Referendums and Democratic Government

the long version

Referendums and Democratic Government deals with the role of different forms of referendums in representative democracies. It analyses the referendum from the point of view of social choice theory and various theories of democracy. The institutions of referendums are analysed in twenty-two democracies, and referendums in Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland are examined as case-studies. Referendums are classified according to how they are initiated and how their agendas are set. It is argued that referendums have very diverse roles in the political systems studied in the book. Moreover, various forms of referendum have been justified by arguments based on different normative theories of democracy. The referendum is not a unitary phenomenon, and the differences at the initiatory and agenda-setting stages and their consequences should be taken into account in comparative research and in the design of institutions.