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Direct democracy
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A Landsgemeinde, or assembly, of the canton of Glarus, on 7 May 2006, Switzerland.
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Direct democracy (also known as pure democracy)[1] is a form of democracy in which people decide (e.g. vote on, form consensus on) policy initiatives directly. This differs from the majority of most currently established democracies, which are representative democracies.
Contents
[hide]
1 Related democratic processes
2 History
3 Examples
3.1 Ancient Athens
3.2 Switzerland
3.3 Paris Commune
3.4 United States
3.5 Rojava
4 Democratic reform trilemma
5 Electronic direct democracy
6 Relation to other movements
7 In schools
8 Contemporary movements
9 See also
10 Notes and references
11 Bibliography
12 Further reading
13 External links
13.1 Multimedia
Related democratic processes[edit]
Direct democracy is similar to, but distinct from, representative democracy, in which people vote for representatives who then enact policy initiatives.[2]
Depending on the particular system in use, direct democracy might entail passing executive decisions, the use of sortition, making laws, directly electing or dismissing officials, and conducting trials. 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), initiative, and recall. The first two forms—referendums and initiatives—are examples of direct legislation.[3]
Compulsory referendum subjects the legislation drafted by political elites to a binding popular vote. This is the most common form of direct legislation. 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.[3] This form of direct democracy effectively grants the voting public a veto on laws adopted by the elected legislature, as is done in Switzerland.[4][5][6][7]
Power of Initiative allows members of the general public to propose specific statutory measures or constitutional reforms to the government and, as with 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).[3] 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. Such a form of indirect initiative is utilized by Switzerland for constitutional amendments.[3]
Power of Recall gives the public the power to remove elected officials from office before the end of their term.[8]
Many residents, especially of smaller cities but even cities like Encinitas, California, with over 60,000 residents, in passing Prop A in 2013, insist on direct resident voting for some decisions. Such measures agree with anarchists, who have long argued against representative democracy. They argue that direct democracy opposes a strong central authority. That is because decision-making power can reside at only one level. A central authority keeps the people themselves from governing themselves.[9]
History[edit]
See also: History of democracy
The earliest known direct democracy is said to be the Athenian democracy in the 5th century BC, although it was not an inclusive democracy: women, foreigners, and slaves were excluded from it. The main bodies in the Athenian democracy were the assembly, composed of male citizens; the boulê, composed of 500 citizens; and the law courts, composed of a massive number of jurors chosen by lot, with no judges. There were only about 30,000 male citizens, but several thousand of them were politically active in each year, and many of them quite regularly for years on end. The Athenian democracy was direct not only in the sense that decisions were made by the assembled people, but also in the sense that the people through the assembly, boulê, and law courts controlled the entire political process, and a large proportion of citizens were involved constantly in the public business.[10] Modern democracies, being representative, not direct, do not resemble the Athenian system.
Also relevant to the history of direct democracy is the history of Ancient Rome, specifically the Roman Republic, beginning around 509 BC.[11] Rome displayed many aspects of democracy, both direct and indirect, from the era of Roman monarchy all the way to the collapse of the Roman Empire. Indeed, the Senate, formed in the first days of the city, lasted through the Kingdom, Republic, and Empire, and even continued after the decline of Western Rome; and its structure and regulations continue to influence legislative bodies worldwide. As to direct democracy, the ancient Roman Republic had a system of citizen lawmaking, or citizen formulation and passage of law, and a citizen veto of legislature-made law. Many historians mark the end of the Republic with the passage of a law named the Lex Titia, 27 November 43 BC, which eliminated many oversight provisions.[11]
Modern-era citizen lawmaking began in the towns of Switzerland in the 13th century. In 1847, the Swiss added the "statute referendum" to their national constitution. They soon discovered that merely having the power to veto Parliament's laws was not enough. In 1891, they added the "constitutional amendment initiative". Swiss politics since 1891 have given the world a valuable experience base with the national-level constitutional amendment initiative.[12] In the past 120 years, more than 240 initiatives have been put to referendums. The populace has been conservative, approving only about 10% of these initiatives; in addition, they have often opted for a version of the initiative rewritten by government. (See Direct democracy in Switzerland below.)[4][5][6][7]
Some of the issues surrounding the related notion of a direct democracy using the Internet and other communications technologies are dealt with in e-democracy and below under the term electronic direct democracy. More concisely, the concept of open source governance applies principles of the free software movement to the governance of people, allowing the entire populace to participate in government directly, as much or as little as they please.[13]
Examples[edit]
Ancient Athens[edit]
Main article: Athenian democracy
Athenian democracy developed in the Greek city-state of Athens, comprising the city of Athens and the surrounding territory of Attica, around 500 BC. Athens was one of the very first known democracies. Other Greek cities set up democracies, and even though most followed an Athenian model, none were as powerful, stable, or well-documented as that of Athens. In the direct democracy of Athens, the citizens did not nominate representatives to vote on legislation and executive bills on their behalf (as in the United States) but instead voted as individuals. The public opinion of voters was influenced by the political satire of the comic poets in the theatres.[14]
Solon (594 BC), Cleisthenes (508–507 BC), and Ephialtes (462 BC) all contributed to the development of Athenian democracy. Historians differ on which of them was responsible for which institution, and which of them most represented a truly democratic movement. It is most usual to date Athenian democracy from Cleisthenes, since Solon's constitution fell and was replaced by the tyranny of Peisistratus, whereas Ephialtes revised Cleisthenes' constitution relatively peacefully. Hipparchus, the brother of the tyrant Hippias, was killed by Harmodius and Aristogeiton, who were subsequently honored by the Athenians for their alleged restoration of Athenian freedom.
