Referendums as Democratic Institutions

Abstract

Popular vote processes (Cheneval and el-Wakil 2018), such as referendums and initiatives, are often referred to as the “oldest democratic innovations” (Saward 2003, 11; see also Smith 2009, 111). Yet, the study of these popular vote processes has remained detached from research about other democratic innovations, such as mini-publics or open assemblies, as well as more conventional processes, like elections and legislatures. A major obstacle to starting a productive dialogue between the study of popular votes processes and other democratic institutions is that relatively little attention has been given to the institutional designs of the former. This panel draws on the recent systemic turn in democratic theory in order to reflect on the appropriate roles of initiative and referendum processes in democratic systems, with an eye to thinking about how institutions might be designed in order to fulfill these roles. The panel will draw on both normative political theory and empirical political science to address the following questions: What democratic ideals or norms are embodied in popular vote processes? Under what conditions, if any, should these processes circumvent other democratic institutions? How can they enable meaningful citizen participation? What are the distinctive features of popular vote processes? How do they interact with other parts of the democratic system and how are these effects shaped by different referendum and initiative designs? Are there promising reforms that might democratize popular vote processes? How can the study of referendums and initiatives inform theorizing about other institutions of mass democracy, and vice versa?