concerned a contested municipal merger, we find that jury's participants were nonetheless satisfied with the deliberative process and found it impartial. A large majority of voters in Korsholm had read the statement by the jury and thought it was a useful and trustworthy source of information. Based on a field experiment, we find that reading the statement increased trust in the jury, factual knowledge, issue efficacy and perspective-taking.

Why people vote in local level referendums: comparing Germany and the United States

ABSTRACT Although local level referendums have been quite common in the last three decades, there is little research on who participates. This article seeks to address this gap in the literature and analyses the determinants of turnout in local level referendums in Germany and the USA. Our analysis tests for explanatory power of civicness, political knowledge, interest in local politics, saliency of the referendum topic, party cues and citizens as decision-makers. It controls for satisfaction with democracy, voting in local elections and education. We use individual level data collected through an original survey in February–April 2018, which included respondents who had referendums organized in their community, since they became eligible to vote. In both countries voting in local level referendums is driven by engagement with elections and political knowledge, while civicness and interest in politics have mixed effects.

SUBJECT COMPOSITION OF THE MUNICIPAL LEGAL POLICY OF UKRAINE

The article examines the essence of municipal legal policy as a system of strategic management of self-governing activities. It is determined that the activity of voluntary associations of local self-government bodies as subjects of state municipal policy is one of the manifestations and forms of organizational independence of local self-government bodies in the implementation of the paradigm of regional interest. This independence is guaranteed by the Constitution of Ukraine, the European Charter of Local Self- Government, the laws of Ukraine "On Local Self-Government in Ukraine" and "On Associations of Local Self-Government Bodies". The essence and peculiarities of local self- government subjects, their separate categories, regularities and tendencies of development are investigated. It is emphasized that territorial communities directly or indirectly, their authorities, non-governmental organizations exercise their legal personality both within the state and abroad. It is determined that territorial communities are endowed with: the right to form relevant bodies through elections, general meetings of citizens at the place of residence; the right to hold local referendums, local initiatives, public hearings, individual and collective appeals, public examinations and discussions, other forms of local democracy not prohibited by the constitution; the right to manage local budgets, movable and immovable property of communal property; the right to conclude international agreements of profile orientation, etc. It is noted that the transition to the formation of municipal legal policy requires a radical overhaul of the entire ideology of local government, management technologies, decision-making practices and resource allocation. Prospects for the functioning and improvement of the status of local self- government entities have been identified.

호주 지방자치법제의 특징과 시사점 - 입법절차에의 주민참여와 지방정부 명시 헌법개정 국민투표를 중심으로 –

호주의 연방제와 지방자치(연방제의 연장선상에 있는 주와 준주, 그리고 이들을 구성하는 지방정부를 포함)의 문제는 단순히 영국과 미국의 제도를 혼합한 것 이상의 고유성과 특수성을 가지고 있다. 이는 호주라는 연방국가의 역사와 정치, 경제, 대외관계라는 여러 변수들이 맞물려 이루어져 왔다. 영국 식민지 시절 초기에는 국가형태가 주로부터 시작되었지만 주들이 모여 연방을 형성한 이후로 전반적으로 연방의 강화현상이 일어나고 있는데, 하지만 여전히 주정부와 연방 간에 권한 갈등과 다툼이 있고, 연방과 주정부의 대립에는 가장 하위 계층의 지방정부까지 관련되어 있음을 볼 수 있다. 그 대표적인 모습이 1970년대 중반에 시작해서 현재까지 계속 논란이 되고 있는 지방정부 헌법명시를 위한 국민투표 논의이다. 이는 자유당과 노동당으로 대표되는 호주의 양당체제와도 연결된다. 보수적인 자유당의 경우는 주의 권한을 우선시하는 반면, 진보적인 성향의 노동당은 연방의 권한을 강화하는 방향의 정책을 쓰려고 하고, 이것이 가장 첨예하게 드러난 것이 지방정부를 헌법에 명시하는 헌법개정 국민투표 논쟁이다.BR 호주의 지방자치에서 눈여겨보아야 할 또 하나의 주요한 요소는, 호주의 정치체제가 의회주권으로 대표되는 영국과 대의제를 중심으로 한 미국의 제도를 중심으로 설계되었음에도 불구하고, ‘연방 주 지방’의 3개 정부 층위에서 모두 국민주민투표가 제도화되어 활용되고 있다는 사실이다. 연방정부의 헌법개정에는 국민투표가 반드시 요구되며, 주정부와 지방정부의 경우에도 헌법개정이나 혹은 지방정부 구성 조직과 관련된 문제에 대해서, 그리고 의회에서의 양원 간 입법교착 등의 경우에 주민투표가 활용되고 있는 부분은, 대의정부의 모습을 띠는 지방정부에서 그것이 한계를 노정하는 경우에는 주민참여를 통해 이를 보완하는 형태로 우리의 지방자치법제에도 시사점을 제공할 수 있다.

