When Is the Direct Democracy Paradigm a Reasonable Guide for Policy Choices in a Representative Democracy?

2000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yossi Spiegel ◽  
Alex Cukierman
Keyword(s):  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
Policy Choices

Direct versus Representative Democracy

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert E. Goodin ◽  
Kai Spiekermann
Keyword(s):  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Selection Effect ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
The Face

On the face of it, direct democracy should outperform representative democracy based on the number of voters. If, however, the electorate is better at selecting representatives than policies (the Selection Effect) or if the deliberation feasible among representatives leads to epistemic gains (the Deliberation Effect), then representative democracy may be preferable. Another factor is whether representatives act as delegates or trustees. If the former, the epistemic loss from bunching voters into constituencies is minimal. If the latter, the much smaller number of voters may be compensated for by the ability to deliberate among trustees. A mix of delegates and trustees can possibly benefit from both Selection and Deliberation Effects.

Direct Democracy and Public Policy

2019 ◽  
pp. 362-379
Author(s):  
John Matsusaka
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Median Voter ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Fiscal Policies ◽  
Policy Choices ◽  
American States ◽  
Conservative Policy ◽  
Initiative Process ◽  
Swiss Cantons

An extensive literature seeks to measure the effect of the initiative and referendum on public policies. Several conclusions emerge: The initiative and referendum have different effects on policy. Requiring popular approval of fiscal policies (mandatory referendums) results in lower expenditure, taxes, and debt. The initiative process gives voters more power and results in policies closer to the median voter preference; this often has reduced spending (American states, Swiss cantons), but sometimes has increased spending (cities). The initiative is associated with more socially conservative policy choices. Spurious correlation is a concern in many studies, and more research on causality is needed.

Demokracja nieprzedstawicielska – egalitarne „wyjście awaryjne”czy narzędzie autorytarnych populistów?

1970 ◽  
Vol 23 (301) ◽  
pp. 93-102
Author(s):  
Bartosz Rydliński
Keyword(s):  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Political System ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Neoliberal Globalization ◽  
Contemporary Debate ◽  
Democratic Political System

The article presents the main ideological and theoretic assumptions of non-representative democracy, having historically strongly left-wing character, not an easy practice of applying this form of democracy in Polish and European conditions. The author tries to indicate a certain dialectic dualism of direct democracy, which more and more often constitutes contemporary crisis of liberal democracy in the contemporary debate on the negative impact of neoliberal globalization on democratic political system.

scholarly journals Reconstruction of the Implementation of Direct General Election Law

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 465-471
Author(s):  
Suparnyo ◽  
Subarkah
Keyword(s):  
Social Welfare ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
General Election ◽  
Election Law ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Republic

The Indonesian Constitution that has been directed to provide social welfare through a legal system and popular democracy led by wisdom in the representation of representatives has become the legal ideals (Rechsidee) of the Indonesian people as intended in the opening of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia. The phrase “inner wisdom” is interpreted as a unity of words and the core “deed” of which is taqwa, and “deliberations amongst representatives” is interpreted as representative democracy in the MPR, instead of direct democracy which actually produces something that is counterproductive.

Jahrbuch für direkte Demokratie 2019

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Participatory Democracy ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
Direkte Demokratie ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Individual Contributions

Volume 9 of the Yearbook for Direct Democracy contains contributions on the digital transformation of direct democracy and the electronic development of participatory democracy; on the question of how direct democracy can be made resistant to populism; and on the interaction between direct and representative democracy in Italy. In two articles, the development and practice of direct democracy in Liechtenstein and Hungary are analyzed. In addition, recent developments in Switzerland, Austria, and Germany as well as the jurisprudence on direct democracy are reported in an expert manner. Individual contributions also take into account developments in connection with the corona pandemic until mid-2020. With contributions by Carsten Berger, Prof. Dr. Nadja Braun Binder, Dr. Clau Dermont, Prof. Dr. Cristina Fraenkel-Haeberle, Prof. Dr. Fabrizio Gilardi, Maël Kubli Eliane Kunz, Dr. Wilfried Marxer, Prof. Dr. Zóltan Tibor Pállinger, Prof. Dr. Arne Pautsch, Prof. Dr. Klaus Poier, Frank Rehmet, Prof. Dr. Margrit Seckelmann, PD Dr. Goran Seferovic, Prof. Dr. Nenad Stojanović, Prof. Dr. Axel Tschentscher, PD Dr. Andrea Töndury, Martin Widmer und Prof. Dr. Fabian Wittreck.

