Citizenship and Contemporary Direct Democracy

Standing out from all other books on direct democracy, Citizenship and Contemporary Direct Democracy connects the study of direct democracy to the broader field of comparative democratization and to an important strand in normative democratic theory. Analyzing the relationship between direct democracy and representative government, this book is organized around three main sections: the origins of contemporary direct democracy, its functioning, and the ways to improve the use of direct democracy and its abuse. David Altman argues that citizen-initiated mechanisms of direct democracy constitute an important and viable way to re-invigorate current representative regimes by strengthening democracies' normative foundations - freedom and equity among citizens - which are particularly fragile in the context of unequal societies. Citizenship and Contemporary Direct Democracy demonstrates how citizen-initiated mechanisms of direct democracy empowers citizens, channels social demands, defuses violence, re-enchants citizens with politics, and breaks through some of the institutionalized barriers to accountability that arise in representative systems.

1. Democratic innovations for representative governments; Part I. Origins: 2. Breaking through: the rebirth of direct democracy in the age of the national-state; 3. Catching on: waves of adoption of citizen-initiated mechanisms of direct democracy since World War I; Part II. Nature: 4. Status quo bias? Political change through direct democracy; 5. Left or right? Investigating potential ideological biases in contemporary direct democracy; Part III. Reform: 6. Why adopt direct democracy? Much more than a simple vote; 7. How can direct democracy be improved? Citizens' commissions and citizens' counterproposals; 8. Conclusions: a new democratic equilibrium; Appendices; References; Index.

David Altman is Professor of Political Science and Chair of Comparative Politics at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile. His research and teaching interests lie in the field of comparative politics with an emphasis on democracy. He is the author of Direct Democracy Worldwide (Cambridge, 2011) and has twice received the Uruguayan National Prize for Political Science.