Direct Democracy Practices at the Local Level
Direct Democracy Practices at the Local Level

Author: Premat, Christophe Emmanuel

Publisher: IGI Global

Published: 2022-02-18

Total Pages: 325

ISBN-13: 1799873064

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Direct democracy, or pure democracy, is a concept spreading throughout the world, now adopted by nearly 30 countries on the national level. While the concept is not new, it is important to investigate the current benefits or hinderances of direct democracy related to local governments so that they may be implemented further. Direct Democracy Practices at the Local Level deepens the knowledge of direct democracy in political science. This book explores how local governments utilize these instruments in international governments and analyzes a series of popular initiatives and local referenda to how successful these initiatives are. Covering topics such as religious rights, street committees, and climate change, this book is essential for political science students and professors, policymakers, faculty, local governments, academicians, and researchers in political science with an interest in direct democracy procedures in representative systems.

Local Direct Democracy in Europe
Local Direct Democracy in Europe

Author: Theo Schiller

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2011-05-02

Total Pages: 287

ISBN-13: 3531928988

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Modern direct democracy has recently become an important element of political life in many countries. These developments can be observed at the national, regional, and local level of political systems. Participation and democracy in local political affairs play a major role in stabilising and developing democratic systems. This volume presents, for the first time, a broad basis of information on the wide variety of local institutions and practice of direct democracy in 19 countries. Country specialists analyse - the role of direct democracy in the institutional context and culture of national political systems, - political processes of introduction and development of initiatives and referendums, - regulations of procedures of municipal direct democracy, - practice of local direct democracy, - the contribution of local direct democracy to democratic development in general.

Direct Democracy Worldwide
Direct Democracy Worldwide

Author: David Altman

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2010-12-20

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 1139495437

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Challenging the common assumption that models of direct democracy and representative democracy are necessarily at odds, Direct Democracy Worldwide demonstrates how practices of direct and representative democracy interact under different institutional settings and uncovers the conditions that allow them to coexist in a mutually reinforcing manner. Whereas citizen-initiated mechanisms of direct democracy can spur productive relationships between citizens and political parties, other mechanisms of direct democracy often help leaders bypass other representative institutions, undermining republican checks and balances. The book also demonstrates that the embrace of direct democracy is costly, may generate uncertainties and inconsistencies, and can be manipulated. Nonetheless, the promise of direct democracy should not be dismissed. Direct democracy is much more than a simple, pragmatic second choice when representative democracy seems not to be working as expected. Properly designed, it can empower citizens, breaking through some of the institutionalized barriers to accountability that arise in representative systems.

Direct Deliberative Democracy
Direct Deliberative Democracy

Author: Crittenden Jack Crittenden

Publisher: Black Rose Books Ltd.

Published: 2019-10-15

Total Pages: 190

ISBN-13: 1551646730

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As American politics becomes ever more dominated by powerful vested interests, positive change seems permanently stymied. Left out in the cold by the political process, citizens are frustrated and despairing. How can we take back our democracy from the grip of oligarchy and bring power to the people? In Direct Deliberative Democracy, Jack Crittenden and Debra Campbell offer up a better way for government to reflect citizens' interests. It begins with a startlingly basic question: "e;Why don't we the people govern?"e; In this provocative book, the authors mount a powerful case that the time has come for more direct democracy in the United States, showing that the circumstances that made the Constitutional framers' arguments so convincing more than two hundred years ago have changed dramatically-and that our democracy needs to change with them. With money, lobbyists, and corporations now dominating local, state, and national elections, the authors argue that now is the time for citizens to take control of their government by deliberating together to make public policies and laws directly. At the heart of their approach is a proposal for a new system of "e;legislative juries,"e; in which the jury system would be used as a model for selecting citizens to create ballot initiatives. This would enable citizens to level the playing field, bring little-heard voices into the political arena, and begin the process of transforming our democracy into one that works for, not against, its citizens.