The greatest and longest-lasting democratic leader was Pericles; after his death, Athenian democracy was twice briefly interrupted by oligarchic revolution towards the end of the Peloponnesian War. It was modified somewhat after it was restored under Eucleides; the most detailed accounts are of this 4th-century modification rather than of the Periclean system. It was suppressed by the Macedonians in 322 BC. The Athenian institutions were later revived, but the extent to which they were a real democracy is debatable.[15]
Switzerland[edit]
In Switzerland, with no need to register, every citizen receives the ballot papers and information brochure for each vote, and can return it by post. Switzerland has various directly democratic instruments; votes are organised about four times a year.
Main articles: Politics of Switzerland and Voting in Switzerland
Further information: Landsgemeinde and Federal popular initiative
The pure form of direct democracy exists only in the Swiss cantons of Appenzell Innerrhoden and Glarus.[16] The Swiss Confederation is a semi-direct democracy (representative democracy with strong instruments of direct democracy).[16] The nature of direct democracy in Switzerland is fundamentally complemented by its federal governmental structures (in German also called the Subsidiaritätsprinzip).[4][5][6][7]
Most western countries have representative systems.[16] Switzerland is a rare example of a country with instruments of direct democracy (at the levels of the municipalities, cantons, and federal state). Citizens have more power than in a representative democracy. On any political level citizens can propose changes to the constitution (popular initiative), or ask for an optional referendum to be held on any law voted by the federal, cantonal parliament and/or municipal legislative body.[17]
The list for mandatory or optional referendums on each political level are generally much longer in Switzerland than in any other country; for example any amendment to the constitution must automatically be voted on by the Swiss electorate and cantons, on cantonal/communal levels often any financial decision of a certain substantial amount decreed by legislative and/or executive bodies as well.[17]
Swiss citizens vote regularly on any kind of issue on every political level, such as financial approvals of a school house or the building of a new street, or the change of the policy regarding sexual work, or on constitutional changes, or on the foreign policy of Switzerland, four times a year.[18] Between January 1995 and June 2005, Swiss citizens voted 31 times, on 103 federal questions besides many more cantonal and municipal questions.[19] During the same period, French citizens participated in only two referendums.[16]
In Switzerland, simple majorities are sufficient at the municipal and cantonal level, but at the federal level double majorities are required on constitutional issues.[12]
A double majority requires approval by a majority of individuals voting, and also by a majority of cantons. Thus, in Switzerland a citizen-proposed amendment to the federal constitution (i.e. popular initiative) cannot be passed at the federal level if a majority of the people approve but a majority of the cantons disapprove.[12] For referendums or propositions in general terms (like the principle of a general revision of the Constitution), a majority of those voting is sufficient (Swiss Constitution, 2005).
In 1890, when the provisions for Swiss national citizen lawmaking were being debated by civil society and government, the Swiss adopted the idea of double majorities from the United States Congress, in which House votes were to represent the people and Senate votes were to represent the states.[12] According to its supporters, this "legitimacy-rich" approach to national citizen lawmaking has been very successful. Kris Kobach claims that Switzerland has had tandem successes both socially and economically which are matched by only a few other nations. Kobach states at the end of his book, "Too often, observers deem Switzerland an oddity among political systems. It is more appropriate to regard it as a pioneer." Finally, the Swiss political system, including its direct democratic devices in a multi-level governance context, becomes increasingly interesting for scholars of European Union integration.[20]
Paris Commune[edit]
Main article: Paris Commune
In 1871 after the establishment of the Paris Commune, the Parisians established a decentralized direct system of government with appointed organizers to make sense of the largely spontaneous uprising. While it still refused women the right to vote, they were heavily involved in the consensus before votes took place. Everything from the military to when meetings took place was democratized, and such decentralization and aforementioned democratization led many members of the First Internationale to regard the Paris Commune as a stateless society.
Due to the short lifespan of the Commune, only one citywide election was held and the structures necessary to facilitate future organized elections on large scales was largely nonexistent. However, the influence of direct democratization in the Paris Commune is not to be understated.
United States[edit]
Main articles: History of direct democracy in the United States and Initiatives and referendums in the United States
In the New England region of the United States, towns in areas such as Vermont decide local affairs through the direct democratic process of the town meeting.[21] This is the oldest form of direct democracy in the United States, and predates the founding of the country by at least a century.
Direct democracy was not what the framers of the United States Constitution envisioned for the nation. They saw a danger in tyranny of the majority. As a result, they advocated a representative democracy in the form of a constitutional republic over a direct democracy. For example, James Madison, in Federalist No. 10, advocates a constitutional republic over direct democracy precisely to protect the individual from the will of the majority. He says,
Those who hold and those who are without property have ever formed distinct interests in society. Those who are creditors, and those who are debtors, fall under a like discrimination. A landed interest, a manufacturing interest, a mercantile interest, a moneyed interest, with many lesser interests, grow up of necessity in civilized nations, and divide them into different classes, actuated by different sentiments and views. The regulation of these various and interfering interests forms the principal task of modern legislation, and involves the spirit of party and faction in the necessary and ordinary operations of the government.
