Citizenship and Contemporary Direct Democracy

Offers a comparative study of the origins, performance, and reform of contemporary mechanisms of direct democracy.

David Altman (Author)

9781108721776, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 15 April 2021

282 pages, 29 b/w illus. 7 tables
22.8 x 15.2 x 1.7 cm, 0.44 kg

'… Citizenship and Contemporary Direct Democracy 'is not just a book about direct democracy; it is a book about democracy, its functioning, its institutions and its innovations'.' Luca Mencacci, Democratization

Standing out from all other books on direct democracy, Citizenship and Contemporary Direct Democracy connects the study of direct democracy to the broader field of comparative democratization and to an important strand in normative democratic theory. Analyzing the relationship between direct democracy and representative government, this book is organized around three main sections: the origins of contemporary direct democracy, its functioning, and the ways to improve the use of direct democracy and its abuse. David Altman argues that citizen-initiated mechanisms of direct democracy constitute an important and viable way to re-invigorate current representative regimes by strengthening democracies' normative foundations - freedom and equity among citizens - which are particularly fragile in the context of unequal societies. Citizenship and Contemporary Direct Democracy demonstrates how citizen-initiated mechanisms of direct democracy empowers citizens, channels social demands, defuses violence, re-enchants citizens with politics, and breaks through some of the institutionalized barriers to accountability that arise in representative systems.

1. Democratic innovations for representative governments
Part I. Origins: 2. Breaking through: the rebirth of direct democracy in the age of the national-state
3. Catching on: waves of adoption of citizen-initiated mechanisms of direct democracy since World War I
Part II. Nature: 4. Status quo bias? Political change through direct democracy
5. Left or right? Investigating potential ideological biases in contemporary direct democracy
Part III. Reform: 6. Why adopt direct democracy? Much more than a simple vote
7. How can direct democracy be improved? Citizens' commissions and citizens' counterproposals
8. Conclusions: a new democratic equilibrium
Appendices
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Political structures: democracy [JPHV], Elections & referenda [JPHF], Political structure & processes [JPH], Comparative politics [JPB], Political science & theory [JPA]