A comparative study of referendums : government by the people
"Democracy means the rule of the people. Yet in all countries, the role of the citizen is limited to periodic general elections and occasional referendums - especially in Britain where the doctrine of 'Parliamentary sovereignty' was until recently an article of faith. However, referendums are becoming an important feature of Western democracy. Citizens are increasingly being called upon to decide complex political issues by the very same people they elected to make those decisions. This study offers the first comparative assessment of the referendum, looking at its development in Britain, Europe and the United States."
Print Book, English, ©2002
Manchester University Press : Distributed exclusively in the USA by Palgrave, Manchester, UK, New York, USA, ©2002
Book
vi, 183 pages ; 23 cm
9780719060373, 0719060370
48532510
The referendum and the ideal of consensus government. The principle of participation and the referendum ; Referendums and voter knowledge: some empirical findings ; Excursus: the reasoning voter ; Excursus: voter knowledge in a representative democracy ; A preliminary conclusion
A.V. Dicey's theory: the referendum as the people's veto. The initiative ; Civic education and the limits of public participation ; The referendum act as an alternative to a second chamber
Do referendums 'stand in the way of salutary reform'? Transfer of sovereignty referendums: support for integration ; Referendums on constitutional issues: with a special reference to Australian referendums ; Referendums on moral issues ; Referendums on economic issues ; Referendums on 'other issues' ; Excursus: the referendum as a deus ex machina ; Referendums as a conservative weapon: a preliminary assessment
Is the referendum a constitutional safeguard? ; Comparative perspectives on the referendum in Britain ; The labour proposals for referendums in 1996: a case study ; British referendums: the story so far
The minority veto and the popular referendum: two case studies. The Danish minority veto: a historical introduction ; The popular referendum in Italy ; Excursus: referendums in Germany ; The popular referendum and the normative criteria