[...]
[A] pure democracy, by which I mean a society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the government in person, can admit no cure for the mischiefs of faction. A common passion or interest will be felt by a majority, and there is nothing to check the inducements to sacrifice the weaker party. Hence it is, that democracies have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have, in general, been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.[22]
John Witherspoon, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, said: "Pure democracy cannot subsist long nor be carried far into the departments of state – it is very subject to caprice and the madness of popular rage." Alexander Hamilton said, "That a pure democracy if it were practicable would be the most perfect government. Experience has proved that no position is more false than this. The ancient democracies in which the people themselves deliberated never possessed one good feature of government. Their very character was tyranny; their figure, deformity."[23]
Despite the framers' intentions in the beginning of the republic, ballot measures and their corresponding referendums have been widely used at the state and sub-state level. There is much state and federal case law, from the early 1900s to the 1990s, that protects the people's right to each of these direct democracy governance components (Magleby, 1984, and Zimmerman, 1999). The first United States Supreme Court ruling in favor of the citizen lawmaking was in Pacific States Telephone and Telegraph Company v. Oregon, 223 U.S. 118 in 1912 (Zimmerman, December 1999). President Theodore Roosevelt, in his "Charter of Democracy" speech to the 1912 Ohio constitutional convention, stated: "I believe in the Initiative and Referendum, which should be used not to destroy representative government, but to correct it whenever it becomes misrepresentative."[24]
In various states, referendums through which the people rule include:
Referrals by the legislature to the people of "proposed constitutional amendments" (constitutionally used in 49 states, excepting only Delaware – Initiative & Referendum Institute, 2004).
Referrals by the legislature to the people of "proposed statute laws" (constitutionally used in all 50 states – Initiative & Referendum Institute, 2004).
Constitutional amendment initiative is a constitutionally-defined petition process of "proposed constitutional law", which, if successful, results in its provisions being written directly into the state's constitution. Since constitutional law cannot be altered by state legislatures, this direct democracy component gives the people an automatic superiority and sovereignty, over representative government (Magelby, 1984). It is utilized at the state level in nineteen states: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon and South Dakota (Cronin, 1989). Among these states, there are three main types of the constitutional amendment initiative, with different degrees of involvement of the state legislature distinguishing between the types (Zimmerman, December 1999).
Statute law initiative is a constitutionally-defined, citizen-initiated petition process of "proposed statute law", which, if successful, results in law being written directly into the state's statutes. The statute initiative is used at the state level in twenty-one states: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming (Cronin, 1989). Note that, in Utah, there is no constitutional provision for citizen lawmaking. All of Utah's I&R law is in the state statutes (Zimmerman, December 1999). In most states, there is no special protection for citizen-made statutes; the legislature can begin to amend them immediately.
Statute law referendum is a constitutionally-defined, citizen-initiated petition process of the "proposed veto of all or part of a legislature-made law", which, if successful, repeals the standing law. It is used at the state level in twenty-four states: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming (Cronin, 1989).
The recall is a constitutionally-defined, citizen-initiated, petition process, which, if successful, removes an elected official from office by "recalling" the official's election. In most state and sub-state jurisdictions having this governance component, voting for the ballot that determines the recall includes voting for one of a slate of candidates to be the next office holder, if the recall is successful. It is utilized at the state level in nineteen states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin (National Conference of State Legislatures, 2011, Recall Of State Officials).
A total of 24 American states had constitutionally-defined, citizen-initiated direct democracy governance components as of 1999 (Zimmerman, December 1999).
Rojava[edit]
The Rojava cantons are governed through a combination of district and civil councils. District councils consist of 300 members as well as two elected co-presidents- one man and one woman. District councils decide and carry out administrative and economic duties such as garbage collection, land distribution and cooperative enterprises.[25] Civil councils exist to promote social and political rights in the community.
Democratic reform trilemma[edit]
Democratic theorists have identified a trilemma due to the presence of three desirable characteristics of an ideal system of direct democracy, which are challenging to deliver all at once. These three characteristics are participation – widespread participation in the decision making process by the people affected; deliberation – a rational discussion where all major points of view are weighted according to evidence; and equality – all members of the population on whose behalf decisions are taken have an equal chance of having their views taken into account. Empirical evidence from dozens of studies suggests deliberation leads to better decision making.[9][26][27] The most popularly disputed form of direct popular participation is the referendum on constitutional matters.[28]
For the system to respect the principle of political equality, either everyone needs to be involved or there needs to be a representative random sample of people chosen to take part in the discussion. In the definition used by scholars such as James Fishkin, deliberative democracy is a form of direct democracy which satisfies the requirement for deliberation and equality but does not make provision to involve everyone who wants to be included in the discussion. Participatory democracy, by Fishkin's definition, allows inclusive participation and deliberation, but at a cost of sacrificing equality, because if widespread participation is allowed, sufficient resources rarely will be available to compensate people who sacrifice their time to participate in the deliberation. Therefore, participants tend to be those with a strong interest in the issue to be decided and often will not therefore be representative of the overall population.[29] Fishkin instead argues that random sampling should be used to select a small, but still representative, number of people from the general public.[8][9]
Fishkin concedes it is possible to imagine a system that transcends the trilemma, but it would require very radical reforms if such a system were to be integrated into mainstream politics.