ON THE QUESTION OF THE CONCEPT AND CLASSIFICATION OF MUNICIPAL LEGAL ACTS OF DIRECT PEOPLE`S RULE

The article substantiates the allocation of municipal legal acts of direct democracy as a kind of municipal legal acts. It is proposed to understand by a municipal legal act of direct democracy a decision of normative-legal or individual-legal nature, adopted directly by members of the territorial community in order to resolve issues of local significance within the Constitution and laws of Ukraine. The division of municipal legal acts of direct democracy by the nature of prescriptions into normative, individual and mixed. It is determined that mixed municipal legal acts of direct democracy contain both normative and individual legal prescriptions. These include the adoption of a decision on self-taxation at general meetings of citizens, and so on. Taking into account the practice of holding local referendums in Ukraine, the classification of decisions of local referendums is proposed: according to the legal force, decisions of local referendums are divided into imperative and dispositive; on the basis of local referendums, decisions are divided into: mandatory, optional; at the time of the local referendum, its decisions may be: advisory, ratification; on the subject of the referendum, local referendum decisions may be on administrative- territorial issues, landscaping, land issues, changes in the basic level of local self-government, names of settlements, termination of powers of village, town, city, village, town, city council.
 The concepts and types of separate municipal legal acts of direct democracy, in particular decisions of local referendums and decisions of general meetings of citizens at the place of residence are defined.

Институт местного референдума в странах Восточной Европы: организация и правовое регулирование

This article examines the characteristic features of the institution of the local referendum in Eastern Europe. The author believes that it is very important for states, which have relatively recently embarked upon the path of democratic development, after decades of communist domination, that the traditional representative institutions are supplemented by the structures of direct democracy, which can facilitate the more effective involvement of the population in the social and political life of the state, and introduce them to modern democratic values. It’s pointed out in the article that attitudes towards the institution of the local referendum in the countries of Eastern Europe are ambiguous, and its introduction has run into a number of obstacles. This might be explained by institutional reasons, by citizens having limited interest in municipal affairs, and the absence of the tradition of citizens directly participating in the resolving of issues of governance. The institution of direct democracy has often only been introduced slowly, which is often due to resistance from the main political parties and the current political elites, who see the activation of direct democracy as a threat to their position. Nevertheless, the author stresses the important practical role of the institution of the local referendum, its ability to serve the interests of both the state as well as the citizens. Through to the institution of the referendum citizens have acquired an additional channel of participation in the political decision-making process, and this facilitates the realization of the principle of political equality and the formation of more open political power structures. The institution of the local referendum is after all an important instrument of political control on the part of the civil society that is necessary for the further development of democratic statehood in the countries of Eastern Europe.

Mental health consequences of minority political positions: The case of brexit

The group density effect, where a group member's psychiatric risk is associated with the proportion of the local population their group comprises, demonstrates the importance of minority group status to mental health. Previous research, focusing on ethnicity, has been correlational, but newly-formed identities provide opportunities for natural experiments, with greater scope for causal inference. This study examines whether such a group density effect can be found for the novel Brexit identities of 'leaver' and 'remainer' following the UK's divisive 2016 referendum on EU membership. Mixed effects models were fitted to the Understanding Society panel survey series (N=25,555, 19,767 for analyses controlling for pre-referendum mental health data), predicting mental health as a function of individual opinion on EU membership and local referendum results. These interacted such that those holding the local majority opinion had better mental health (Odds ratio (OR):875 [0.766- 0.9995]), compared to those in the minority. This result survived adjustment for individual and area-level economic circumstances (OR:866 [0.758-0.989]), and, strikingly, pre-referendum mental health (OR: 0.841 [0.709-0.998]), as well as a number of other potential confounding variables. The results provide evidence for rapidly forming group density effects based on de novo identities, and suggest that identity may be a causal mechanism for group density effects more broadly. They also speak to the extent of polarisation in the Brexit-era UK, and its public health consequences.

