Much like Brexit, the Greek bailout referendum of 2015 could have been a watershed event that significantly affected the European Economic and Monetary Union and possibly the European Union as a ...whole. While the referendum did not live up to the hype, the fact remains that the Greek people decided to risk ‘exit’ and reject their international creditors’ bailout terms. In this article, we explore how the cycle of sovereign debt crisis, the externally imposed austerity and the resulting recession affected the outcome of that referendum. We further provide a limited test for the ‘left-behind’ hypothesis, which has been a prominent explanation for recent ‘unexpected’ or ‘surprising’ choices that have been made at the polls. Using municipality data and novel data sources, such as night-time light transmission, we provide aggregate-level support for our expectations.
The paper analyses the bacis characteristics of the fundamental and the most applicable form of direct democracy – referendum, and the basic characteristics of the existing constitutional framework ...of referendum in the Republic of Croatia. According to the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia there is one case of a mandatory referendum (entering into alliances with other states or of dissolution thereof), and in other cases referendum is facultative. Having in mind the previous practice of referendum in Croatia, the special emphasis in the paper is on the special form of referendum which is introduced in Croatian legal framework with the Revision of the Constitution in 2000. The introduction of the citizen-initiated referendum in a solution that is according to conditions of its application unknown to developed democracies has shown that one institute that can and should have a positive impact on the development od democray and of democratic political culture can simultaneously jeopardize the foundations of modern democracy. In this context, the aim of this paper is to point to the shortcomings of the constitutional framework of referendum in Croatia, and to propose some solutions that will minimize possibility of abusing of direct democractic decision-making.
U radu se analiziraju osnovna obilježja temeljnog i najviše primjenjivanog oblika neposredne (izravne) demokracije – referenduma, te osnovna obilježja postojećeg ustavnopravnog okvira referenduma u Republici Hrvatskoj. Odlučivanje birača na referendumu Ustavom Republike Hrvatske u nekim je bitnim pitanjima regulirano kao obvezatno (udruživanje i razdruživanje), dok je u drugima regulirano kao fakultativno. S obzirom na dosadašnju praksu referenduma u Hrvatskoj, poseban naglasak u radu stavljamo na poseban oblik referenduma koji je u hrvatski pravni poredak uveden Promjenom Ustava iz 2000. godine. Upravo je uvođenje referenduma narodne inicijative u obliku rješenja koje je po širini područja i po uvjetima primjene nepoznato razvijenim demokracijama pokazalo kako jedan institut koji može i treba imati pozitivan utjecaj na razvoj demokracije i demokratske političke kulture istovremeno može ugroziti temelje suvremene demokracije. Upravo zato, cilj je ovoga rada ukazati na nedorečenosti i manjkavosti ustavnopravnog okvira referenduma u Hrvatskoj, te predložiti neka rješenja koja će eventualne mogućnosti manipuliranja u bilo kojem smislu svesti na najmanju moguću mjeru.
In recent years, democracies around the world have begun to turn increasingly to referendums in order to engage citizens and lessen the distance between government and the governed. There has been a ...diffusion of guidance on good practice on the regulation of referendums with proposals from the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe and the Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), among others. Referendum campaign regulations in particular have proven controversial in many countries with changes often emanating from court rulings (Spain, Ireland and Denmark). The development of theories about the origins and impact of campaign regulations (elections and referendums) has not kept pace with newly emerging practices. This is especially true in the area of referendum campaigns. As a result, there are opportunities for researchers to systematically examine referendums. The field offers increasing scope for researchers to make policy-relevant contributions but first, it is necessary to understand and systematize which campaign regulations are in place before we can understand and assess what impact they have and whether they are in fact operating in the ways assumed. This article proposes an index of campaign regulation and an initial empirical application which allows for systematic cross national comparison of referendum campaign regulations.
