Editing Direct democracy (section)

==Overview==
In direct democracy the people decide on policies without any intermediary or representative, whereas in a [[representative democracy]] people vote for representatives who then enact policy initiatives.<ref>{{cite book|author-last= Budge |author-first= Ian |chapter= Direct democracy |editor= Clarke, Paul A.B. |editor2= Foweraker, Joe |title= Encyclopedia of Political Thought |publisher= Taylor & Francis |year= 2001 |isbn= 9780415193962 |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=srzDCqnZkfUC&pg=PA224}}</ref>  Depending on the particular system in use, direct democracy might entail passing executive decisions, the use of [[sortition]], making [[law]]s, directly electing or dismissing officials, and conducting [[trial]]s. Two leading forms of direct democracy are [[participatory democracy]] and [[deliberative democracy]]. Semi-direct democracies, in which representatives administer day-to-day governance, but the citizens remain the sovereign, allow for three forms of popular action: [[referendum]] (plebiscite), [[Popular initiative|initiative]], and [[recall election|recall]]. The first two forms—referendums and initiatives—are examples of direct legislation.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |title = Democratic Innovations: Designing Institutions for Citizen Participation (Theories of Institutional Design) |url = https://archive.org/details/democraticinnova00smit |url-access = limited |last = Smith |first = Graham |publisher = Cambridge University Press |year = 2009 | location = Cambridge |pages = [https://archive.org/details/democraticinnova00smit/page/n123 112]}}</ref> {{As of|2019}}, thirty countries allowed for referendums initiated by the population on the national level.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.direct-democracy-navigator.org/democratic_instruments/popular-or-citizens-initiative/legal_designs|title=Popular or citizens initiative: Legal Designs - Navigator|website=www.direct-democracy-navigator.org}}</ref>

A compulsory referendum subjects the legislation drafted by political elites to a binding popular vote. This is the most common form of direct legislation. A [[popular referendum]] empowers citizens to make a petition that calls existing legislation to a vote by the citizens. Institutions specify the timeframe for a valid petition and the number of signatures required and may require signatures from diverse communities to protect minority interests.<ref name=":0" /> This form of direct democracy effectively grants the voting public a [[veto]] on laws adopted by the elected legislature, as in [[Switzerland]].{{sfnp|Hirschbühl |2011a}}{{sfnp| Hirschbühl|2011b}}{{sfnp| Hirschbühl|2011c}}{{sfnp| Hirschbühl|2011d}}

A citizen-initiated referendum, also called an [[Popular initiative|initiative]], empowers members of the general public to propose, by petition, specific statutory measures or constitutional reforms to the government and, as with other referendums, the vote may be binding or simply advisory. Initiatives may be direct or indirect: with the direct initiative, a successful proposition is placed directly on the ballot to be subject to vote (as exemplified by California's system).<ref name=":0" /> With an indirect initiative, a successful proposition is first presented to the legislature for their consideration; however, if no acceptable action is taken after a designated period of time, the proposition moves to direct popular vote. [[Swiss Federal Constitution|Constitutional amendments in Switzerland]], Liechtenstein or Uruguay goes through such a form of indirect initiative.<ref name=":0" />

A [[deliberative referendum]] is a referendum that increases public deliberation through purposeful institutional design. Power of recall gives the public the power to remove elected officials from office before the end of their designated standard term of office.<ref name="FishkinCh2&3">{{Harvnb|Fishkin|2011|loc= Chapters 2 & 3. }}</ref>

Mandatory [[referendum]]s correspond to [[majority rule]] while optional referendums and [[popular initiatives]] correspond to [[consensus democracy]] (e.g. Switzerland).<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007137026336 | doi=10.1023/A:1007137026336 | date=2000 | last1=Vatter | first1=Adrian | title=Consensus and direct democracy:Conceptual and empirical linkages | journal=European Journal of Political Research | volume=38 | issue=2 | pages=171–192 | url-access=subscription }}</ref>

[[Popular assembly|Popular assemblies]] are another form of direct democracy, consisting of an assembly open to everyone within a local area or entity. Their roles and functioning have varied throughout time. [[Athenian democracy]] featured one such assembly as its highest decision-making body. A few places have long traditions of making decisions through an open assembly, such as the ''[[Landsgemeinde]]n'' of [[Switzerland]] and [[town meeting]]s of [[New England]].<ref name="GSmith"/> They have arisen in times of revolutionary turmoil<ref name="akcali"/> as well as more recent initiatives such as [[participatory budgeting]].<ref name="GSmith">{{cite book|last=Smith |first=Graham |title=Democratic Innovations: Designing Institutions for Citizen Participation |series= |publisher= Cambridge University Press |year=2010 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/democratic-innovations/popular-assemblies-from-new-england-town-meetings-to-participatory-budgeting/FD97AABE994B34470B5987F6F2FF6874 |pages=30–31 |chapter=Popular assemblies: from New England town meetings to participatory budgeting |isbn=978-1-13-479335-8}}</ref> They are not generally seen as viable above a local level, as it is impossible to gather all the citizens of a modern state into an assembly.<ref name="akcali">{{cite journal |last1=Akçalı |first1=Emel |title=Do Popular Assemblies Contribute to Genuine Political Change? Lessons from the Park Forums in Istanbul |journal=South European Society & Politics |date=Sep 2018 |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=323–340 |doi=10.1080/13608746.2018.1437007 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13608746.2018.1437007}}</ref>

While local governments often hold consultative meetings in modern times, they do not typically have binding power. Graham Smith argues:
{{blockquote|[S]uch public meetings are a poor imitation of Athenian practice: self-selection leads to unequal participation; participants exercise minimal popular control; there is little time for citizens to develop considered judgements, and so on.<ref name="GSmith">{{cite book|last=Smith |first=Graham |title=Democratic Innovations: Designing Institutions for Citizen Participation |series= |publisher= Cambridge University Press |year=2010 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/democratic-innovations/popular-assemblies-from-new-england-town-meetings-to-participatory-budgeting/FD97AABE994B34470B5987F6F2FF6874 |pages=30–31 |chapter=Popular assemblies: from New England town meetings to participatory budgeting |isbn=978-1-13-479335-8}}</ref>}}