Referendums Around the World

Referendums Around the World PDF

Author: Matt Qvortrup

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2014-05-05

Total Pages: 395

ISBN-13: 1137314702

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Surveying all referendums around the world since 1793, Dr Qvortrup and contributors provide a thorough account of why and when citizens have been asked to vote on policy issues. Referendums Around the World is essential reading for political scientists and others interested in direct democracy as well as representative government.

Referendums Around the World

Referendums Around the World PDF

Author: Matt Qvortrup

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2017-08-16

Total Pages: 316

ISBN-13: 3319577980

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This book provides a comprehensive summary and analysis of all the nationwide referendums since 1793. Referendums are ubiquitous and they are increasingly becoming vehicles for political change – or sometimes vehicles of conservatism. In 2016, for example, the voters in the United Kingdom caused a major upheaval when they voted for leaving the European Union. Later in the same year, a majority of the voters in Colombia rejected a peace plan carefully negotiated by the political elites to end decades of civil war. Were these decisions prudent? Why were these issues submitted to referendums? Why did the majority of voters vote against the governments’ recommendations? Have ‘the people’ had grown tired of the old political class? Was this a new tendency? These are some of the questions addressed in this new edition, which will be compulsory reading for anyone interested in or concerned about populism and democracy.

The Routledge Handbook to Referendums and Direct Democracy

The Routledge Handbook to Referendums and Direct Democracy PDF

Author: Laurence Morel

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-12-12

Total Pages: 710

ISBN-13: 135136071X

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Over the last 30 years referendums have played an increasingly important role in determining government policy. Recent high profile referendums in Scotland, Catalonia and Ukraine have continued the movement towards independence referendums following decolonization and the end of the Cold War. The Greek bailout referendum and Britain’s vote on membership of the EU reflect a tradition of European states giving their people a direct say in the transfer of sovereign powers to the European Union seen through the ratification of key treaties such as Maastricht, Amsterdam, Nice and Lisbon. This Routledge Handbook covers key aspects and issues of direct democracy and referendums throughout the world including: •their history; •when, why, where, how and on which issues referendums are held; •why some referendums are more democratic than others; •how referendums are won; •whether they produce good policies; •if referendums increase participation and improve the quality of representative democracies; •do referendums increase trust in democracy and the political actors; •the impact of new technology on the possibilities, methods and frequency of direct public political participation; •how they should be regulated. Covering other related areas such as recall, citizen juries and random selection, this compendium is an indispensable guide to referendums and the workings of modern democracy.

Referendums Around the World

Referendums Around the World PDF

Author: Matt Qvortrup

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Published: 2024-04-03

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9783031490958

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Direct Democracy is inexpensive. The average cost per vote is about $ 10. So, maybe we should have more of them? Before you answer that question, you need to know the facts about this type of complementary democracy. Referendums Around the World, is a complete and comprehensive revision of the 2016 edition of Referendums Around the World, which in turn was an updated version of the 2013 edition, the proposed volume is a comprehensive revision and update of the previous book. The previous edition provided overviews of the history, legal basis, and practice of referendums around the world, with chapters on, Africa, Australia, Asia Latin America, Europe, and a special chapter on Switzerland (the sui generis of referendums). In addition, this third edition offers a completely revised introduction by the editor, a wholly revised concluding chapter by the editor, a special chapter on winning referendums including perspectives from neuroscience, as well as a list of all nationwide referendums held to date.

The Politics of Direct Democracy

The Politics of Direct Democracy PDF

Author: Lawrence LeDuc

Publisher: Peterborough, Ont. : Broadview Press

Published: 2003-09

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13:

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This book aims to provide a comprehensive, up-to-date survey of direct democratic institutions and devices as they have developed both in the thinking of modern political theorists and in actual political practice in the world's major democratic nations.

Referendum Democracy

Referendum Democracy PDF

Author: M. Mendelsohn

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2001-09-25

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 1403900965

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As the referendum becomes a more regular component of decision making, it leaves few, if any, institutions, processes and values of democracy untouched. Political actors of all kinds - including political parties and interest groups - seek to use the referendum device to further their own objectives. The end result is a different kind of democracy than existed before. This book lays out the comparative research agenda on the impact of referendums on the practice of liberal democracy.

The Limits and Legitimacy of Referendums

The Limits and Legitimacy of Referendums PDF

Author: Richard Albert

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2022

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 0198867646

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The possibility of democracy-enhancing uses and anti-democratic abuses of referendums reveals a paradox: mechanisms of democracy can be exploited to do violence to the basic principles of democracy. The Limits and Legitimacy of Referendums seeks to identify standards we might use to assess the democratic legitimacy of a referendum when we cannot rely on the norms of traditional liberal democracy. This innovative book explores how referendums manage the tension between liberalism and democracy, and whether this device holds promise for reconciling these two commitments. A range of scholars from around the world expose how referendums may be abused on one hand to achieve short-term political or even personal gains, and how, on the other, they may aspire to reflect the best traditions of deliberative, innovative, democracy-enhancing popular decision-making. Structured around three big questions, this book seeks to identify what makes a referendum legitimate. First, why have referendums on issues of fundamental political importance become so frequent around the world? Second, who are - or who should be - the people that make decisions about a political community's future? And third, are referendums an effective and reliable mechanism of popular sovereignty or democratic choice? These essays - written for scholars, public lawyers, political actors and citizens - bring together diverse perspectives on referendums, constitutionalism, liberalism and democracy in ways that challenge the conventional wisdom, prompt new answers to enduring questions, and urge reconsideration of how we evaluate the legitimacy of referendums.