Electronic direct democracy[edit]
Main article: E-democracy
Electronic direct democracy (EDD), also known as direct digital democracy (DDD),[30] is a form of direct democracy which utilizes telecommunications to facilitate public participation. Electronic direct democracy is sometimes referred to by other names, such as open-source governance and collaborative governance.[31]
EDD requires electronic voting or some way to register votes on issues electronically. As in any direct democracy, in an EDD, citizens would have the right to vote on legislation, author new legislation, and recall representatives (if any representatives are preserved).
Technology for supporting ED. has been researched and developed at the Florida Institute of Technology,[32] where the technology is used with student organizations. Numerous other software development projects are underway,[33] along with many supporting and related projects.[34] Several of these projects are now collaborating on a cross-platform architecture, under the umbrella of the Metagovernment project.[35]
EDD as a system is not fully implemented in a political government anywhere in the world, although several initiatives are currently forming. Ross Perot was a prominent advocate of EDD when he advocated "electronic town halls" during his 1992 and 1996 presidential campaigns in the United States. Switzerland, already partially governed by direct democracy, is making progress towards such a system.[36] Senator Online, an Australian political party running for the Senate in the 2007 federal elections, proposed to institute an EDD system so that Australians can decide which way the senators vote on each and every bill.[37] A similar initiative was formed in 2002 in Sweden where the party Aktivdemokrati, running for the Swedish parliament, offers its members the power to decide the actions of the party over all or some areas of decision, or alternatively to use a proxy with immediate recall for one or several areas. Since early 2011, EDD parties are working together on the Participedia wiki E2D
The first mainstream direct democracy party to be registered with any country's electoral commission [checked against each country's register] is the UK's People's Administration Direct Democracy party.[38] The People's Administration have developed and published the complete architecture for a legitimate reform to EDD [including the required Parliamentary reform process].[39] Established by musicians and political activists, the People's Administration advocates using the web and telephone to enable the majority electorate to create, propose, and vote upon all policy implementation. The People's Administration's blueprint has been published in various forms since 1998 and the People's Administration is the first direct democracy party registered in a vote-able format anywhere in the world—making transition possible through evolution via election with legitimate majority support, instead of potentially through revolution via violence.
Flux (political party) is a political movement which aims to replace the world's elected legislatures with a new electronic system known as issue-based direct democracy (IBDD). Flux originated in and is most active in Australia, but it is also active internationally, with a group existing in Brazil.[40]
Relation to other movements[edit]
Practicing direct democracy – voting on Nuit Debout, Place de la République, Paris
Anarchists have advocated forms of direct democracy as an alternative to the centralized state and capitalism; however, others (such as individualist anarchists) have criticized direct democracy and democracy in general for ignoring the rights of the minority, and instead have advocated a form of consensus decision-making. Libertarian Marxists, however, fully support direct democracy in the form of the proletarian republic and see majority rule and citizen participation as virtues. The Young Communist League USA in particular refers to representative democracy as "bourgeois democracy", implying that they see direct democracy as "true democracy".[41]
In schools[edit]
Main article: Democratic school
Democratic schools modeled on Summerhill School resolve conflicts and make school policy decisions through full school meetings in which the votes of students and staff are weighted equally.[42]
Contemporary movements[edit]
See also: List of direct democracy parties
Some notable contemporary movements working for direct democracy via direct democratic praxis include:[43]
Abahlali baseMjondolo – South African shack dwellers' movement
Aktivdemokrati – political party for e-democracy Sweden
Autonomous Action – a Russian libertarian communist and anarchist movement
Change 2011 – a Finnish political party
¡Democracia Real YA! – Real Democracy NOW! Movement started from Spain.
Democracy International eV
Demoex – direct democracy party and experiment in Sweden
Direct Democracy Ireland
Direct Democracy Party of New Zealand
Direct Democracy (Poland) – Polish political party promoting direct democracy, established 2012
Direktdemokraterna; an alliance of three direct democratically oriented parties in Sweden, which received approx. 3000 votes in the 2014 election.
Electronic Democracy Party – Turkish political party promoting e-democracy
Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy
The Federal Democratic Party of Uganda – advocates for direct democracy. Simon Peter Kabala-Kasirye, the party's founder, advises that the Federal States of Uganda each should practice pure democracy and forward their deliberations to the central government which has no powers to alter the result of the deliberations (e.g., Buganda Kingdom Federal State has values that Karamoja Federal State may not agree with, and vice versa, but neither can alter the result of the deliberations in either state).
Inclusive Democracy – Takis Fotopoulos' Inclusive Democracy Project that also publishes the Journal of Inclusive Democracy
Internet Party – registered party in Spain proposing a liquid democracy system.
Land Party – a ruralist direct democracy party in Galicia, Spain.
