scholarly journals The Referendum Process in Maryland: Balancing Respect For Representative Government with the Right to Direct Democracy

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen J. Shapiro
Keyword(s):  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Representative Government ◽  
The Right

Open Democracy

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hélène Landemore
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Democratic Representation ◽  
The People ◽  
Laws And Policies ◽  
The Right ◽  
Turn Over ◽  
The Ideal ◽  
Ordinary Citizens

To the ancient Greeks, democracy meant gathering in public and debating laws set by a randomly selected assembly of several hundred citizens. To the Icelandic Vikings, democracy meant meeting every summer in a field to discuss issues until consensus was reached. Our contemporary representative democracies are very different. Modern parliaments are gated and guarded, and it seems as if only certain people — with the right suit, accent, wealth, and connections — are welcome. Diagnosing what is wrong with representative government and aiming to recover some of the lost openness of ancient democracies, this book presents a new paradigm of democracy in which power is genuinely accessible to ordinary citizens. This book favors the ideal of “representing and being represented in turn” over direct-democracy approaches. Supporting a fresh nonelectoral understanding of democratic representation, the book recommends centering political institutions around the “open mini-public” — a large, jury-like body of randomly selected citizens gathered to define laws and policies for the polity, in connection with the larger public. It also defends five institutional principles as the foundations of an open democracy: participatory rights, deliberation, the majoritarian principle, democratic representation, and transparency. The book demonstrates that placing ordinary citizens, rather than elites, at the heart of democratic power is not only the true meaning of a government of, by, and for the people, but also feasible and, today more than ever, urgently needed.

RELUCTANT REVOLUTIONARIES: MODERATE LIBERALISM IN THE KINGDOM OF SARDINIA, 1849–1859

2012 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROBERTO ROMANI
Keyword(s):  
Political Culture ◽  
Popular Sovereignty ◽  
Natural Order ◽  
Representative Government ◽  
Universal Suffrage ◽  
Ultimate Source ◽  
The Right ◽  
Citizens Attitudes ◽  
At Home

ABSTRACTIn the 1850s, the Piedmontese ‘moderate’ liberals created a peculiar political culture, suited to the twofold task of strengthening representative institutions at home and justifying Piedmont's Italian mission. Inspired by both the whig tradition and the French Doctrinaires, the moderates elaborated arguments advocating elite government and countering democracy. Gioberti, Balbo, Carutti, Mamiani, and Boncompagni shared five theses: (1) natural (and/or divine) laws are both the ultimate source of right and wrong in politics and the guarantee of gradual progress; (2) only the citizens who understand the natural order should rule; (3) ‘democracy’, that is popular sovereignty and universal suffrage, is inherently wrong; (4) granted that citizens' attitudes play an important role in politics, certain virtues are required by representative government; and (5) moderatism was imbued with Burkeanism, meaning that it endorsed a realistic, prudent approach to politics, that much was made of Italian and especially Piedmontese history and traditions, and that mere constitutional machinery was to be disdained. This political culture led the moderates to portray everybody who was either on the right or the left of their camp, both in Piedmont and Italy, as a ‘sectarian’ and hence a dangerous revolutionary.

The Call for a World Constitutional Convention

1998 ◽  
pp. 63-67
Author(s):  
David W. Felder
Keyword(s):  
Direct Democracy ◽  
International Level ◽  
Global Level ◽  
Constitutional Convention ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
World Government ◽  
Nuclear Age ◽  
The World ◽  
The Right ◽  
National Governments

A movement led by an organization called "One World" is advocating the idea of "Direct Democracy," whereby individuals everywhere would have the opportunity to elect delegates to a world constitutional convention. In theory, any document drafted by this convention would be returned to individuals throughout the world for their approval. The assumption of the Direct Democracy movement is that individuals throughout the world have the right to bypass existing governments in order to establish the rule of law on a global level. Leaders of this movement believe that the Direct Democracy movement is consistent with democratic ideas, including those articulated by Locke. Two questions are at issue. First, do individuals have the right to bypass existing governments in order to establish an international government? Second, is it desirable to establish world government? I conclude that, according to Locke, sovereign power rests with individuals—not governments. Individuals have the right to delegate a portion of their power from one government to another and, when they do so, revolution ensues. Revolution of this sort would be desirable because national governments cannot provide security in the nuclear age. So individuals should transfer some power from the national to the international level. The call for a world constitutional convention is a call for a peaceful revolution that could abolish war.

Moderate Czech Euroscepticism will cause no EU rupture

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Political ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
Wide Margin ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
The Right ◽  
Political Right ◽  
Visegrad Group

Subject Czech Euroscepticism. Significance The right-liberal ANO 2011 party led by Andrej Babis won legislative elections last month. Its wide margin of victory owed something to its Eurosceptic discourse. Czech Euroscepticism is the product of populist mobilisation on the political right and the centre’s failure to make a positive case for EU membership. With the hard Eurosceptic Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party joining the Europhobic Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM) in parliament, leaving the EU is guaranteed a prominent place on the political agenda. Impacts Moderate Czech (and Austrian) enthusiasm for deeper integration will mean that inner and outer ‘circles’ of EU membership will solidify. A deepening split within the Visegrad Group will make opposition to EU reform difficult to sustain for Poland and Hungary. The president has added his weight to a referendum on ‘Czexit’.