scholarly journals Thinking about elections and about democratic representation

2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
LH ◽  
GvdS ◽  
WTE
Keyword(s):  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Electoral Reform ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
The Self ◽  
The Other ◽  
Parliamentary Democracy ◽  
Democratic Representation ◽  
Modern Representative

[Political representation] is the basis of modern representative democracy. Older and less sophisticated forms, such as direct democracy, subsist marginally, even if they keep exerting a certain attraction. But representative democracy does not carry the self-evident authority it once had. Like every modern institution it is under challenge and consequently needs to be defended. In actual politics, the defence often takes the form of discussion of the merits of one system over the other and of proposals for change. The part of this defence appertaining to constitutional scholarship is not concerned primarily with proposals and changes. It is, before all, to brush up the fundamentals underlying representative democracy, on the basis of topical issues.There are three current issues upon which we would like to draw attention. They are: equality in structuring electoral systems, the processes of electoral reform and the rise of non-majoritarian institutions versus parliamentary democracy.

Fiscal Effects of the Voter Initiative Reconsidered: Addressing Endogeneity

2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 327-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa J. Marschall ◽  
Anirudh V.S. Ruhil
Keyword(s):  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
Full Information Maximum Likelihood ◽  
Policy Choices ◽  
American States ◽  
Initiative Process ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Voter Initiative ◽  
Biased Estimates ◽  
Positive Effect

Several recent studies have investigated the relationship between direct democracy and public policy outcomes, with mixed findings. These inconsistencies may stem, in part, from researchers' failure to recognize that direct democracy institutions are distributed nonrandomly across the American states. That is, certain factors may lead a state to adopt the initiative process and influence other policy choices. We revisit the question of how the initiative influences state fiscal policy using panel data from 1960–2000 and a full-information maximum likelihood estimator that explicitly accounts for the endogeneity of the initiative. Our findings suggest that failure to endogenize the initiative in empirical analyses leads to substantially biased estimates of its effects. In particular, we find that once factors that predict whether a state has adopted the initiative are controlled, the initiative has a positive effect on state revenue generation and spending.

scholarly journals The Rise of Direct Democracy in Croatia: Balancing or Challenging Parliamentary Representation?

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (77) ◽  
pp. 39-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hrvoje Butković
Keyword(s):  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Sharp Increase ◽  
National Level ◽  
Efficient Implementation ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
Transitional Countries ◽  
The Way

Abstract In 2010 the Croatian Constitution was changed to lower the requirements for the implementation of direct democracy at the national level, in order to save the referendum on Croatia’s EU membership from possible failure. Since then, Croatia has witnessed a sharp increase in people’s initiatives that have managed to block a number of the government’s reform proposals. Therefore, the newly discovered appeal of direct democracy in Croatia has created a new environment for the operation of its representative democracy. Starting from theoretical notions, this paper analyses the practice of direct democracy in selected transitional countries, which could be instructive for Croatia. In its central part, the paper explores the obstacles that stand in the way of the efficient implementation of direct democracy in Croatia.

scholarly journals The role of Elections

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nguyen Dang Dung
Keyword(s):  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
The State ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
First Century ◽  
Viet Nam ◽  
Yale University ◽  
Global Trend ◽  
Medieval Europe ◽  
Twenty First Century