The Metagovernment project – a global umbrella group supporting development and implementation of Internet-based governance software[44]
myDirectDemocracy project – Global and Local groups developing a New Human Right and Freedom – Direct Democracy
The National Initiative for Democracy – United States movement led by former US Senator Mike Gravel to allow national ballot initiatives
Occupy Movement and Occupy Wall Street
Party for Accountability, Competency and Transparency – an electronic direct democracy party (pending registration) in Canada
Partido de la Red – party in Argentina that promotes a balance between direct and representative democracy
The Party of Internet Democracy – a direct democracy party in Hungary
People's Administration Direct Democracy Party
Pirate Party
Flux (political party) – an electronic direct democracy party in Australia utilising block-chain technology.
Senator On-Line – an electronic direct democracy party in Australia Renamed "Online Direct Democracy" http://www.onlinedirectdemocracy.org/
Thrive New Zealand – New Zealand-based political party promoting direct democracy utilising an on-line tool called RealVoice.
Direct Democracy Romania – the first Romanian political party promoting direct democracy, established in 2015
See also[edit]
Politics portal
Libertarian municipalism
Libertarian socialism
Non-representative democracy
Participatory budgeting
Participatory economics
Populism
Proxy voting, esp. delegated voting
Reform of the United Nations :United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, direct elected parliamentarians instead of administrations' diplomaticians and United Nations Secretary-General elect by popular vote.
Semi-direct democracy
Social democracy
Sociocracy
Soviet democracy
Third International Theory
Workers' councils
Notes and references[edit]
Jump up ^ Pure democracy entry in Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
Pure democracy entry in American Heritage Dictionary."
Jump up ^ Budge, Ian (2001). "Direct democracy". In Clarke, Paul A.B.; Foweraker, Joe. Encyclopedia of Political Thought. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9780415193962.
^ Jump up to: a b c d Smith, Graham (2009). Democratic Innovations: Designing Institutions for Citizen Participation (Theories of Institutional Design). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 112.
^ Jump up to: a b c Hirschbühl (2011a).
^ Jump up to: a b c Hirschbühl (2011b).
^ Jump up to: a b c Hirschbühl (2011c).
^ Jump up to: a b c Hirschbühl (2011d).
^ Jump up to: a b Fishkin 2011, Chapters 2 & 3.
^ Jump up to: a b c Ross 2011, Chapter 3
Jump up ^ Raaflaub, Ober & Wallace 2007, p. 5
^ Jump up to: a b Cary & Scullard 1967
^ Jump up to: a b c d Kobach 1993
Jump up ^ Rushkoff, Douglas (2004). Open Source Democracy. Project Gutenburg: Project Gutenberg Self-Publishing.
Jump up ^ Henderson, J. (1993) Comic Hero versus Political Elite pp. 307–19 in Sommerstein, A.H.; S. Halliwell; J. Henderson; B. Zimmerman, eds. (1993). Tragedy, Comedy and the Polis. Bari: Levante Editori.
Jump up ^ Elster 1998, pp. 1–3
^ Jump up to: a b c d Vincent Golay and Mix et Remix, Swiss political institutions, Éditions loisirs et pédagogie, 2008. ISBN 978-2-606-01295-3.
^ Jump up to: a b "Referendums". ch.ch – A service of the Confederation, cantons and communes. Berne, Switzerland: Swiss Confederation. Retrieved 2017-01-09.
Jump up ^ Julia Slater (28 June 2013). "The Swiss vote more than any other country". Berne, Switzerland: swissinfo.ch – the international service of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
Jump up ^ Duc-Quang Nguyen (17 June 2015). "How direct democracy has grown over the decades". Berne, Switzerland: swissinfo.ch – the international service of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
Jump up ^ Trechsel (2005)
Jump up ^ Bryan, Frank M. (15 March 2010). "Real Democracy: The New England Town Meeting and How It Works". University of Chicago Press. Retrieved 27 April 2017 – via Google Books.
Jump up ^ The Federalist No. 10 – The Utility of the Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection (continued) – Daily Advertiser – November 22, 1787 – James Madison. Retrieved 2007-09-07.
Jump up ^ Zagarri 2010, p. 97
Jump up ^ Watts 2010, p. 75
Jump up ^ Tax, Meredith. "The Revolution in Rojava". Dissent Magazin. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
Jump up ^ Stokes 1998
Jump up ^ Even Susan Strokes in her critical essay Pathologies of Deliberation concedes that a majority of academics in the field agree with this view.
Jump up ^ Jarinovska, K. "Popular Initiatives as Means of Altering the Core of the Republic of Latvia", Juridica International., ISSN 1406-5509 Vol. 20, 2013. p. 152
Jump up ^ Fishkin suggests they may even have been directly mobilised by interest groups or be largely composed of people who have fallen for political propaganda and so have inflamed and distorted opinions.
Jump up ^ Quezi.com. What is Direct Digital Democracy? Accessed 2011-11-26.
Jump up ^ "Open Governance and the Definition of e-Democracy" http://www.gov2u.org/index.php/blog/128-open-governance-and-the-definition-of-edemocracy
Jump up ^ Kattamuri et al. "Supporting Debates Over Citizen Initiatives", Digital Government Conference, pp. 279–80, 2005
Jump up ^ List of active projects involved in the Metagovernment project
Jump up ^ List of related projects from the Metagovernment project
Jump up ^ Standardization project of the Metagovernment project.
