Do direct-democratic procedures lead to higher acceptance than political representation? experimental survey evidence from Germany

Towfigh, E. V., Goerg, S. J., Glöckner, A., Leifeld, P., Llorente-Saguer, A., Bade, S. and Kurschilgen, C. (2016) Do direct-democratic procedures lead to higher acceptance than political representation? experimental survey evidence from Germany. Public Choice, 167(1), pp. 47-65. (doi: 10.1007/s11127-016-0330-y)

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Abstract

Are direct-democratic decisions more acceptable to voters than decisions arrived at through representative procedures? We conduct an experimental online vignette study with a German sample to investigate how voters’ acceptance of a political decision depends on the process through which it is reached. For a set of different issues, we investigate how acceptance varies depending on whether the decision is the result of a direct-democratic institution, a party in a representative democracy, or an expert committee. Our results show that for important issues, direct democracy generates greater acceptance; this finding holds particularly for those voters who do not agree with a collectively chosen outcome. However, if the topic is of limited importance to the voters, acceptance does not differ between the mechanisms. Our results imply that a combination of representative democracy and direct democracy, conditional on the distribution of issue importance among the electorate, may be optimal with regard to acceptance of political decisions.

Item Type:Articles
Additional Information:Open access funding provided by Max Planck Society (Max Planck Digital Library).
Keywords:Direct democracy, political parties, acceptance, representative procedures, legitimacy.
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Leifeld, Professor Philip
Authors: Towfigh, E. V., Goerg, S. J., Glöckner, A., Leifeld, P., Llorente-Saguer, A., Bade, S., and Kurschilgen, C.
Subjects:H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
H Social Sciences > HS Societies secret benevolent etc
H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare
J Political Science > JA Political science (General)
J Political Science > JF Political institutions (General)
College/School:College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences
Journal Name:Public Choice
Publisher:Springer
ISSN:0048-5829
ISSN (Online):1573-7101
Published Online:11 May 2016
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2016 The Authors
First Published:First published in Public Choice 167(1): 47-65
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

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