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Political representation does not function well for citizens whose positions on political issues differ from those of elected representatives. In this paper, we argue that opinion incongruence leads citizens to want to bypass elected representatives and place more decision‐making power in the hands of the public. We theorise that this is because incongruent citizens are highly dissatisfied with the existing political system and/or think they will benefit from direct decision‐making in terms of improved policy responsiveness. Using data from the 2019 Belgian Election Survey (n = 3413) and Party Leadership Survey, we find that greater incongruence between citizens' positions and those of their elected representatives is related to higher support for direct decision‐making. This holds for opinion incongruence with the party voted for and incongruence with Parliament as a whole. This paper contributes novel insights into the consequences of the quality of political representation as well as the drivers of citizens' support for direct decision‐making processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores issue agenda-setting in Australia's 2023 Voice to Parliament referendum, analysing the dynamics of Yes and No campaigns in a diverse media ecosystem. We identify influential messages across this complex media environment using soft clustering of sentence embeddings from large language models (LLMs). Drawing on 3.3 million documents and over 10 million Voice specific sentences from mainstream and social media sources, we identify the narrative configurations of the campaigns, their audience size and engagement. Overall, the Yes campaign dominated with more diverse messaging and greater audience size and engagement than No. Yet, the No case prevailed. We find the narrower, mostly negative No campaign helped sustain the issue agenda both online and offline, forcing Yes to respond to it. The findings also challenge echo chamber theory, revealing most unique topics contained content from both #Yes and #No perspectives, indicating robust public engagement rather than isolated filter bubbles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Referendums differ from general elections in the choices that are offered to voters and in the cues that are available to them to reach a decision. This difference makes the quantity and quality of the information that is available during a referendum campaign crucial to the outcome. This paper uses a unique panel survey to examine the role of the campaign in shaping the outcome of the October 2023 Voice to Parliament referendum. We find that the political cues offered to voters – reflected most prominently in voters’ views about the major party leaders – were the most important campaign effects shaping the result. Interpersonal communication also mattered, but government-supplied information and mass media exposure had no effect. The findings highlight the central role that a campaign driven by elites plays in shaping the outcome of a referendum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an in-depth understanding of information selection strategies in referendums. It builds on the theories of motivated reasoning, cognitive dissonance, information utility, and social identity to examine selective exposure in the context of referendums, and highlights how individuals select information, opting for either congruent and partisan (selective choice) or balanced and discrepant (enlightened choice) sources of information. Empirically, our study relies on two cross-sectional online surveys (N = 2,245; N = 735) that took place in a real referendum campaign on an Energy Act in Switzerland. We exposed respondents to different information contexts and measured whether they chose selectively or in an enlightened way. We conclude that individuals choose balanced or discrepant sources of information more frequently than the literature on selective exposure suggests. Moreover, attitude strength plays a twofold role: In a pre-campaign context, attitude strength motivates individuals' enlightened choice; mid-campaign, however, it strengthens voters' selective choice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We study cooperation in a social dilemma experiment: the governance game. • Our between subjects' factorial design compares three institutions (Random replacement of rules, Referendum, and Voting) to a Baseline condition in which the ruler is never replaced. • Contribution levels are not significantly different across conditions, but voters retain a larger proportion of the surplus generated by the game in democratic regimes (Voting and Referendum). • Voters tolerate the electoral uncertainty associated with Referendum as rulers strategically learned to use transfers to stay in power. In this paper we study electoral systems in an experimental governance game in which citizens contribute to a public good and policymakers decide how to distribute it. In the Voting condition, citizens receive information about the policymaker performance (how much she shared of the public good with individual participants), her skills and her altruism, and vote directly for a policymaker for the next election cycle. In the Referendum condition voters receive information about the policymaker's performance before deciding whether to remove her from office in a simpler binary choice (in or out). If they decide to remove the incumbent, a new policymaker is chosen randomly from the remaining group members, in the spirit of referendums like Brexit or the plebiscite about the peace agreements in Colombia. We compare these two electoral mechanisms with two baselines in which the policymaker is never replaced (Baseline) and another one (Random) in which the policymaker is always randomly replaced by another participant. Our results show that both electoral mechanisms are largely effective in improving citizens' earnings by generating more equitable sharing rules. Citizens in Voting and Referendum extract greater surplus from policymakers than in the other conditions and voting against a candidate (Referendum) is more effective in increasing surplus than