From Athenian direct democracy to representative democracy was a groundbreaking success deriving from the development of democracy since medieval Europe. Through ups and downs, toward democracy is always considered as global trend, and elections are the first steps in the democratic process to create the legitimacy of the state. Key words: Direct democracy, representative democracy, elections; legitimacy of the state References 1. Cao Huy Thuần: Dân chủ là gì và thế nào trong hoàn cảnh Việt Nam, tr.3 Thời đại mới, 6.20062. Roberrt A. Dahl. On Democracy: Yale University Press 1998, p.40. 3. Phạm Hồng Thái, Quyền lực nhân dân và quyền lực nhà nước qua các Hiến pháp, Tạp chí Khoa học ĐHQGHN, Luật học 25 (2009), tr.1-8. 4. Nguyễn Đăng Dung, Hiến pháp và bộ máy nhà nước, Nxb. Giao thông vận tải H. 2002, tr.347. 5. Jame A. Baker, “Bầu cử tự do và công bằng là trái tim của dân chủ”, Dẫn theo Vũ Văn Nhiêm, “Vai trò của bầu cử trong việc xây dựng Nhà nước pháp quyền của dân, do dân và vì dân”David Beetham, Parliament and Democracy in The twenty-first century a guide to good practice, Inter-Parliamentary Union, 2006 p.1.6. Inter – Paliamentary Union, “Democracy, Its Principles and Achievement”,1998. Dẫn theo Thái Vĩnh Thắng, “Những bất cập của chế độ bầu cử ở Việt Nam hiện nay”, Kỷ yếu Hội thảo: “Sửa đổi, bổ sung Hiến pháp 1992: Đề xuất và lập luận”, do Khoa Luật ĐHQGHN tổ chức ngày 2/7/2016 tại Hà Nội.7. Rousseau: Bàn về khế ước xã hội. Người dịch: Thanh Đam. Nxb. tp Hồ Chí Minh, 1992, tr. 140. 8. Montesquieu. Tinh thần pháp luật. Nxb. Gáo dục H. 1996, tr.47.9. Montesquieu. Tinh thần pháp luật. Nxb. Gáo dục H. 1996, tr.48.10. Acton: Thư gửi Giám mục Mandell Creighton 1887.11. David Beetham, Parliament and Democracy in The twenty-first century a guide to good practice, Inter-Parliamentary Union , 2006, p.1.12. Vũ Văn Nhiêm: Bầu cử trong nhà nươc pháp quyền Nxb. ĐHQG Thp. HCM tr. 55 13. Nguyễn Văn Bông: Hiến pháp và chính trị học S. 1972, tr.184.14. Xem, Ian Shapiro: Lời giới thiệu cho lần xuất bản thứ hai, Bàn về Dân chủ của R. Dahl. Đại học Yale 2015.

scholarly journals Flexible Representative Democracy: An Introduction with Binary Issues

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Abramowitz ◽  
Nicholas Mattei
Keyword(s):  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Computational Approach ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
Majority Voting ◽  
Full Participation ◽  
Fixed Set ◽  
Liquid Democracy ◽  
Democratic Systems ◽  
Elected Representatives ◽  
Privacy And Anonymity

We introduce Flexible Representative Democracy (FRD), a novel hybrid of Representative Democracy (RD) and Direct Democracy (DD), in which voters can alter the issue-dependent weights of a set of elected representatives. In line with the literature on Interactive Democracy, our model allows the voters to actively determine the degree to which the system is direct versus representative. However, unlike Liquid Democracy, FRD uses strictly non-transitive delegations, making delegation cycles impossible, preserving privacy and anonymity, and maintaining a fixed set of accountable elected representatives. We present FRD and analyze it using a computational approach with issues that are independent, binary, and symmetric; we compare the outcomes of various democratic systems using Direct Democracy with majority voting and full participation as an ideal baseline. We find through theoretical and empirical analysis that FRD can yield significant improvements over RD for emulating DD with full participation.

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