Are Referendums Necessarily Populist? Countering the Populist Interpretation of Referendums Through Institutional Design. Issue 1 (2nd January 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Van Crombrugge, Ronald
• Is Part Of: Representation. Volume 57:Issue 1(2021)
• Page Start: 109
• Page End: 130
• Publication Date: 2021-01-02
• Subjects: Direct democracy -- populism -- will of the people -- institutional design -- referendum; Elections -- Periodicals; Representative government and representation -- Periodicals; 324
• DOI: 10.1080/00344893.2020.1720789
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0034-4893

Abstract

ABSTRACT: As part of their anti-establishment rhetoric, populists often call for more direct forms of citizen participation – most notably referendums – as a means to return 'power to the people'. In this article, I ask what this reclaiming of 'direct democracy' by populist actors means for the possibility of viewing referendums as a part of the representative system of democracy. I show that referendums are commonly (mis-)understood as 'reflecting the will of the people', buying into the populist belief that there is a single collective will that can be represented in its entirety. In this article I develop and defend a 'pluralistic-democratic' account of referendum legitimacy, which is compatible with the tenets of representative democracy. I conclude by asking how this different view can be reflected in institutional design.