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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.

Modern direct democracy has become an essential element of political life in many countries in Europe and worldwide. The initiative and referendum process offers extra channels for citizen participation and thus represents an important supplementary institution in modern democracies. This third volume of the series Direct Democracy in Modern Europe focuses on direct-democratic decisions on minority affairs. The main question is whether direct democracy tends towards a domination of the majority over a minority, producing new conflicts, or whether, how, and under what conditions it helps to solve problems in complex societies and leads to lasting solutions to political disputes. This volume includes articles by specialist researchers on - historical experiences of direct-democratic decisions on territorial conflicts; - theoretical considerations on direct democracy and minorities; - case studies on popular votes concerning minority issues; - several country case studies; - the role of the media in direct-democratic campaigns on minority affairs; - the potential of transnational direct democracy.

Discusses forms of direct democracy envisaged by the Croatian Constitution of 1990, which defined Croatia as semipresidential republic, before constitutional amendment of 1997. The article describes normative regulation of referenda & speculates about reasons for their absence. One of the main reasons seems to be the specific institutional framework & political consensus existing among the Parliament, the Government, & the President of the Republic, which is of a dynamic nature. Referendum, having a gridlock-breaking capacity, offers a solution in the form of recourse to the people on initiative of the President of the Republic or of the Parliament in the absence of political consensus. However, due to the existence of such consensus, referenda never took place in Croatia. The author also discusses citizens' right to petition the government in light of an important decision of the Croatian Constitutional Court. Adapted from the source document.

Abstract
Instruments of direct democracy can be – and are – used to further and strengthen illiberal democracy by restricting minority rights (1). The legal design of these instruments can make this easier or less likely (2).

Public choice theory provides arguments to explain why protectionism is prevalent all over the world. In this paper it is argued that even when citizens have the possibility to decide on trade barriers in direct democracy, tariffs are maintained or even increased. This result is traced to the process of drafting the proposal, the individual decision to participate in the vote and the efforts to become informed properly about the alternatives put to the vote. As first an empirical investigation is made to test the theoretical hypotheses about protectionism in direct democracy by using data for referendums in Switzerland. ; Die ökonomische Theorie der Politik ermöglicht zu erklären, wie sich protektionistische Interessen im politischen Entscheidungsprozess einer reprasentativen Demokratie durchsetzen. Auch in einem System der direkten Demokratie, in dem die Bürger im Rahmen von Volksabstimmungen mitentscheiden können, kann die inländische Handelspolitik zugunsten von spezifischen Interessen beeinflusst werden. Möglichkeiten hierzu bestehen auf drei Ebenen des politischen Entscheidungsprozesses: im Vorbereitungsprozess der Gesetzes- bzw. Abstimmungsvorlage; bei der individuellen Entscheidung, sich an der Abstimmung zu beteiligen; und bei der Entscheidung der Abstimmenden, sich fur oder gegen die Vorlage auszusprechen. Die Bestimmungsgründe, die in der direkten Demokratie zu zunehmender Protektion und der Wahl spezifischer protektionistischer Instrumente fiihren, werden diskutiert und erstmals anhand von Referenden in der Schweiz empirisch überprüft.

In general, mechanisms of direct democracy in Japan are not well established. At the national level, the National Referendum Law for the Change of the Constitution only recently came into effect on 18 May 2010, three years after its enactment. Before then there were no procedures laid out for a referendum on a constitutional amendment. At the local level, there are more options for direct citizen participation, however the result of a vote is not legally binding. This working paper aims to describe the different mechanisms of direct democracy in Japan, at the national as well as local level, to present their legal basis and frequency of use and to discuss developments since the late 1990s primarily at the local level.

This book takes a fresh look at direct democracy by exploring how political actors run direct-democratic campaigns. It is the first study of comparative direct-democratic campaigning and examines eight campaigns on four salient policy domains: immigration, health politics, welfare state issues, and economic liberalism centring on the world's champion par excellence of direct-democracy, Switzerland. Bernhard derives much of his analysis through interviews conducted with campaign managers providing first-hand accounts that offer unprecedented access into the organisation and strategy behind direct-democratic campaigns. Campaign Strategy in Direct Democracy is essential reading for students and scholars of political communication and political science.

"This book takes a fresh look at direct democracy by exploring how political actors run direct-democratic campaigns. It is the first study of comparative direct-democratic campaigning and examines eight campaigns on four salient policy domains: immigration, health politics, welfare state issues, and economic liberalism centering on the world's champion par excellence of direct-democracy, Switzerland. Bernhard derives much of his analysis through interviews conducted with campaign managers providing first-hand accounts that offer unprecedented access into the organization and strategy behind direct-democratic campaigns. Campaign Strategy in Direct Democracy is essential reading for students and scholars of political communication and political science."--Publisher's website

When during the debate on a motion of censure in October 1962 Paul Reynaud challenged the government from the rostrum of the National Assembly with a scornful: "Here and nowhere else is France!", the issue was well joined. To Reynaud, perennial deputy during three republican regimes, General de Gaulle's projected referendum appeared as a two-fold attack upon French republican traditions. If adopted, the proposal to elect the President of the Republic by popular suffrage would divest the Assembly of its role as the sole bearer of national sovereignty. Moreover, to seek approval for such a change of the constitution of 1958 without a prior vote of parliament deprived both houses of any participation in the amending process.In 1958, as President of the Consultative Constitutional Committee, Reynaud had insisted that the possibilities of any direct appeal to the electorate be carefully circumscribed and hedged by parliamentary controls. He had obtained official assurances that the referendum would never be used by the executive as a means of arousing popular opinion against the elected assemblies. The final text of the constitution had incorporated proposals by the Consultative Committee which strengthened the position of parliament whenever either a referendum or presidential emergency powers might create a plebiscitarian situation.