voting for a candidate (Voting). Contributions to the public good and conditional cooperation patterns remain strikingly similar in democratic (Referendum and Voting) and non-democratic (Baseline and Random) conditions. Empirical expectations about contributions of other citizens are similar as well. However, we show that policymakers distribute the public good differently in democratic institutions, and more effectively in Referendum than in Voting , as policymakers use clientelist transfers to avoid being replaced. Overall, both democratic institutions are effective in improving citizens' payoffs by indirectly limiting policymakers' surplus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Populism is often associated with direct democracy. However, empirical support for this connection remains limited. Analysing a unique dataset on national referendums across 29 countries, this study challenges the presumption that populists are more inclined to advocate for referendums. Surprisingly, populists exhibit this tendency primarily when in opposition. Despite the increasing inclusion of populist parties in coalition governments, their impact on facilitating national-level direct democracy is more complex than anticipated. Utilising V-DEM data over 30 years, we find that populists prima facie enhance the use of direct democracy. However, this effect is contingent on contextual factors, such as party system institutionalisation and the democracy's age, indicating a nuanced relationship between populism and direct democratic practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The idea of increasing the power of the 'pure people' at the expense of a 'corrupt elite' lies at the core of populism. One way for populist parties to do this is to push for a greater use of referendums. Previous research shows that populist parties mention in general in their communications the referendums as suitable avenues for the direct involvement of the people in the decision-making process. However, we miss details about how they refer to referendums. This article addresses this gap in the literature and explores how populist parties talk about referendums in their election manifestos. It seeks to identify what type of referendum populist parties tend to support, and to analyze whether their support for referendums is generic or policy-specific. Our qualitative content analysis draws on the election manifestos used by 38 populist parties in 21 European democracies in national elections taking place between 2016 and 2023. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to demonstrate that bottom-up popular vote processes (the optional referendum and citizens' initiative) focused on ordinary legislation can help to improve democratic self-government by uniquely facilitating the development and expression of various forms of political agency. Most significantly, it is argued that such popular vote processes can be designed in ways that endow them with significant deliberative credentials. Methodologically, the paper employs Mark E. Warren's problem-based approach to democratic theory, which provides the conceptual tools necessary to advance a) a novel case for recovering popular vote processes as a valid institutional toolkit for exploration by democratic theory and b) an empirically informed set of best practices that can provide critical resources for normatively scrutinizing existing institutionalizations of bottom-up popular vote processes across the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum joined the 37 other referendums which have been defeated since federation, out of a total of 45 referendums. In contrast to the 1967 referendum on Indigenous Australians, which attracted a record majority of 90.8 percent, the Voice referendum gained just 39.9 percent support. This paper uses a large, nationally representative survey to explain voting in the Voice referendum and to compare it with the 1999 republic referendum. The results show that the absence of bipartisanship on the Voice resulted in voters prioritizing the potential risks of constitutional change over the prospect of better outcomes for Indigenous people. In the absence of bipartisanship, voters opted for safety over change – as they did in the 1999 republic referendum and in other unsuccessful referendums. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dictatorships that use plebiscites – that is, referendums initiated by the executive – have a longer expected lifespan. A successful plebiscite sends a signal that makes coordination for collective action more difficult and induces the falsification of preferences. It also enhances the status of the dictator within the regime and against potential rivals through the use of agenda power. As a result, plebiscites are followed by decreased mobilization and a reduced risk of palace coups. This, in turn, adds years to the dictator's tenure. We have found evidence to support these propositions by utilizing data from various databases of autocratic regimes that span from 1946 to 2008. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of the substantial shift toward popular decision-making mechanisms in Western European polities, a comprehensive analysis is imperative to evaluate the democratic legitimacy of these devices, with particular emphasis on referendums. These instruments entrust voters with the resolutions of significant constitutional matters that their political leaders have been unable to address. The present research centres upon the 2016 EU referendum in Britain as a case study, given its criticism for lacking a genuine democratic process and being subject to particular media agenda. The research methodology predominantly adopts a qualitative approach, with the analysis structured around the theoretical framework of deliberative democracy. Various deliberative elements, such as the distribution of information and media coverage throughout the entire process, form the basis of the analysis. While the ideal envisioned by this deliberative theory is the attainment of well-discussed and informed decisions reflective of the citizens’ common good, the findings of the analysis revealed a contrary outcome.

