Disentangling Referendums and Direct Democracy: A Defence of the Systemic Approach to Popular Vote Processes

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

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Disentangling Referendums and Direct Democracy: A Defence of the Systemic Approach to Popular Vote Processes. / el-Wakil, Alice; McKay, Spencer.

In: Representation, Vol. 56, No. 4, 2020, p. 449–466.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Harvard

el-Wakil, A & McKay, S 2020, 'Disentangling Referendums and Direct Democracy: A Defence of the Systemic Approach to Popular Vote Processes', Representation, vol. 56, no. 4, pp. 449–466. https://doi.org/10.1080/00344893.2019.1652203

APA

el-Wakil, A., & McKay, S. (2020). Disentangling Referendums and Direct Democracy: A Defence of the Systemic Approach to Popular Vote Processes. Representation, 56(4), 449–466. https://doi.org/10.1080/00344893.2019.1652203

Vancouver

el-Wakil A, McKay S. Disentangling Referendums and Direct Democracy: A Defence of the Systemic Approach to Popular Vote Processes. Representation. 2020;56(4):449–466. https://doi.org/10.1080/00344893.2019.1652203

Author

el-Wakil, Alice ; McKay, Spencer. / Disentangling Referendums and Direct Democracy: A Defence of the Systemic Approach to Popular Vote Processes. In: Representation. 2020 ; Vol. 56, No. 4. pp. 449–466.

Bibtex

@article{1ebe33facc9a4904a65ee644b293ead0,
title = "Disentangling Referendums and Direct Democracy: A Defence of the Systemic Approach to Popular Vote Processes",
abstract = "What is the relationship between referendum and initiative processes and democracy? The dominant understanding is that these popular vote processes are institutions associated with a model of direct democracy that stands in opposition to representative democracy. However, this pervasive approach is rarely justified and appears to limit the study of popular vote processes by focusing on implausible ideals, obscuring that many democratic institutions face similar challenges, and encouraging overgeneralising claims that neglect institutional variation in referendum and initiative processes. Previous criticisms of the association of popular vote processes with direct democracy have failed to clearly articulate an alternative. We trace the emergence of a democratic systems approach to popular vote processes and argue that it provides a better conceptual framework to empirically study and normatively discuss these processes.",
keywords = "Faculty of Social Sciences, democratic systems, representative democracy, referendums, political processes, initiatives",
author = "Alice el-Wakil and Spencer McKay",
year = "2020",
doi = "10.1080/00344893.2019.1652203",
language = "English",
volume = "56",
pages = "449–466",
journal = "Representation",
issn = "0034-4893",
publisher = "Taylor & Francis",
number = "4",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Disentangling Referendums and Direct Democracy: A Defence of the Systemic Approach to Popular Vote Processes

AU - el-Wakil, Alice

AU - McKay, Spencer

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - What is the relationship between referendum and initiative processes and democracy? The dominant understanding is that these popular vote processes are institutions associated with a model of direct democracy that stands in opposition to representative democracy. However, this pervasive approach is rarely justified and appears to limit the study of popular vote processes by focusing on implausible ideals, obscuring that many democratic institutions face similar challenges, and encouraging overgeneralising claims that neglect institutional variation in referendum and initiative processes. Previous criticisms of the association of popular vote processes with direct democracy have failed to clearly articulate an alternative. We trace the emergence of a democratic systems approach to popular vote processes and argue that it provides a better conceptual framework to empirically study and normatively discuss these processes.

AB - What is the relationship between referendum and initiative processes and democracy? The dominant understanding is that these popular vote processes are institutions associated with a model of direct democracy that stands in opposition to representative democracy. However, this pervasive approach is rarely justified and appears to limit the study of popular vote processes by focusing on implausible ideals, obscuring that many democratic institutions face similar challenges, and encouraging overgeneralising claims that neglect institutional variation in referendum and initiative processes. Previous criticisms of the association of popular vote processes with direct democracy have failed to clearly articulate an alternative. We trace the emergence of a democratic systems approach to popular vote processes and argue that it provides a better conceptual framework to empirically study and normatively discuss these processes.

KW - Faculty of Social Sciences

KW - democratic systems

KW - representative democracy

KW - referendums

KW - political processes

KW - initiatives

UR - https://doi.org/10.1080/00344893.2019.1652203

U2 - 10.1080/00344893.2019.1652203

DO - 10.1080/00344893.2019.1652203

M3 - Journal article

VL - 56

SP - 449

EP - 466

JO - Representation

JF - Representation

SN - 0034-4893

IS - 4

ER -

ID: 320496981