Charting the rise (and fall?) of direct democracy in the European Union: how comparative federalism can help us understand the interplay of direct democracy and European integration
Journal
Revista de Ciencia Política
Date Issued
2009
Author(s)
DOI
10.4067/S0718-090X2009000100003
Abstract
In recent decades Europe’s political landscape has been marked by a notable rise in
the use of mechanisms of direct democracy such as the referendum and the citizens’
initiative. Our focus in this article is on the national referendums directly connected to
the European Union (EU) integration process, a subject which is receiving increasing
scholarly attention. Two interrelated questions are asked. First, how do these specific
mechanisms of direct democracy interact with the existing federal political institutions
of the EU? And, second, how does this affect the institutional stability of the EU
polity? In addressing this problematique we undertake a cross-polity comparison of
the EU-variant of direct democracy that reveals a range of institutional models and
brings to the fore a neglected dimension in the study of EU referendum politics, the
role of federal political institutions.
the use of mechanisms of direct democracy such as the referendum and the citizens’
initiative. Our focus in this article is on the national referendums directly connected to
the European Union (EU) integration process, a subject which is receiving increasing
scholarly attention. Two interrelated questions are asked. First, how do these specific
mechanisms of direct democracy interact with the existing federal political institutions
of the EU? And, second, how does this affect the institutional stability of the EU
polity? In addressing this problematique we undertake a cross-polity comparison of
the EU-variant of direct democracy that reveals a range of institutional models and
brings to the fore a neglected dimension in the study of EU referendum politics, the
role of federal political institutions.
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