Citizens’ assemblies bring members of the public into the fold of the difficult trade-offs that need to be made on every decision of public importance.
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
Articles on Direct democracy
Displaying all articles
Voters frustrated by statehouse politics are bypassing elected representatives and enacting laws using direct democracy to preserve abortion rights, raise the minimum wage and rein in state spending.
Election year 2024 will see citizen initiatives on the ballot across the country, some focused on abortion rights. But there’s a growing trend of lawmakers altering initiatives after they have passed.
Those who seek power for the sake of power are less attracted to high office when more people get a say.
Decision-making bodies created by random selection, citizens’ assemblies are creating a sense of optimism about democracy among those who have heard about or taken part in them.
It’s easy to make fun of California politics. But a longtime scholar of those politics says the attempt to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom is part of a long-running attempt to hold government accountable.
Since defending northern Syria from the Islamic State, Kurdish people have established an egalitarian society where women are equal, democracy is direct and religious freedom is guaranteed.
Citizens’ assemblies could be vital in kick-starting the tough steps needed to safeguard a healthy world – but the detail for how they will work will be important.
Mexicans want leftist Andrés Manuel López Obrador to transform the country. But the months leading up to his inauguration sent worrying signs about how he he will use the massive power of his office.
Midterm voters in Utah, Missouri, Michigan and North Dakota will decide whether to join the 31 US states that have some form of legal marijuana. But ballot initiatives can only take pot so far.
At a time when our political future is uncertain, the only way to guarantee change is to do it yourself.
While Facebook’s Zuckerberg suggested as much recently, companies run like autocracies cannot fulfill technology’s promise of reinvigorating the democratic process.
While the US is reeling from rampant fake online news, political movements in Europe are using the internet as a powerful democratic symbol to win elections. Will cyber-optimism or pessimism win?
Australia’s national politicians again need to step up and lead the way on the inevitable process of national and global democratic innovation.
Top contributors
-
Associate Professor in Media Theory and History, Università di Torino
-
Associate Professor of Public Policy and Administration, Penn State
-
Chair professor of European Union Law, HEC Paris; Global Professor, NYU School of Law; Founder The Good Lobby, HEC Paris Business School
-
Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford and Professor of Management and Sociology, University of Michigan
-
Lecturer, Public Policy and Political Communications, The University of Melbourne
-
Senior Lecturer in Human Rights, Constitutional Law and Legal Theory, University of Wollongong
-
Lecturer in Geographic Information Science, Birkbeck, University of London
-
Associate Professor of Political Science, Wright State University
-
Professor & Co-Director, Center for an Independent and Sustainable Democracy, School of Public Affairs, Arizona State University
-
Assistant Professor, Political Science, Miami University
-
Professor of Politics, University of Westminster
-
Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Leeds Beckett University
-
Executive Director, Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs, California State University, Los Angeles
-
Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History, University of California, Los Angeles
-
Chercheuse permanente, Cevipof, professeur de philosophie politique, Sciences Po
