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Signature Requirements and Citizen Initiatives: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from Germany

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  • Felix Arnold
  • Ronny Freier

Abstract

Signature requirements are often used as hurdles to prevent overuse of public referenda. We evaluate the causal effect of lowering signature requirements on the number of observed citizen initiatives. Based on municipality-level data for Germany, we make use of legislative changes at specific population thresholds to build an identification strategy using a regression discontinuity design. We find that reducing the signature requirement by 1 percentage point increases the probability of observing an initiative by 8-10 percentage points. The results are robust to a variety of tests. Importantly, we go into great detail to rule out other potential confounders.

Suggested Citation

  • Felix Arnold & Ronny Freier, 2013. "Signature Requirements and Citizen Initiatives: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from Germany," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1311, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1311
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    Cited by:

    1. Bizopoulou, Aspasia & Megalokonomou, Rigissa & Simion, Stefania, 2022. "Do Second Chances Pay Off? Evidence from a Natural Experiment with Low-Achieving Students," IZA Discussion Papers 15139, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Sanz, Carlos, 2017. "The Effect of Electoral Systems on Voter Turnout: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," Political Science Research and Methods, Cambridge University Press, vol. 5(4), pages 689-710, October.
    3. Aspasia Bizopoulou & Rigissa Megalokonomou & Stefania Simion, 2022. "Do Second Chances Pay Off?," Bristol Economics Discussion Papers 22/762, School of Economics, University of Bristol, UK.
    4. Aspasia Bizopoulou & Rigissa Megalokonomou & Stefania Simion, 2023. "Do Second Chances Pay Off? Evidence from a Natural Experiment with Low-Achieving Students," Monash Economics Working Papers 2023-05, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    5. Felix Arnold & Ronny Freier, 2015. "Signature requirements and citizen initiatives: Quasi-experimental evidence from Germany," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 162(1), pages 43-56, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    signature requirements; citizen initiatives; local referenda; municipality data; regression discontinuity design;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H0 - Public Economics - - General
    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • H79 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Other

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