Jump up ^ "Electronic Voting in Switzerland". Archived from the original on February 12, 2007. Retrieved 2004-09-15. CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
Jump up ^ "Senator On-Line". Archived from the original on 2008-06-07. Retrieved 2008-06-03.
Jump up ^ "Direct Democracy". Retrieved 27 April 2017.
Jump up ^ "Reform to Direct Democracy". www.paparty.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-07-23.
Jump up ^ https://voteflux.com.br/
Jump up ^ membership Cmte. "Young Communist League USA – Frequently Asked Questions". Yclusa.org. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
Jump up ^ Burgh, Gilbert (2006). Ethics and the Community of Inquiry: Education for Deliberative Democracy. Cengage Learning Australia. p. 98. ISBN 0-17-012219-0.
Jump up ^ Extensive list of projects, mostly oriented toward direct democracy
Jump up ^ "Metagovernment – Government of, by, and for all the people". Retrieved 27 April 2017.
Bibliography[edit]
Cary, M.; Scullard, H. H. (1967). A History Of Rome: Down To The Reign Of Constantine (2nd ed.). New York: St. Martin's Press.
Cronin, Thomas E. (1989). Direct Democracy: The Politics of Initiative, Referendum and Recall. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Elster, Jon (1998). "Introduction". In Elster, Jon. Deliberative Democracy. Cambridge Studies in the Theory of Democracy. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521592963. (Subscription required (help)).
Fishkin, James S. (2011). When the People Speak. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199604432.
Golay, Vincent (2008). Swiss Political Institutions. Illustrated by Mix & Remix. Le Mont-sur-Lausanne: Éditions loisirs et pédagogie. ISBN 9782606012953.
Gutmann, Amy; Thompson, Dennis F. (2004). Why Deliberative Democracy?. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691120188. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
Hirschbühl, Tina (2011a), The Swiss Government Report 1, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA, Presence Switzerland – via YouTube
Hirschbühl, Tina (2011b), The Swiss Government Report 2, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA, Presence Switzerland – via YouTube
Hirschbühl, Tina (2011c), How Direct Democracy Works In Switzerland – Report 3, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA, Presence Switzerland – via YouTube
Hirschbühl, Tina (2011d), How People in Switzerland Vote – Report 4, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA, Presence Switzerland – via YouTube
Hirschbühl, Tina (2011e), Switzerland & the EU: The Bilateral Agreements – Report 5, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA, Presence Switzerland – via YouTube
Kobach, Kris W. (1993). The Referendum: Direct Democracy In Switzerland. Dartmouth Publishing Company. ISBN 9781855213975.
Raaflaub, Kurt A.; Ober, Josiah; Wallace, Robert W. (2007). Origins of Democracy in Ancient Greece. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 9780520932173.
Razsa, Maple. (2015) Bastards of Utopia: Living Radical Politics After Socialism. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Ross, Carne (2011). The Leaderless Revolution: How Ordinary People Can Take Power and Change Politics in the 21st Century. London: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9781847375346.
Stokes, Susan C. (1998). "Pathologies of Deliberation". In Elster, Jon. Deliberative Democracy. Cambridge Studies in the Theory of Democracy. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521592963. (Subscription required (help)).
Watts, Duncan (2010). Dictionary of American Government and Politics. Edinburgh University. p. 75. ISBN 9780748635016.
Zagarri, Rosemarie (2010). The Politics of Size: Representation in the United States, 1776–1850. Cornell University. ISBN 9780801476396.
Further reading[edit]
Arnon, Harel (January 2008). "A Theory of Direct Legislation" (LFB Scholarly)
Cronin, Thomas E. (1989). Direct Democracy: The Politics Of Initiative, Referendum, And Recall. Harvard University Press.
Finley, M.I. (1973). Democracy Ancient And Modern. Rutgers University Press.
Fotopoulos, Takis, Towards an Inclusive Democracy: The Crisis of the Growth Economy and the Need for a New Liberatory Project (London & NY: Cassell, 1997).
Fotopoulos, Takis, The Multidimensional Crisis and Inclusive Democracy. (Athens: Gordios, 2005). (English translation of the book with the same title published in Greek).
Fotopoulos, Takis, "Liberal and Socialist 'Democracies' versus Inclusive Democracy", The International Journal of INCLUSIVE DEMOCRACY, vol.2, no.2, (January 2006).
Gerber, Elisabeth R. (1999). The Populist Paradox: Interest Group Influence And The Promise Of Direct Legislation. Princeton University Press.
Hansen, Mogens Herman (1999). The Athenian Democracy in the Age of Demosthenes: Structure, Principles and Ideology. University of Oklahoma, Norman (orig. 1991).
Köchler, Hans (1995). A Theoretical Examination of the Dichotomy between Democratic Constitutions and Political Reality. University Center Luxemburg.
Magleby, David B. (1984). Direct Legislation: Voting on Ballot Propositions in The United States. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Matsusaka John G. (2004.) For the Many or the Few: The Initiative, Public Policy, and American Democracy, Chicago Press
National Conference of State Legislatures, (2004). Recall of State Officials
Orr Akiva e-books, Free download : Politics without politicians – Big Business, Big Government or Direct Democracy.
Pimbert, Michel (2010). Reclaiming citizenship: empowering civil society in policy-making. In: Towards Food Sovereignty. http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/G02612.pdf? e-book. Free download.