CENTRAL ELECTION COMMISSION AS AN INSTITUTION OF THE ELECTORAL BRANCH OF POWER IN UKRAINE

The electoral branch is already part of the separation of powers in a modern state, an important guarantee of the rule of law and a condition for the democratic functioning of state authority. Electoral branch becomes an inherent component of the separation of powers and system of checks and balances. The allocation of the electoral branch into a separate branch will make it possible to consider the system of state power in the context of its eff ective implementation, fi rst of all, by the Central Election Commission. The Central Election Commission as an institution of the electoral branch in Ukraine is a permanent, collegial, independent body which operate on the basis of the Constitution of Ukraine and Ukrainian Acts. Moreover, Central Election Commission has the authority to organize and prepare elections to public authority, national and local referendums and most importantly it supervises and advises the election commissions that are being set up to organize, prepare and conduct local elections and referendums. All these characteristics make it possible to consider the Central Election Commission as the institution of the electoral branch in Ukraine.The further development of the Ukrainian state determined the signifi cant interest of research and scientifi c developments on the problem of separation of powers. The purpose of the article is to support the conceptual foundations of the Central Election Commission as an institution of the electoral branch of power in Ukraine.Electoral power is part of the institutional framework of the state, it is closely linked to the constitutional, party and political system, and the result of its action will be diff erent in political - legal and party realities. Electoral power must be formed taking into account national and political features.Thus, on the basis of the foregoing, it can be said that the activities of the electoral bodies, referendum bodies are national in nature. Consequently, this feature is also transferred to the elective branch of government.

Self-taxation of the population as an institution of financial law

The article reveals the features of self-taxation of the population as an institution of financial law. There is no consensus among national and foreign scholars on the understanding of the nature, place and role of self-taxation in the system of profitable sources of territorial communities. For the most part, self-taxation is considered to be an institution of a tax nature, compulsory non-tax payment, charitable contributions, local borrowing. The problem is also caused by the fact that today in Ukraine there is practically no legislative regulation of this financially legal institute.
 The procedure for establishing and entering, the basis for collection and collection depends on the correct determination of the place of each type of payment in the system of revenue of public entities, and in particular in the system of obligatory payments.
 Although self-taxation and taxes are inherent in a number of common features (public nature, individual non-gratuity, mandatory payment), these payments cannot be equated. First, self-taxation differs from the taxes by target character. Secondly, self-taxation is characterized by its own form of legalization - holding a general meeting or a local referendum, while for taxes such forms of direct democracy are explicitly prohibited by law. In the foreign scientific literature, based on this peculiarity of self-taxation, it is often called the instrument of direct democracy and the people's financial initiative. Third, self-taxation is different from taxes by the entity of imposed. The subject by imposed of local taxation is the representative body of local self-government (local council), and self-taxation is directly the residents of the respective territorial community. Fourth, self-taxation, unlike taxes, is inherently voluntary in nature. At a general meeting or local referendum, residents of a territorial community voluntarily agree to introduce self-taxation, its size, payment procedure, purpose of using the funds raised, or vice versa, but these issues are not discussed with taxpayers.
 It is argued that self-taxation is an independent, non-taxable type of payment that is used to resolve issues of local importance, the size and order of introduction and use are set independently by the population at a general meeting or local referendum. Introducing self-taxation is essential for the development of territorial communities. Self-taxation allows territorial communities to receive additional funds, increase civic activity of residents, and increase the level of responsibility of local self-government bodies.

