This volume analyses how the use of referendums affects the central functions and characteristics of representative democracy. It provides a balanced account of

Over the last 30 years referendums have played an increasingly important role in determining government policy. Recent high profile referendums in Scotland, Cat

This book demonstrates that the generally assumed dichotomy between referendums and representative democracy does not do justice to the great diversity of refer

Offers a comparative study of the origins, performance, and reform of contemporary mechanisms of direct democracy.

How referendums can diffuse populist tensions by putting power back into the hands of the people Propelled by the belief that government has slipped out of the