Direct democracy and referendum – fundamentals of representative democracy. Part I: The essence and forms of direct democracy

Abstract

Direct democracy in the modern sense is when the people, as a unified social-political organism, directly and effectively exercise their originally  appropriate power in the state. But direct and representative democracy are not mutually exclusive systems. The purpose of the first is not to replace the second, but to correct and improve it. The claim that modern representative democracy is impossible without regular use of forms of direct democracy is considered axiomatic. But the well-intentioned introduction of the forms of direct citizen participation in the political process rejects the existing final opinions, which condemn fully representative democracy. Direct democracy can be a corrective to the to the representative – it is in its capacity to refine it by making it more effective and (to some extent) restoring people’s confidence in the democratic ideal. This is not to say that direct democracy can replace the representative entirely, a claim that is proven by real-world hybrid forms, called referendum or even semi-direct democracy. It is an ideal that has its historical trace, but in today’s dynamic globalized world, its implementation in its purest form is impossible. On the other hand, the mechanisms of direct democracy – that is, the forms of its manifestation – are quite possible to be used regularly in almost any modern democratic system. This has been achieved most in contemporary Switzerland.