Democracy at the Local Level
Democracy at the Local Level

Author: Timothy D. Sisk

Publisher: International IDEA

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13:

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In today's globalising world, there is growing emphasis on local democracy. More than ever, cities need new ideas for ways of managing the political challenges and opportunities that arise from increased urbanisation and globalisation. Governing effectively at the local level is all the more urgent as vigorous local civic engagement builds the foundation for a strong and more enduring national-level democracy. Organised into six chapters and written by experts from around the world this handbook offers: practical suggestions for designing systems of local governance; principles and policies for managing culturally diverse cities; choices for enhancing local elections and representative democracy; options for expanding citizen participation; recommendations for the international community for enhancing local democracy.

The Routledge Handbook to Referendums and Direct Democracy
The Routledge Handbook to Referendums and Direct Democracy

Author: Laurence Morel

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-12-12

Total Pages: 674

ISBN-13: 135136071X

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Over the last 30 years referendums have played an increasingly important role in determining government policy. Recent high profile referendums in Scotland, Catalonia and Ukraine have continued the movement towards independence referendums following decolonization and the end of the Cold War. The Greek bailout referendum and Britain’s vote on membership of the EU reflect a tradition of European states giving their people a direct say in the transfer of sovereign powers to the European Union seen through the ratification of key treaties such as Maastricht, Amsterdam, Nice and Lisbon. This Routledge Handbook covers key aspects and issues of direct democracy and referendums throughout the world including: •their history; •when, why, where, how and on which issues referendums are held; •why some referendums are more democratic than others; •how referendums are won; •whether they produce good policies; •if referendums increase participation and improve the quality of representative democracies; •do referendums increase trust in democracy and the political actors; •the impact of new technology on the possibilities, methods and frequency of direct public political participation; •how they should be regulated. Covering other related areas such as recall, citizen juries and random selection, this compendium is an indispensable guide to referendums and the workings of modern democracy.

Direct democracy
Direct democracy

Author: Matt Qvortrup

Publisher: Manchester University Press

Published: 2015-11-01

Total Pages: 210

ISBN-13: 152610279X

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Should citizens be allowed to propose legislation? Should they even be allowed to recall politicians if they do not live up to their expectations? These questions and many others form the subject of this timely book. In addition to presenting an up to date review of the empirical literature, Direct democracy provides a survey of the political philosophers who have theorised about this subject. It is the central tenet in the book that the demand for direct democracy is a consequence of the demand for more consumer choices. Like consumers want individualised products, so voters want individualised and bespoke policies. Described by the BBC as "The world’s leading expert on referendums", the author, Matt Qvortrup, draws on his experience as a political advisor to the US State Department, as well as his extensive academic knowledge of direct democracy.

The Oxford Handbook of Political Representation in Liberal Democracies
The Oxford Handbook of Political Representation in Liberal Democracies

Author: Robert Rohrschneider

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2020-07-28

Total Pages: 731

ISBN-13: 0192558692

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The Handbook of Political Representation in Liberal Democracies offers a state-of-the-art assessment of the functioning of political representation in liberal democracies. In 34 chapters the world's leading scholars on the various aspects of political representation address eight broad themes: The concept and theories of political representation, its history and the main requisites for its development; elite orientations and behavior; descriptive representation; party government and representation; non-electoral forms of political participation and how they relate to political representation; the challenges to representative democracy originating from the growing importance of non-majoritarian institutions and social media; the rise of populism and its consequences for the functioning of representative democracy; the challenge caused by economic and political globlization: what does it mean for the functioning of political representation at the national leval and is it possible to develop institutions of representative democracy at a level above the state that meet the normative criteria of representative democracy and are supported by the people? The various chapters offer a comprehensive review of the literature on the various aspects of political representation. The main organizing principle of the Handbook is the chain of political representation, the chain connecting the interests and policy preferences of the people to public policy via political parties, parliament, and government. Most of the chapters assessing the functioning of the chain of political representation and its various links are based on original comparative political research. Comparative research on political representation and its various subfields has developed dramatically over the last decades so that even ten years ago a Handbook like this would have looked totally different.