The UK's political constitution rests on the checking and balancing operations of a representative system in which parliament is sovereign. By contrast, referendums are often considered instances of popular sovereignty. Critics condemn them as populist appeals to a singular will of the people that risk majority tyranny, supporters believe they allow citizens to check and balance the elitism of politicians. Such arguments lay behind the criticism and praise of the Brexit referendum. This article argues that while the criticism is justified when referendums form an alternative to representative democracy, they can usefully supplement such a system provided they are embedded within and constrained by it. So conceived, the Brexit referendum can be regarded as consistent with political constitutionalism. Yet, this conception challenges claims that it represented the sovereign will of the people. The result remained subject to ratification by a sovereign parliament and could be legitimately overturned by that body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this article is to study the features and trends in the development of various forms of local governance in Russia, with a particular focus on the regions falling within the European North of Russia (ENR). To achieve this goal, a combination of general research methods (analysis, synthesis, generalization, case study) and applied methods (such as grouping analysis, economic and statistical analysis, and sociological research methods) were used. The study relies on official statistics from Rosstat, reports from the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, election and referendum data from the Vybory (Elections) system, and the results of questionnaire surveys of municipal leaders in the Vologda Oblast conducted from 2007 to 2022. The scientific novelty of the study lies in its assessment of the influence of various factors (territorial urbanization level and overall municipal development) on the nuances of residents’ electoral participation from 2018 to 2022, using ENR municipalities as a case study. The research revealed that elections lacking a legally established voter turnout threshold witnessed notably low voter participation rates (ranging from 28 % to 41 % in the elections of senior officials of ENR regions from 2019 to 2022, 40% to 46% in the elections of State Duma deputies in 2021, and 8% to 71% in the elections of rural settlement heads). In most cases, municipalities with predominantly rural populations demonstrated higher election turnout rates and stronger support for winning candidates, a pattern that also holds in low-development areas within the Vologda Oblast. The article also discusses how local governors in the Vologda Oblast assess civil engagement from 2012 to 2022 and offers recommendations for regional-level monitoring of diverse forms of population involvement in territorial development, with an emphasis on local public governance.

Scholars have long debated public involvement in constitution-making and will continue to do so. Yet, despite the multitude of opinions, we are no closer to resolving some of the most fundamental questions regarding the role of the public in constitution-making processes than decades ago when these discussions first started. The recent participatory Chilean constitution-making process, the growing wave of authoritarian constitution-making, and the plethora of new empirical evidence present another occasion to revisit this topic. In contrast to earlier literature, this article approaches this topic by addressing both the normative and the sociological dimensions of public participation in constitution-making. It first argues that public participation in constitution-making should only be considered a sociological necessity, not a normative one. Second, using a bottom-up approach, it provides a list of guiding principles to ensure that public participation in constitution-making, when conducted, allows for a net positive for both the constitution and the society it governs.

El presente artículo se enmarca en el reciente interés surgido en el país por la democracia directa y la celebración de consultas populares sobre temas públicos a partir de su promoción desde 2018 por el Gobierno de la República. Para ello, se hace un estudio comparativo entre los estados de Sinaloa y Jalisco para analizar fortalezas y debilidades de los referéndums y plebiscitos contemplados en sus legislaciones. Los resultados de esta investigación y sus propuestas de reformas buscan servir de apoyo para futuros estudios sobre las legislaciones en el país que requieran también fortalecer sus instrumentos de participación ciudadana.

Referendums have been extensively analyzed from multiple perspectives and different studies have discussed their various features and types and how different actors use them. However, little attention has been paid to investigating the reasons why political elites (i.e., European presidents) initiate referendums. Thus, this article explores the intentions and aims by analyzing 18 referendums called by European presidents from 2000 to 2020. Secondary sources, such as media reporting, official documents, and scientific works, have been analyzed using a comparative case study approach. The results indicate that presidents usually have strategic objectives when they call referendums, and that the initiation of a referendum is influenced by the anticipated short-or long-term effects that could result from the referendum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the basic instruments of direct democracy is the referendum, which is particularly developed in Switzerland. In Poland, due to historical conditions, there is no tradition of using referendums; however, in recent years, the participation of citizens in public co-decision has started to be implemented through the instruments of governance (participatory democracy), i.e. the village council fund and participatory budgeting. Apart from the basic function, i.e. active participation in making public decisions, all the above-mentioned instruments should also fulfill another important role: it is social control in the financial sphere. Therefore, this study attempts to answer the following research question: do the instruments of direct and participatory democracy fulfil the function of social control in the field of public financial decisions, and if so, how? According to the adopted hypothesis, both the forms of direct and participatory democracy also constitute (contain) elements of social control of the activities of public authorities. And by their very nature, these legal instruments of social control are implemented in the form of ex ante external control. To verify this view, the study interprets the content of foreign and domestic acts of universally binding law (cantonal constitutions, statutory provisions). Keywords: participatory budgeting, referendums, social control, village fund [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the basic instruments of direct democracy is the referendum, which is particularly developed in Switzerland. In Poland, due to historical