Drawing on multisited qualitative research in Italy and the UK, this paper documents the dark side of onward migration and the experiences faced by Italian‐Bangladeshis in the UK after the Brexit ...referendum. The findings show that compared to their position in Italy, Italian‐Bangladeshis experienced a downgrading in symbolic, identity‐related, and, specifically, socio‐economic and cultural aspects in the UK society. The paper also uncovers the potential strategies that Italian‐Bangladeshis intend to adopt in case they lose the special rights provided to them by EU citizenship after Brexit. Since the majority of them have moved to the United Kingdom to build a future for their children, they find themselves forced to further reconfigure their strategies and reactivate different degrees of mobility in order to avoid the loss of social rights (access to welfare, the status of citizens) and material resources (housing and better working conditions) that they have long assumed.
The article develops a two-dimensional typology of political reasons for governments to pledge referendums on European integration when they are not obliged to do so: the first dimension is about the ...political level at which the strategic use of referendum pledges is targeted and it distinguishes between domestic and European reasons; the second dimension attends to the strategic mode of governments when pledging EU referendums which can either be about avoiding political losses (the defensive mode) or about realizing political gains (the offensive mode). In combination, the typology yields four ideal types of reasons for governments to commit to EU referendums: the depoliticizing; plebiscitary; red-line; and internationalist EU referendum pledges. In the empirical analysis, the article applies this typology to classify 28 cases of discretionary government commitments to EU referendums and it presents the findings of an expert survey that has been conducted for this purpose.
Il contributo intende volgere uno sguardo multilivello alle potenzialità e ai rischi della democrazia diretta e partecipativa. Partendo dallo “stato di salute” dell’iniziativa dei cittadini europei, ...è opportuno osservare se – a quasi un decennio di distanza dalla sua entrata in vigore – lo strumento ha contribuito a colmare il deficit democratico delle istituzioni europee. Obiettivo del paper è altresì valutare l’impatto della proposta di revisione costituzionale finalizzata all’introduzione del referendum propositivo all’interno del sistema parlamentare italiano, nella volontà di rivitalizzare una partecipazione democratica sempre più in crisi. Lo scritto vuole infine analizzare l’istituto del referendum consultivo alla luce dei quesiti relativi a ulteriori forme e condizioni particolari di autonomia in Lombardia e in Veneto: opportunità per ascoltare la vox populi o esigenza plebiscitaria per decisioni già maturate da una maggioranza? / 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛 𝑎 𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑖-𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑘𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑦. 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 “𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑡ℎ” 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐸𝑢𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑛𝑠' 𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒, 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑏𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 – 𝑎𝑙𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑎 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 – 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑑𝑔𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐸𝑢𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑏𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐼𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚, 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑠. 𝐹𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑦𝑧𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑚 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝐿𝑜𝑚𝑏𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑉𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑡𝑜: 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑥 𝑝𝑜𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑖 𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑏𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑦 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑗𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦?
This introduction to the symposium ‘How do Constitution-Making Processes Fail? The Case of Chile’s Constitutional Convention (2021–22)’ situates the project in the field of constitution-making, ...provides context regarding the Chilean case, summarizes some possible explanations for the failure, and describes how each article contributes to the symposium as a whole.
This article extends the study of the shortcomings of the constitution-making design that contributed to the failure of the Chilean process by addressing a largely overlooked aspect: the 2020 entry ...referendum. By placing two competing constitution-making models on the ballot, the political elites delegated to the voters a highly conflictual aspect of the process design that prevented cooperation among them. While some political parties approached the disagreements placed on the ballot as an opportunity to reopen discussions already settled by the 2019 Agreement, others interpreted the move as a cancellation of the political insurance contained in the Agreement. This exacerbated the existing polarization among political elites and imperiled prospects for the success of the process.
In July 2013, a consulta popular (referendum) was organised by municipal authorities in Tolima, Colombia, to judge public opinion on the establishment of activities by an international mining ...conglomerate ie the Colosa (the Giant) gold mine. In this article study is made of the referendum, and emphasis given to its linkages with wider regional, national and Latin American efforts to anticipate damage and derail projects for resource extraction. Recognising the techniques and networks, and similar expressions of identity and territoriality, expressed in other campaigns against extraction, resource sovereignty is suggested as an approach to interpret the motivations for and dynamics of recent popular consultations.
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