Polybius (c.150 BC). The Histories. Oxford University, The Great Histories Series, Ed., Hugh R. Trevor-Roper and E. Badian. Translated by Mortimer Chanbers. Washington Square Press, Inc (1966).
Reich, Johannes (2008). An Interactional Model of Direct Democracy – Lessons from the Swiss Experience. SSRN Working Paper.
Serdült, Uwe (2014) Referendums in Switzerland, in: Qvortrup, Matt (Ed.) Referendums Around the World: The Continued Growth of Direct Democracy. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 65–121.
Verhulst Jos en Nijeboer Arjen Direct Democracy e-book in 8 languages. Free download.
Zimmerman, Joseph F. (March 1999). The New England Town Meeting: Democracy In Action. Praeger Publishers.
Zimmerman, Joseph F. (December 1999). The Initiative: Citizen Law-Making. Praeger Publishers.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Direct democracy
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Direct democracy.
Alex Romane (People's Administration Direct Democracy Party)
Direct democracy links
Direct democracy at DMOZ
Direct Democracy Pamphlet by Akiva ORR
[1] Electronic Direct Democracy organisations on Participedia
I&R ~ GB Campaign for Direct Democracy in Britain INIREF
Key points of the bill | Più Democrazia in Trentino, Italy
Occupy Movement, the Zapatista's and the General Assemblies
ParticipatoryDemocracy.ca Social sustainability develops as we apply the universal, intrinsic, social commonalities of all people to the design and operation of our social institutions and organizations. Those commonalities exist now and will exist 1000 years from now.
People's Administration Direct Democracy Party
Popular Assemblies in Revolts and Revolutions
Real Direct Democracy Now Blog on Real Direct Democracy Now
The direct democracy as an alternative proposition
UN Advisor stresses the need to develop direct democracy globally to protect human rights, Direct Democracy Ireland.
The Need for Direct Democracy in India
Multimedia[edit]
Documentary about the history and potential of direct democracy in the United States: It's Time We Talked
Documentary: Direct Democracy on YouTube
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The Handsome Family
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
The Handsome Family
The Handsome Family performing live in 2008
Background information
Origin
Chicago, Illinois, US
Genres
Alternative country, americana, indie folk
Years active
1993–present
Labels
Carrot Top Records, Loose Music, Scout Releases
Website
http://www.handsomefamily.com/
Members
Brett Sparks
Rennie Sparks
Past members
Mike Werner
The Handsome Family is an alternative country and Americana duo consisting of husband and wife Brett and Rennie Sparks formed in Chicago, Illinois, and currently based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They are perhaps best known for their song "Far from Any Road" from the album Singing Bones, which was used as the main title theme for the first season of HBO's 2014 crime drama True Detective. The band's 10th album, Unseen, was released on September 16, 2016, the first new release on the band's own label.[1]
Contents
[hide]
1 History
2 Musical style
3 Discography
3.1 Albums
3.2 Singles
4 References
5 External links
History[edit]
Husband-and-wife duo Brett Sparks (vocals, guitar, keyboards) and Rennie Sparks (bass, banjo, vocals) formed the band in 1993, along with drummer Mike Werner. The band would later revolve around Rennie, who writes the lyrics, and Brett, who writes the music.[2] Guest musicians complete the band line-up for recordings and live work.[3]
Regarding the band name, Brett said in an interview: "It's just kind of a stupid name. We used to have this really obnoxious drummer, and he used to call me 'Handsome', that was his nickname for me, I think for sarcastic reasons... And he wanted to call it the Handsome Family... and we thought it was funny, too. We thought it was a good name."[4]
Brett is originally from Odessa, Texas and Rennie from Long Island.[5] The band toured extensively throughout both America and Europe in support of early releases Odessa (1994) and Milk and Scissors (1996).[3] During that time, Brett suffered an emotional breakdown, resulting in his hospitalization and diagnosis of bipolar disorder.[5]
They wrote their third full-length album, Through the Trees, in the aftermath of these events, and included a song inspired by Brett's experiences in the psychiatric unit.[6] They recorded the album in 1998, using Jeff Tweedy's mobile studio,[3] and brought the band to a wider audience. UNCUT named it the "Best New Country Album of the Year".[5]
A growing following and raised profile allowed Brett and Rennie to give up their day jobs and work on the band full-time. They toured America and Europe again in support of the 2000 album In the Air.[5] That year, Rennie's book of short stories, Evil, was released by Chicago publisher Black Hole Press.[7] In 2001, they moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and released Twilight, with Allmusic opining that the album leads "the listener down a lovely yet dark trail few would dare tread twice".[8] In 2002, they released a live album, Live at Schuba's Tavern, a recording from the In the Air tour from Chicago in December 2000.[3][5] They have subsequently released the albums Singing Bones (2003), Last Days of Wonder (2006), Honey Moon (2009), and Wilderness (2013) as well as the collections Smothered and Covered (2003) and Scattered (2010).[9] Their latest album, Unseen was released in September 2016.[10]
The track "Far from Any Road," from the album Singing Bones, was used as the main title theme song for HBO's 2014 crime drama True Detective by the show's music director, T Bone Burnett.