The Development of Legislative Process at the Municipal Level

The paper systematically analyzes the legislative activity on the development and adoption of municipal legal acts. Such activity is defined as a municipal law-making process. Based on the positions of scientists delimiting the municipal law-making process at the stage, and their corresponding analysis, the optimal number and features of each stage of the law-making process at the municipal level are determined.As a criterion for distinguishing the stages of the municipal law-making process, the author proposes to use the target criterion, which allows us to identify specific procedures at each stage. It is noted that only after the execution of the procedures of the first stage the conditions for the transition to the implementation of the procedures of the next stage of the municipal law-making process arise.The author identifies two areas of the law-making process at the municipal level — the referendum process and the law-making activity of local authorities, as well as their features. Given that the population is the main subject of the referendum municipal law-making process, and the implementation of the constitutional right of citizens to hold local referenda is very difficult due to certain legislative restrictions, the author formulates proposals aimed at enhancing the legislative initiative of the population of municipalities.

Referendum jako wyznacznik modelu demokracji lokalnej (ze szczególnym uw zględnieniem referendum lokalnego w Stanach Zjednoczonych Ameryki)

Referendum as an Indicator of the Model of Local Democracy (with Particular Emphasis on the Local Referendum in the United States of America)
 A model approach to local democracy is proposed through this paper. It also refers to four models of local democracy – representative, hybrid, semi-direct, and direct. Each model is illustrated by an example anchored in one of the European nation states, with special attention payed to the referendum and its role in local decision making. The author formulates the hypothesis that the role of a referendum in American municipal corporations situates them in a model of semi-direct democracy and discusses the constitutional and statutory conditions of the local referendum in American states. The article also analyses the scope of referendum, in reference to the initiating players, issues put to the vote and procedures through several examples. It stresses upon the importance of judicial review. In conclusion, the author refers to the hybrid democracy model that emerges in state politics and juxtaposes it with semi-direct democracy in localities.

Local referendum and assembly of municipality inhabitants in the Slovak Republic

Local referendum and assembly of municipality inhabitants in the Slovak Republic

Sovereignty and Local Referendum

Sovereignty and Local Referendum

Local referendums in Ukraine and the Republic of Poland: issues of legal regulation

АнотаціяДослідження присвячене місцевому референдуму як елементу сучасної моделі управління у місцевому самоврядуванні, що дозволяє членам громади брати участь у вирішенні місцевих питань. На підставі порівняльно-правового дослідження нормативно-правового регулювання та досвіду його реалізації в Україні та Польщі сформулювало рекомендації щодо вдосконалення цього інституту для ефективної реалізації народовладдя. Для цього повинна бути створена законодавча база референдуму на місцевому рівні, яка б дозволила громадянам забезпечити реалізацію їхніх конституційних прав у законний спосіб. Конституція України та Конституція Республіки Польща є лише основою для проведення місцевого референдуму, тоді як детальні порядки їхньої організації повинні бути визначені спеціальними законодавчими актами. При цьому не можна погодитися з зарубіжною практикою, де для легітимізації форм прямої демократії застосовуються лише конституційні норми та окремі розділи у національному законодавстві щодо організації влади на місцях. Зважаючи на виклики, держава повинна забезпечувати адекватне нормативне, інституційне, матеріально-організаційне та фінансове підґрунтя проведення місцевих референдумів. В результаті проведеного аналізу виділено ключові проблеми, які повинні бути враховані при розробці відповідного законодавчого регулювання в Україні: конкретизація предмету місцевого референдуму, інституційні механізми офіційного контролю законності, які б враховували гарантії незалежності місцевого самоврядування, процедуру реалізації рішень, схвалених на місцевих референдумах. Приклад Польщі, де існують усі нормативні передумови проведення місцевих референдумів, показує, що цей інститут використовується нечасто, а є допоміжним у здійсненні місцевого самоврядування. Він може розглядатися як інструмент налагодження співпраці у розподілених самоврядних спільнотах різних рівнів (ґмін, повітів, воєводств). Суб’єкти, які мають право на ініціювання референдуму, повинні виявляти розсудливість та стриманість в її реалізації, що ще раз актуалізує питання законної визначеності предмету місцевого референдуму.Ключові слова: громада, місцеве самоврядування, народовладдя, закон

