Citizens at the Polls Direct Democracy in the World, 2020

David Altman ； Clemente T. Sánchez

《Taiwan Journal of Democracy》 17卷2期 (2021/12) Pp. 27-48

摘要

There is suggestive evidence that the growth of democracy has stagnated, and even some signs indicate that democracy is in retreat. In such a context, one might have expected to witness an increase in experimentation with democratic innovations such as direct democracy. This is not the case. While there is a spectacular and statistically significant increase in the uses of mechanisms of direct democracy (MDDs) since the early 1990s, 2020 remained notably similar to the previous years in terms of the level of direct democracy worldwide. In 2019, we witnessed less than half of the MDDs we saw in 2018 (eighteen vs. fifty), but, in 2020, the count bounced back to thirty. The COVID-19 pandemic did not halt the march of direct democracy, although it delayed some of its events. Beyond the specific number of popular votes in 2020, direct democracy still tracks almost perfectly with global electoral democracy trends. When all was said and done, however, thirty MDDs were held in 2020: fourteen obligatory referendums (eight in Liberia, two in Chile, and one in Algeria, Italy, Palau, and Northern Cyprus, respectively), six plebiscites (two in New Zealand, two in Liechtenstein, one in Russia, and one in Guinea), five popular initiatives (four in Switzerland and one in Liechtenstein), and five rejective referendums (all in Switzerland).

關鍵字

COVID-19 ； direct democracy ； plebiscites ； polyarchy ； popular initiatives ； referendums

參考文獻

David Altman, Citizenship and Contemporary Direct Democracy (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2019).

Fernando Tuesta Soldevilla, ed., Una Onda Expansiva: Las Revocatorias en el Perú y América Latina [An expansive wave: Revocatory referendums in Peru and Latin America] (Lima: Jurado Nacional de Elecciones - Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, 2014)

Bruno Kaufmann, Rolf Büchi, and Nadja Braun, Guidebook to Direct Democracy in Switzerland and Beyond (Bern: Benteli Hallwag Druck AG, 2010).

Norberto Bobbio, The Future of Democracy: A Defence of the Rules of the Game (New York: Polity, 1987).

David Altman, Direct Democracy Worldwide (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2011).