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The sovereign of a democratic state is "the people". However, they transfer their voices to a few political party representatives in order to make them exercise legislative and executive powers in the name of "the people". In different European countries, this model of representative democracy is marked by elements of direct democracy. In Switzerland, for example, there are frequent plebiscites on a number of issues and in France, the President of the Republic is elected directly. In Germany, the constitution calls for a "Volksabstimmung", or a referendum at the federal level, a "Volksentscheid" or plebiscite at the federal state level and a "Bürgerentscheid" at the city level. But in small municipalities where everyone knows each other and people talk, a different form of direct democracy continues on. In the case of Bubenreuth, where I have lived for more than 30 years, the community dared to raise its voice against the mayor and against town councillors to have them revoke the application of a legal but unjust regulation, or for them to at least mitigate the effects.

Icelandic politics are analysed from the perspectives of three normative models of democracy: the liberal, republican and deliberative democratic theories. While the Icelandic constitution is rooted in classical liberal ideas, Icelandic politics can be harshly criticized from a liberal perspective, primarily because of the unclear separation of powers of government and for the extensive involvement of politics in other social sectors. Despite strong nationalist discourse which reflects republican characteristics, rooted in the struggle for independence from Denmark, republicanism has been marginal in Icelandic politics. In the years before the financial collapse, Icelandic society underwent a process of liberalization in which power shifted to the financial sector without disentangling the close ties that had prevailed between business and politics. The special commission set up by the Icelandic Parliament to investigate the causes of the financial collapse criticized Icelandic politics and governance for its flawed working practices and lack of professionalism. The appropriate lessons to draw from this criticism are to strengthen democratic practices and institutions. In the spirit of republicanism, however, the dominant discourse about Icelandic democracy after the financial collapse has been on increasing direct, vote-centric participation in opposition to the system of formal politics. While this development is understandable in light of the loss of trust in political institutions in the wake of the financial collapse, it has not contributed to trustworthy practices. In order to improve Icelandic politics, the analysis in this paper shows, it is important to work more in the spirit of deliberative democratic theory ; Peer Reviewed

It is often argued that national referendums on European Union (EU) matters can be a cure for the democratic deficit of the EU and its policies. But what can we learn from a country like Switzerland about how and when direct democracy works? Our main conclusion is that referendums in the EU usually lack the necessary institutional and administrative links between direct and representative decision-making to have legitimacy-enhancing effects.

AbstractThis study examines how an important reform of local governance—village democracy—in the world's most populous areas has affected the happiness of residents in rural China. We find that introducing elections per se has no significant impact. In comparison, direct nomination of local leaders by villagers, which is a form of competitive election involving a high degree of public participation in political decision making, leads to higher levels of happiness. Further mechanism analyses show that direct nomination improves the local accountability of elected leaders by boosting the quality and effort of village heads and their governance performance by lowering the tax burden of villagers and vitalizing local public services. Our results highlight the importance of public participation in democracy and the underlying role of local accountability in affecting the subjective well‐beings of citizens.

THE DEMOCRATIC POTENTIAL OF ICT SUCH AS INTERNET IS OFTEN LINKED WITH ACCESS TO INFORMATION, TRANSPARENCY, AND OPEN DISCUSSION, ALL OF WHICH ARE NECESSARY CONDITIONS FOR DEMOCRACY. THERE IS A CONCEPT OF DEMOCRACY THAT IGNORES PROCESSES OF POLITICAL MANAGEMENT AND SOCIETAL LOGICS THAT ARE NOT DEMOCRATIC. DEMOCRACY AND ICT MUST BE CONSIDERED AT THE SAME TIME. TO DO THIS, THE ARTICLE IDENTIFIES FOUR FLAWS OF LIBERAL DEMOCRACY AND SUGGESTS TWO WAYS OF USING ICT.

Since the 2016 US presidential election, the deliberate spread of misinformation online, and on social media in particular, has generated extraordinary concern, in large part because of its potential effects on public opinion, political polarization, and ultimately democratic decision making. Recently, however, a handful of papers have argued that both the prevalence and consumption of "fake news" per se is extremely low compared with other types of news and news-relevant content. Although neither prevalence nor consumption is a direct measure of influence, this work suggests that proper understanding of misinformation and its effects requires a much broader view of the problem, encompassing biased and misleading—but not necessarily factually incorrect—information that is routinely produced or amplified by mainstream news organizations. In this paper, we propose an ambitious collective research agenda to measure the origins, nature, and prevalence of misinformation, broadly construed, as well as its impact on democracy. We also sketch out some illustrative examples of completed, ongoing, or planned research projects that contribute to this agenda.

Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- Acknowledgments -- 1. Introduction -- 2. The Problem of Political Attachments in the American Founding -- 3. Utility, Union, and the Attachment of Self-Interest -- 4. Forging Attachments through Historical Narrative -- 5. Parties, Participation, and the Natural Attachments of Direct Democracy -- 6. Conclusion -- Notes -- Index -- Back Cover.

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- Tables -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. The Galveston Plan -- 2. The Texas Idea -- 3. The Des Moines Plan -- 4. The Diffusion of a Progressive Idea -- 5. Direct Democracy, At-Large Election, and the Short Ballot -- 6. Structural Weaknesses and Unmet Goals -- 7. A Transition Role -- Conclusion -- Appendix -- Notes -- Selected Bibliography -- Index

This book examines the translation of minority language ballots and voter accommodation in state and local elections. It includes a focus on the translation of direct democracy measures as well as the cause and effect differences in the translated ballots, and offers insight into how jurisdictions interact with federally mandated language assistance.

THE AUTHOR ARGUES THAT THE FEDERALISTS BELIEVED THAT THE PURPOSE OF REPRESENTATION WAS TO IMPROVE UPON DIRECT DEMOCRACY BY REFINING THE INTERESTS AND OPINIONS OF THE PEOPLE. THE VIEWS OF TWO ANTI-FEDERALISTS, MELANCTON SMITH AND RICHARD LEE HENRY, ARE ANALYZED ALONG WITH THE FEDERALIST VIEWS OF HAMILTON AND MADISON, ON REPRESENTATION.

Scholars and policy makers have long assumed that trade and financial liberalization encourages developing countries to become more democratic; yet no one has developed formal hypotheses about the causal relationship between globalization and democracy. This article shows that these two trends are indeed related, but not necessarily in the direct manner that has commonly been postulated. Combining theories of embedded liberalism and conflict‐based theories of democracy, the model presented here depicts the process that affects decisions to strengthen democracy as trade and capital flows increase. I argue that increasing exposure to international export and financial markets leads to improvements in democracy if safety nets are used simultaneously as a strategy for providing stability and building political support. Empirical evidence is provided by econometric analysis covering 59 developing countries for the time period 1972–97.