The issue of legal regulation of languages in Ukraine

The article raises the issue of implementing constitutional norms on ensuring the rights of national minorities by Ukraine. It is established that certain provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On Education” dated 05 September 2017 have been criticized both at national and international level as regards termination of curricular programs in languages of national minorities other than EU languages. It is determined that a change in language policy resulted in a conflict of interest in Chernivtsi on 17 October 2017 between representatives of Romanian national minority and representatives of NGOs "Right Sector" and "Freedom" as to the right to study in their native language. It is established that Ukraine, in violation of the international obligations defined by international treaties in the field of protecting the rights of national minorities, including those ratified by Ukraine, did not take into account the relevant recommendations of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Venice Commission, the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations Monitoring Mission, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Special Rapporteur on Minorities.According to the results of the analysis, it is established that there is no special law determining the spheres of public life and measures to guarantee the rights of national minorities. The respective guarantees for teaching in the mother tongue were not established in the law on the status of the state language dated 25 April 2019.It is concluded that to resolve this problem, it is necessary to adopt a constitutional law that would determine the procedure for the use of national minority languages. In connection with this, the object of research is Draft Law of Ukraine "On Languages in Ukraine" No. 1103 submitted for consideration to the Verkhovna Rada on 29 August 2019 by V.V. Novynskiy, M.S. Mahomedov and others. Formal-legal, comparative-legal and logical methods are applied.The content of Part 5 of Article 53 of the Constitution of Ukraine is analyzed, it was concluded that it did not set an alternative, but it sets a mandatory obligation to perform all actions of the state to guarantee the rights of national minorities.It is concluded that it is necessary to adopt a special law on languages in Ukraine in order to implement the Constitution of Ukraine. It is recommended that the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine include Draft law No. 1103 on the agenda, consider it, and adopt it as a basis in the first reading. It is recommended to adopt laws related to the draft law on national and cultural autonomy, on indigenous peoples of Ukraine, on national minorities (new version), on local referenda, on an all-Ukrainian referendum.

Obywatelska inicjatywa uchwałodawcza jako element partycypacji obywatelskiej w kontekście kondycji polskiej samorządności lokalnej na poziomie gmin

The article aims to show the interdisciplinary character of citizens initiative. In the introductory part a defi nition of citizens initiative is given. The subsequent parts of the article prove its multi-aspect character. First, a citizen is defi ned as a subject authorised by law as well as the society to initiate local laws. Next a sociological and legal analysis of the mechanisms of citizens participation at the gmina (county) level is made. Participation is seen as a practical expression of the subjectivity of a citizen. The following are then analysed: social consultations, participatory budget, local referendum and a local budget which is also regarded as a form of participation. The next part describes citizens legislative initiative as a form of participation. It shows its position, reasons for its emergence and its consequences at the local level. After that there is an attempt to present in a model way the extent to which local communities have developed in Poland. It pinpoints the current problems and shows how they can be solved. In the next part mechanisms of local bodies are presented. Problems related to, among other things, local elections turnout, reducing supervision and control function, and the formation of local interest groups exercising continuous and concealed pressure on local bodies, thus infl uencing local laws. The conclusion of the article is that the condition of Polish democracy at a local level is not an easy research topic and the gminas have failed to develop communities of inhabitants that would pursue common interests. Individual citizens alienate themselves and care of own interests only, and this has an impact on local bodies and local law as well.

Ballot Measures for Open Space Conservation: Economic and Institutional Processes in Cities

This article examines referendums for open space conservation, focusing on an assessment of their likelihood in cities. It presents data on conservation referendums, over 15 years, based on the Trust for Public Land’s LandVote® database. Economic and institutional factors of influence are explored across cities, testing whether those factors explain differences in the likelihood of referendums and their passage. One finding is that the frequency of conservation referendums varies dramatically across American cities. Additional findings, from a pooled time-series analysis, are that economic and institutional contexts of cities affect the likelihood of conservation referendums. The likelihood of referendums and their passage is further tested across alternative models to evaluate the robustness of the findings. While its central contribution is to research on local referendums, the article connects to the political market framework to identify factors influencing the likelihood of open space referendums.