conditions, there is no tradition of using referendums; however, in recent years, the participation of citizens in public co-decision has started to be implemented through the instruments of governance (participatory democracy), i.e. the village council fund and participatory budgeting. Apart from the basic function, i.e. active participation in making public decisions, all the above-mentioned instruments should also fulfill another important role: it is social control in the financial sphere. Therefore, this study attempts to answer the following research question: do the instruments of direct and participatory democracy fulfil the function of social control in the field of public financial decisions, and if so, how? According to the adopted hypothesis, both the forms of direct and participatory democracy also constitute (contain) elements of social control of the activities of public authorities. And by their very nature, these legal instruments of social control are implemented in the form of ex ante external control. To verify this view, the study interprets the content of foreign and domestic acts of universally binding law (cantonal constitutions, statutory provisions). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the Brexit referendum campaign has been extensively researched, media, regulatory bodies, and academics have often talked at cross-purposes. A strong focus on Cambridge Analytica’s role in the 2016 referendum, despite official investigations concluding the company had only limited involvement in the campaign, has distracted attention from more mundane but highly controversial data practices, including selling voters’ data to third parties or re-using campaign data without consent from data subjects. This empirical case study of data-driven referendum campaigning around Brexit raises two broader theoretical questions: First, moving beyond the current focus on transparency and accountability, can public participation in the ownership and management of campaign data address some of the problematic data practices outlined? Second, most academic literature on data-driven campaigning, in general, and referendum campaigns, in particular, has often overlooked the key question of what happens with campaigning data once campaigns are over. What legal safeguards or mechanisms of accountability and participation are there to guarantee consent when it comes to further re-use of people’s data gathered during campaigns? Ultimately, the article raises the question of who should have a say in how “people’s data” is used in referendum campaigns and afterwards and makes a case for democratising such decisions.

In recent years, direct democracy has received more and more attention and has become the subject of much research in the field of political science. The development of direct democracy is seen as a mean of consolidating modern democracy. Therefore, most democratic countries in the world have been making efforts to build appropriate mechanisms to promote the positive effects of this form of democracy, including Vietnam. Characterized as a developing country with a single-party ruling political system, Vietnam aims to build a united and cohesive society on the basis of ensuring the people’s mastery through direct and representative democracy. Since entering the period of renovation (since 1986), direct democracy has been of more interest in Vietnam along with the legal basis system for this form of democracy is increasingly improved. However, it must be acknowledged that, for a country that has not had a long history of implementing democracy, especially direct democracy, the Vietnamese legal system that regulates this field still has many limitations. The article gives an overview of the current legal system of direct democracy in Vietnam, thereby analyzing a number of limitations and shortcomings and orienting some solutions to overcome these problems.

The 2014 Scottish independence referendum settled little in terms of Scotland's constitutional future. The after‐effects of what was the largest exercise in democracy in Scottish history certainly increased Scotland's devolved authority but, following withdrawal from the EU and with continuing differences and disagreements between the Westminster and Scottish governments, there have been increasing demands for a second referendum. One aspect of these conversations has been about the voting rights of Scots living outside Scotland, whose relationship with the nation would certainly be impacted by any successful vote for Scottish independence. And yet, they have had no voice in that decision and despite calls for their inclusion in any future vote, such inclusion remains unlikely. This article examines the reasons why such inclusion would be challenging and then considers what the Scottish diaspora think about Scottish independence and voting rights, by considering qualitative responses to a survey of members of the Scottish diaspora. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The June 2016 Brexit referendum sent international shock waves, possibly causing adjustments in public opinion not only in the UK, but also abroad. We suggest that these adjustments went beyond substantive attitudes on European integration and included procedural preferences towards direct democracy. Drawing on the insight that support for direct democracy can be instrumentally motivated, we argue that the outcome of the Brexit referendum led (politically informed) individuals to update their support for referendums based on their views towards European integration. Using panel data from Germany, we find that those in favour of European integration, especially those with high political involvement, turned more sceptical of the introduction of referendums in the aftermath of the Brexit referendum. Our study contributes to the understanding of preferences for direct democracy and documents a remarkable case of how – seemingly basic – procedural preferences can, in today's internationalized information environment, be shaped by high-profile events abroad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the use of a Citizens' Jury as a source of voter information in the context of a government-initiated (top-down) referendum. Several studies show the capacity of the Citizens' Initiative Review (CIR) to enhance voters' knowledge and capacity of judgement in ballot initiative processes. However, similar procedures have not been tested outside the U.S.A. or in the context of government-initiated referendums. Our case is a Citizens' Jury on Referendum Options organised in the municipality of Korsholm (Finland) in 2019. Even though the referendum concerned a contested municipal merger, we find that jury's participants were nonetheless satisfied with the deliberative process and found it impartial. A large majority of voters in Korsholm had read the statement by the jury and thought it was a useful and trustworthy source of information. Based on a field experiment, we find that reading the statement increased trust in the jury, factual knowledge, issue efficacy and perspective-taking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]