Referendums, for Populists Only? Why Populist Parties Favour Referendums and How Other Parties Respond

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars Brummel ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
Policy Decisions ◽  
Democratic Ideal ◽  
Election Manifestos ◽  
The Right

Populists are generally known as supporters of referendums and several populist parties have promoted direct democracy in recent years. To deepen our understanding of the populism referendum link, this study analyses how populist parties in Austria, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands defend a greater use of referendums and how their non-populist counterparts respond to this populist call for referendums. An analysis of election manifestos shows that populist parties justify their referendum support by characterizing referendums as a purely democratic ideal, by presenting it as an alternative to decision-making by ‘bad’ political elites or by promoting referendums as a tool to realise their preferred policy decisions. Populist referendum support is thus related to people-centrism and ant-elitism, as elements of a populist ideology, but also to strategic considerations. These lines of argument are used by both populists on the right and the left, but anti-elitism is particularly prominent in manifestos of radical rightwing populist parties. Populists are not the only supporters of direct democracy – however, there is no evidence that non-populist parties did become more favourable towards referendums to adapt to the populist call for a greater referendum use.

scholarly journals Popular Referendum and Electoral Accountability

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 715-731 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Le Bihan
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
Elected Officials ◽  
Policy Decisions ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
Electoral Accountability ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Elected Representatives

This paper studies how citizen-initiated referenda affect the decision-making of elected representatives. In the absence of direct democracy, elected officials who do not share the preferences of voters may enact their preferred policies even at the cost of decreasing the likelihood of reelection. Direct democracy diminishes the policy benefits of doing that, as voters may now overturn some of the policy decisions. Hence, elected officials are induced to implement the policies preferred by the voters not only on those issues that are subject to a possible citizen-initiated referendum, but also on those that are not. This result holds even when the voters’ information about their true interests is limited. Moreover, whereas in a representative democracy, being more informed may undermine voters’ ability to control public officials, the possibility of citizen-initiated referenda means that additional information improves voter control, including on issues that may be outside the direct democracy domain.

scholarly journals From “Landsknecht” to “Soldier”: The Low German Foot Soldiers of the Low Countries in the Second Half of the Sixteenth Century

2006 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Swart
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Low Countries ◽  
Low German ◽  
The Right ◽  
And Control

In the decades after 1550 the soldiery of the Netherlands witnessed the disappearance of the Landsknecht, who had the right to participate in decision-making and shape his daily life. He gradually became a mere “soldier”, subject to stricter discipline and control. This development accelerated after 1572 because William of Orange needed to maintain the support of the inhabitants of the Netherlands for the Revolt. Better discipline and control over his soldiers were imperative in this. Meanwhile, a progressive process of proletarianization left them largely unable to resist: they simply had nowhere else to go.

The Voice of the Child in Child Protection Decision-Making

2020 ◽  
pp. 263-280
Author(s):  
Susanne Witte ◽  
Mónica López López ◽  
Helen Baldwin
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Child Maltreatment ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Children’S Participation ◽  
Participation In Decision Making ◽  
Children's Participation ◽  
The Right

Children’s participation in all matters that concern them, particularly child protection decision-making, have many positive effects on children. It is also their right granted by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. However, in child protection practice there are many obstacles to including children in decision-making processes. First, the article reviews the policy and public discourse in England, Germany, and the Netherlands regarding children’s participation in investigations into suspected child maltreatment. Second, an analysis of 1,207 case files of investigations into suspected child maltreatment unfolds the extent of children’s participation and factors associated with participation within the three countries. Although all three countries grant the right to participate in decision-making to children, documented participation in child protection decision-making is very low even when older children are considered. Children’s participation in decision-making is closely linked to caretakers’ participation in decision-making. Thus, children are almost never included in decision-making when their caretaker is not. Children’s participation is associated with a higher likelihood for individual support for children in the Netherlands and Germany. The results point to the need for research on barriers of children’s participation as well as the need to provide more resources for case workers to be able to facilitate children’s participation.