Who Knows Best? The Creation of the Citizen‐initiated Referendum in New Zealand

2001 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 403-422 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Parkinson
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Final Analysis ◽  
The Will ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Right To Vote ◽  
The Right

Among Arguments Advanced In Favour Of Direct Democracy, legitimacy pleas loom large. If the rules governing people can only be legitimate when those rules arise from and represent the will of all, then it is commonly argued that people should have the right to vote not just for representatives but on substantive issues of public policy as well. To claim otherwise is regarded as anti-democratic: for example, Bogdanor writes that ‘in the final analysis, the arguments against referendums are arguments against democracy’, while Saward asks, ‘What better way to maximize responsiveness of rulers to the ruled than by fostering a system in which the ruled themselves make the decisions?’

scholarly journals THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL AND A FAST TRIAL: THE EXPERIENCE OF THE UNITED STATES

2021 ◽  
pp. 11-13
Author(s):  
V.V. Berch
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Jury Trial ◽  
Professional Activity ◽  
The People ◽  
Administration Of Justice ◽  
Constitutional Right ◽  
The Right ◽  
Speedy Trial

The article is devoted to the consideration of the constitutional right to a trial by a jury, as well as the right to a speedy trial in accordance with the provisions of the Sixth Amendment to the US Constitution. It is noted that as of today in Ukraine there is a question of ensuring the actual (real) participation of the people in the administration of justice and the creation of an appropriate mechanism for the realization of such a right of the people. It is established that the permanent evolution of the jury trial in the world as a full-fledged element of participatory democracy allows us to assert the possibility of applying the best foreign experience in this area and for Ukraine. It is noted that the jury trial, which is typical for the United States, is undoubtedly a consequence of the borrowing of English legal customs, but has its own special features. It has been established that the right to a speedy trial should be distinguished from other constitutional rights, as it concerns the interests of society and the justice system more than the interests of the accused. The circumstances that suggest whether a trial is in fact "fast" are rather vague, as each such proceeding is to some extent unique. The requirements for members of the jury are set out in the Jury Selection Act. It is noted that the release of jurors varies depending on the state. One of the grounds for such dismissal is professional activity. For example, doctors, lawyers, public figures, police or firefighters. At the same time, this practice is gradually ceasing to be natural. It is concluded that the jury trial as a form of public participation in the administration of justice is undoubtedly a democratic legal institution. Direct democracy in the exercise of judicial power, which is carried out in compliance with the principles of publicity and adversarial proceedings promotes the establishment of citizens' faith in the fairness of judicial decisions.  

Direct democracy, policy diffusion, and medicalized marijuana

2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-82
Author(s):  
Cynthia Rugeley ◽  
John Frendreis ◽  
Raymond Tatalovich
Keyword(s):  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Policy Diffusion ◽  
State Legislatures ◽  
Representative Government ◽  
Conventional Model ◽  
Political Variable ◽  
Horizontal Diffusion ◽  
Citizen Initiatives ◽  
R Process

AbstractVirtually all studies of policy diffusion are based on statutory enactments by state legislatures. But a substantial number of medicalized marijuana laws were initiated through citizen initiatives and ratified by referenda (I&R). This case study suggests that the diffusion of laws adopted by I&R requires two modifications to the conventional model of policy diffusion. First, early policy adoptions must occur through direct democracy so that horizontal diffusion results when those past adoptions by the I&R process lead to future adoptions. Second, the necessity of bypassing institutions of representative government must be operationalized as an interaction between the availability of direct democracy and the precise political variable that blocks legislative enactments.

scholarly journals The Legal Nature of E-Petitions

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 19-46
Author(s):  
Igor Babin ◽  
Liudmyla Vakariuk
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Public Affairs ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Independent Form ◽  
Legal Nature ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Right ◽  
Legal Consequences

Abstract An e-petition (online petition or internet petition) is one of the most popular ways for civil society to interact with public authorities. It is no accident that the number of countries implementing this e-democracy tool is increasing. The institution of electronic petition has its own peculiarities in each country where it has been introduced: different forms, subjects, filing procedures and legal consequences. The common feature is that the e-petition is an independent form of direct democracy through which citizens participate in the management of public affairs. The article investigates the place of e-petitions in the system of direct democracy forms, analyzes practices of using the institution of electronic petitions, shows the establishment of the institution of e-petitions in Ukraine, reveals the concepts and features of online petitions, and highlights the problems of implementing the right to electronic petition in Ukraine.

Marx’s Social Republic

2020 ◽  
pp. 172-194
Author(s):  
Bruno Leipold
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
The Political ◽  
Representative Government ◽  
The Right ◽  
Standing Army ◽  
Popular Control

This chapter explores how Marx’s conception of the political institutions of socialism (the social republic) was inherited from the radical elements of the republican tradition. I explore three dimensions of this inheritance. First, I discuss his support for replacing the institutions of representative government with a form of popular delegacy, where representatives are constrained by imperative mandates, the right to recall, and short terms of office. Second, I explain why Marx criticized the separation of powers and preferred legislative supremacy over the executive. Third, I discuss Marx’s belief in the necessity of placing the state’s administrative and repressive functions under popular control, by transforming the standing army into a civic militia and making the bureaucracy elected, accountable, and deprofessionalized.

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