Uncomfortable truths about 21st century democracy

For very many years representative democracy was understood as nothing more than representative government – essentially ‘elective dictatorship’. That changed after World War II, and the more so in the 1990s when the Cold War had ended. Around the world “people power” not only triggered social movements but also constitutional reform efforts in most of Europe, South-East Asia, Northern Africa and Latin America. And it was in military-ruled Uruguay that the nowadays Santiago de Chile-based political scientist David Altman acquired his basic political education. Uruguay had introduced comprehensive participative tools as early as the 1930s, and in 1980 the military rulers accepted the citizens' verdict against them in a popular vote on a new constitution. Such popular votes on substantive issues (in contrast to votes on persons and parties in elections), often called ‘referendums’ or in the Latin American context even somewhat confusedly described as ‘plebiscites’, later changed the course of history in a host of countries, notably Pinochet's Chile, Mandela's South Africa and Yeltsin's Russia.

More than half of all registered nationwide popular votes on substantive issues since the French Revolution have taken place in the last 30 years. This is surely evidence enough that direct-democratic procedures have finally entered the realm of modern representative democracy. In Direct Democracy Worldwide, David Altman offers a powerful argument buttressed by proof that many so-called ‘direct democratic’ procedures are in fact just undemocratic attempts to undermine representative democracy. Good examples of this came when dictatorial rulers from Belarus to Venezuela and from Mubarak's Egypt to Burma summoned their people to the ballot box. But as Altman outlines very clearly, the quality of both indirect and direct democratic procedures is linked to many things, including the starting point of a direct democratic procedure. If this starting point is in the hands of a certain number of citizens, such as the one million signatures required by the European Parliament in the case of the new European Citizens’ Initiative, the democratising potential of the process is much better than if already elected or ruling forces are introducing a top-down ‘referendum’. This new book is a must-read for anyone interested in the future of modern representative democracy.