Awareness and Decision Making in Professional Ethics

2000 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronny Swain
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Professional Ethics ◽  
Ethical Decision Making ◽  
Code Of Ethics ◽  
Professional Autonomy ◽  
Ethical Awareness ◽  
Ethical Decisions ◽  
The Right ◽  
Aid Decision

The paper describes the development of the 1998 revision of the Psychological Society of Ireland's Code of Professional Ethics. The Code incorporates the European Meta-Code of Ethics and an ethical decision-making procedure borrowed from the Canadian Psychological Association. An example using the procedure is presented. To aid decision making, a classification of different kinds of stakeholder (i.e., interested party) affected by ethical decisions is offered. The author contends (1) that psychologists should assert the right, which is an important aspect of professional autonomy, to make discretionary judgments, (2) that to be justified in doing so they need to educate themselves in sound and deliberative judgment, and (3) that the process is facilitated by a code such as the Irish one, which emphasizes ethical awareness and decision making. The need for awareness and judgment is underlined by the variability in the ethical codes of different organizations and different European states: in such a context, codes should be used as broad yardsticks, rather than precise templates.

The adaptation of design thinking in auditing

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda MEIJER-WASSENAAR ◽  
Diny VAN EST
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Design Thinking ◽  
Public Organizations ◽  
Design Framework ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Way

How can a supreme audit institution (SAI) use design thinking in auditing? SAIs audit the way taxpayers’ money is collected and spent. Adding design thinking to their activities is not to be taken lightly. SAIs independently check whether public organizations have done the right things in the right way, but the organizations might not be willing to act upon a SAI’s recommendations. Can you imagine the role of design in audits? In this paper we share our experiences of some design approaches in the work of one SAI: the Netherlands Court of Audit (NCA). Design thinking needs to be adapted (Dorst, 2015a) before it can be used by SAIs such as the NCA in order to reflect their independent, autonomous status. To dive deeper into design thinking, Buchanan’s design framework (2015) and different ways of reasoning (Dorst, 2015b) are used to explore how design thinking can be adapted for audits.

Would you Make the Right Decision? – Decision Making Biases in Economy - Related Dilemmas

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-66
Author(s):  
Zsuzsanna Gödör ◽  
Georgina Szabó
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Framing Effect ◽  
Economic Knowledge ◽  
Bank Account ◽  
Financial Decisions ◽  
Hungarian Population ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The Right ◽  
Decision Making Biases

Abstract As they say, money can’t buy happiness. However, the lack of it can make people’s lives much harder. From the moment we open our first bank account, we have to make lots of financial decisions in our life. Should I save some money or should I spend it? Is it a good idea to ask for a loan? How to invest my money? When we make such decisions, unfortunately we sometimes make mistakes, too. In this study, we selected seven common decision making biases - anchoring and adjustment, overconfidence, high optimism, the law of small numbers, framing effect, disposition effect and gambler’s fallacy – and tested them on the Hungarian population via an online survey. In the focus of our study was the question whether the presence of economic knowledge helps people make better decisions? The decision making biases found in literature mostly appeared in the sample as well. It proves that people do apply them when making decisions and in certain cases this could result in serious and costly errors. That’s why it would be absolutely important for people to learn about them, thus increasing their awareness and attention when making decisions. Furthermore, in our research we did find some connection between decisions and the knowledge of economics, people with some knowledge of economics opted for the better solution in bigger proportion

Parents and educators: Partners working together in an inclusive setting

1993 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 33-49
Author(s):  
Sebastian (Nello) Raciti
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
School Level ◽  
Collaborative Consultation ◽  
Local School ◽  
Participatory Decision Making ◽  
Intervention Plan ◽  
Consultation Model ◽  
Working Together ◽  
The Right ◽  
Contextual Setting

Parents have the right to participate in the educational planning for their child with a disability, however they often need assistance when interacting with professionals to ensure the best programs for their children. Professionals also require guidelines and opportunities to develop appropriate communication skills when interacting with other professionals and parents. This paper investigates the level of participatory decision-making which exists between parents and professionals, and professionals amongst themselves. The present thrust for including children with a disability in mainstream schools is used as the contextual setting for this investigation. Furthermore, the author presents an intervention plan based on the Collaborative Consultation Model to enhance the participatory decision-making skills of parents and professionals at the local school level.

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