Their songs have been covered repeatedly by musician Andrew Bird, including a full-length album of covers released in 2014, Things Are Really Great Here, Sort Of…
Musical style[edit]
The Handsome Family's style is a blend of traditional country, bluegrass, and murder ballads.[5] Early recordings have rock elements, but these were less evident from 1996's Milk and Scissors onwards.[5]
Rennie's lyrics have a strong storytelling component, drawing on themes from Gothic fiction, as well as American folk music, and often involving macabre subjects as murders, suicides and ghosts. Some songs are also based on actual historical figures or events, including the lives and deaths of Amelia Earhart ("Amelia Earhart vs. the Dancing Bear", on Milk and Scissors), Emily Shore ("Emily Shore 1819–1839", on Milk and Scissors), Robert Wadlow ("The Giant of Illinois", on Through the Trees), Natalie Wood ("Natalie Wood", an outtake from Twilight, which appears on Smothered and Covered), and Nikola Tesla ("Tesla's Hotel Room", on Last Days of Wonder). The title of Last Days of Wonder is a reference to Puritan scientist and witch-hunter Cotton Mather's 1693 book Wonders of the Invisible World, which Rennie found intriguing because of what she called its "madness brimming under the surface of things."[11]
Discography[edit]
Albums[edit]
Odessa (1994) Carrot Top Records / Scout Releases
Milk and Scissors (1996) Carrot Top Records / Scout Releases
Invisible Hands (1997) Carrot Top Records / Scout Releases (Vinyl only EP release)
Through the Trees (1998) Carrot Top Records / Loose Music
In the Air (2000) Carrot Top Records / Loose Music
Twilight (2001) Carrot Top Records / Loose Music
Singing Bones (2003) Carrot Top Records / Loose Music
Last Days of Wonder (2006) Carrot Top Records / Loose Music
Honey Moon (2009) Carrot Top Records / Loose Music
Wilderness (2013) Carrot Top Records / Loose Music
Unseen (2016) Milk & Scissors Music / Loose Music
Compilations and Live albums
Down in the Valley (1999) Independent Records (Ireland only release)
Live at Schuba's Tavern (2002) Digital Club Network
Smothered and Covered (2002) Handsome Family Music
Scattered (2010) Handsome Family Music
Singles[edit]
"My Beautiful Bride" b/w "Destroy, Destroy" (1999) Magwheel (7" split w/ Sackville)
"Drunk by Noon" b/w "The Blizzard" (2008) Carrot Top Records
"Far from Any Road" (2015)
References[edit]
Jump up ^ Ayers, Mike (2016-07-13). "Hear the Handsome Family’s ‘Gold’ From Their Upcoming New Album ‘Unseen’ (Exclusive)". Wall Street Journal (Speakeasy blog). New York City. Retrieved 2016-07-14.
Jump up ^ Doole, Kerry. "For the Love of Handsome Family ", Exclaim!, May 2010.
^ Jump up to: a b c d Strong, Martin C. (2003) "The Handsome Family", in The Great Indie Discography, Canongate, ISBN 1-84195-335-0.
Jump up ^ The Handsome Family, The Triste Interview. Triste.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Layne, Joslyn "The Handsome Family Biography", Allmusic, Macrovision Corporation
Jump up ^ Lyrics to "My Ghost", Handsome Family.
Jump up ^ Klein, Joshua (2002-03-29). "Review: Rennie Sparks: Evil". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2015-04-19.
Jump up ^ MacNeil, Jason "Twilight Review", Allmusic, Macrovision Corporation
Jump up ^ Arado, Matt (2013-05-10). "The Handsome Family: Wilderness". Popmatters.com. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
Jump up ^ Coberlake, Justin (2016-10-05). "The Handsome Family: Unseen". Popmatters.com. Retrieved 2017-08-05.
Jump up ^ Bahn, Christopher (8 February 2006). "Interview: Brett and Rennie Sparks of The Handsome Family". A.V. Club. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Handsome Family.
Official website
2009 The Handsome Family Interview at Bandega.com
the Handsome Family article May 2009
Article
Glorious Noise: interview
Interview
WTF Pod with Marc Maron podcast episode interview

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The Handsome Family
Brett Sparks
Rennie Sparks
Mike Werner
Albums
Odessa
Milk and Scissors
Through the Trees
In the Air
Twilight
Singing Bones
Last Days of Wonder
Honey Moon
Wilderness
Live albums
Double Live Handsome"
Live at Schuba's Tavern
Compilations
Down in the Valley
Smothered and Covered
Scattered
Extended plays
"The Story of the Handsome Family"
Invisible Hands
'In The Forest Of Missing Airplanes"
Singles
"Telephones And Telescopes"
"My Beautiful Bride"
"I Know You Are There"
"Banks Of The Ohio"
"Far from Any Road"
"After We Shot The Grizzly"
"Drunk By Noon"
Authority control
WorldCat Identities
VIAF: 126904577
ISNI: 0000 0000 8743 4768
BNF: cb140539588 (data)
MusicBrainz: 195ddaa1-f1e4-4960-a107-58d26cb058a2
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Handsome_Family&oldid=796150297"
Categories:
American alternative country groups
Musical groups established in 1993
Musical groups from Chicago
Mint Records artists
1993 establishments in Illinois
Musical groups from New Mexico
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