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The Role of Direct Democracy in the European Union

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Author Info
Lars P. Feld () (Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Philipps Universitaet Marburg)
Gebhard Kirchgässner

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Abstract

In this paper, the introduction of direct-democratic decision-making in all EU decisions is considered when it is feasible without prohibitively increasing decision-making costs. We start with the contractarian argument that each constitution is a contract joining the citizens of a state and requires as such the explicit agreement of (a majority of) citizens. Thus, the future European Constitution as well as future changes of it should be decided by the European citizens. After a discussion of the pros and cons of direct democracy, the ability of direct democracy to help creating a European demos is discussed. Consequently, we propose a mandatory (required and binding) referendum on total and partial revisions of the European Constitution. In addition, we propose a constitutional initiative, a statutory and a general initiative as well as a fiscal referendum for financially important projects.

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File URL: http://www.uni-marburg.de/fb02/makro/forschung/gelbereihe/artikel/2004-23-DirDemEUDP_gesamt.pdf
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File Function: First version, 2004
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung) in its series Marburg Working Papers on Economics with number 200423.

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Length: 27 pages
Date of creation: 2004
Date of revision:
Publication status: Forthcoming in CHARLES B. BLANKART and DENNIS C. MUELLER (eds.), A Constitution for the European Union, MIT Press, London 2004. – We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Swiss National Science Foundation (Grant-No. 5004-58524)
Handle: RePEc:mar:volksw:200423

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Postal: Universit�tsstra�e 25, 35037 Marburg
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Web page: http://www.uni-marburg.de/fb02/
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Related research
Keywords: Direct Democracy; Referenda; Initiatives.;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
D78 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Positive Analysis of Policy-Making and Implementation

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Lars P. Feld & Gebhard Kirchgassner, 1999. "Public Debt and Budgetary Procedures: Top Down or Bottom Up? Some Evidence from Swiss Municipalities," NBER Chapters, in: Fiscal Institutions and Fiscal Performance, pages 151-180 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!]
  2. Kiewiet, D Roderick & Szakaly, Kristin, 1996. "Constitutional Limitations on Borrowing: An Analysis of State Bonded Indebtedness," Journal of Law, Economics and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 12(1), pages 62-97, April.
  3. Lars P. Feld & Christoph A. Schaltegger, 2005. "Voters as a Hard Budget Constraint: On the Determination of Intergovernmental Grants," CREMA Working Paper Series 2005-21, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Bruno S. Frey & Alois Stutzer, . "Happiness, Economy and Institutions," IEW - Working Papers iewwp015, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
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  5. Feld, Lars P & Savioz, Marcel R, 1997. "Direct Democracy Matters for Economic Performance: An Empirical Investigation," Kyklos, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 50(4), pages 507-38.
  6. Opp, Karl-Dieter, 1994. "The Role of Voice in a Future Europe," Kyklos, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 47(3), pages 385-402.
  7. Benno Torgler, 2003. "Tax Morale and Institutions," CREMA Working Paper Series 2003-09, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA). [Downloadable!]
  8. Kirchgassner, Gebhard, 1994. "Constitutional Economics and Its Relevance for the Evolution of Rules," Kyklos, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 47(3), pages 321-39.
  9. Anthony M. Marino & John G. Matsusaka, 2005. "Decision Processes, Agency Problems, and Information: An Economic Analysis of Capital Budgeting Procedures," Review of Financial Studies, Oxford University Press for Society for Financial Studies, vol. 18(1), pages 301-325. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Feld, Lars P. & Kirchgassner, Gebhard, 2000. "Direct democracy, political culture, and the outcome of economic policy: a report on the Swiss experience," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 287-306, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Lars P. Feld & Bruno S. Frey, 2002. "Trust breeds trust: How taxpayers are treated," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 3(2), pages 87-99, 07. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  12. Matsusaka, John G, 1995. "Fiscal Effects of the Voter Initiative: Evidence from the Last 30 Years," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 103(3), pages 587-623, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Aghion, Philippe & Tirole, Jean, 1997. "Formal and Real Authority in Organizations," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(1), pages 1-29, February.
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  14. Matsusaka, John G, 2000. "Fiscal Effects of the Voter Initiative in the First Half of the Twentieth Century," Journal of Law & Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 43(2), pages 619-50, October.
  15. Timothy Besley & Stephen Coate, 2000. "Issue Unbundling via Citizens' Initiatives," NBER Working Papers 8036, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  16. Matsusaka, John G, 1992. "Economics of Direct Legislation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 107(2), pages 541-71, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Pommerehne, Werner W., 1978. "Institutional approaches to public expenditure : Empirical evidence from Swiss municipalities," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 255-280, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. Kessler, Anke, 2003. "Representative versus Direct Democracy: The Role of Informational Asymmetries," CEPR Discussion Papers 3911, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  19. Feld, Lars P. & Voigt, Stefan, 2003. "Economic growth and judicial independence: cross-country evidence using a new set of indicators," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 497-527, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  20. Lars P. Feld & John G. Matsusaka, 2000. "Budget Referendums and Government Spending: Evidence from Swiss," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
  21. Christoph A. Schaltegger & Lars Feld, 2001. "On Government Centralization and Budget Referendums: Evidence from Switzerland," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
  22. Matsusaka, John G & McCarty, Nolan M, 2001. "Political Resource Allocation: Benefits and Costs of Voter Initiatives," Journal of Law, Economics and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 17(2), pages 413-48, October.
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Dennis Mueller, 2005. "Constitutional political economy in the European Union," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 124(1), pages 57-73, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Mariana Bode & Oliver Budzinski, 2005. "Competing Ways Towards International Antitrust: the WTO versus the ICN," Marburg Working Papers on Economics 200503, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung). [Downloadable!]
  3. Bruno S. Frey & Alois Stutzer, 2003. "Direct Democracy: Designing a Living Constitution," CREMA Working Paper Series 2003-05, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Lars Feld, 2005. "The European constitution project from the perspective of constitutional political economy," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 122(3), pages 417-448, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
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