Description
Book SynopsisCombining the latest scholarship and academic research with current debates, Direct Democracy is essential reading for political scientists, lawyers, journalists and anybody who is interested in the challenges facing democracies today. Direct Democracy shows when government by the people can improve democratic governance.
Trade ReviewAs we hurtle forward into the twenty-first century with its unparalleled availability of information and communication technology, the world's great democracies continue to be organized around eighteenth-century principles of representative governance. Professor Qvortrup's new book illustrates the powerful new modes of direct political participation that are emerging around the globe – most important, the initiative and referendum – and shows how democratic government can be updated and augmented to better meet the challenges of our modern world.
Professor John Matsusaka, Charles F. Sexton Chair in American Enterprise at the University of Southern California
The originality and great value of the book lies in the ability of the author to step back from traditional constitutional or political scientist approaches of the subject, and to view the referendum in its present, contemporary, context... [and] the insightful analysis of the conception of direct democracy among political thinkers...like Machiavelli or Marsilius of Padua, Condorcet and Carl Schmitt.
Professor Laurence Morel, University of Lille, France
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Table of ContentsIntroduction: Bespoke Democracy
1. The political theory of direct democracy: the theoretical justification for citizen involvement
2. Citizen initiated referendums: an empirical assessment
3. The legislative initiative: a comparative analysis of the experiences in EU countries
4. Hasta la vista: a comparative institutionalist analysis of the recall
5. Can the voters be trusted: the case of European integration?
6. Rebels without a cause? a case study of the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty
7. The British referendum on the Alternative Vote in comparative perspective
8. Judicial review of direct democracy
9. Regulation of direct democracy international impressions, tendencies and patterns
Conclusion: The age of supply-side politics?
