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A democratic theory of ballot measures McKay, Spencer
Abstract
Ballot measures, such as referendums and initiatives, are seen primarily as mechanisms of ‘direct democracy’, as supplements to ‘representative democracy’, or as failures of ‘deliberative democracy’. However, the recent systemic turn in democratic theory suggests that we should understand ballot measures within the contexts of democratic systems. I argue that the key function of ballot measures in democratic systems is to institutionalize opportunities for citizens to legislate. More specifically, we can extend Waldron’s principles of legislation to serve as the basis for a democratic theory of ballot measures. However, since we cannot simply transpose principles of legislation that were developed for legislatures to ballot measures, we need a theory of ballot measures as institutions of mass legislation. I suggest that synthesizing principles of legislation and election makes it possible to develop a coherent approach to evaluating ballot measures that moves past conflicting judgments that have their origins in distinct and often incommensurable models of democracy. From this vantage point, we can clearly theorize how ballot measures might be reconceived and redesigned to contribute to the political functions of inclusion, agenda-setting, will-formation, and decision-making that should be integral to any democratic system.
Item Metadata
Title |
A democratic theory of ballot measures
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Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
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Date Issued |
2019
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Description |
Ballot measures, such as referendums and initiatives, are seen primarily as mechanisms of
‘direct democracy’, as supplements to ‘representative democracy’, or as failures of ‘deliberative
democracy’. However, the recent systemic turn in democratic theory suggests that we should
understand ballot measures within the contexts of democratic systems. I argue that the key
function of ballot measures in democratic systems is to institutionalize opportunities for
citizens to legislate. More specifically, we can extend Waldron’s principles of legislation to serve
as the basis for a democratic theory of ballot measures. However, since we cannot simply
transpose principles of legislation that were developed for legislatures to ballot measures, we
need a theory of ballot measures as institutions of mass legislation. I suggest that synthesizing
principles of legislation and election makes it possible to develop a coherent approach to
evaluating ballot measures that moves past conflicting judgments that have their origins in
distinct and often incommensurable models of democracy. From this vantage point, we can
clearly theorize how ballot measures might be reconceived and redesigned to contribute to the
political functions of inclusion, agenda-setting, will-formation, and decision-making that should
be integral to any democratic system.
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Genre | |
Type | |
Language |
eng
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Date Available |
2019-10-11
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0383358
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URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
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Graduation Date |
2019-11
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Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
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Rights URI | |
Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International