Unter dem Eindruck steigender Unzufriedenheit mit dem politischen System und Misstrauen in gewählte RepräsentantInnen steht die Forderung nach direktdemokratischen Beteiligungsformen gegenwärtig besonders in Verbindung mit dem Rechtspopulismus. Doch bleiben die genaue Beziehung zwischen...

Wenn das Volk entscheidet - wer ist dann das Volk? -- Volksentscheide zwischen demokratischem Anspruch und totalitärer Gefährdung -- Schlussfolgerungen -- Referenden als Vertrauensbeweis für die jeweilige Regierung.

We analyze a novel data set of corporate contributions to ballot initiatives and referendums at the U.S. state level. Firms make significant contributions to ballot measures in favor of or against specific initiatives. Firms that contribute to successful (failed) direct initiated state...

This thesis comprises four empirical research papers in the area of political economics. While the first two chapters deal with questions related to direct democracy, chapters three and four are about topics linked to representative democracy.

In this paper, we present a new way to deal with initiatives, i.e. proposals that can be submitted to voting by the citizens of a democracy. We call it “Assessment Voting”. It takes place in two rounds. Before the conclusive voting, a given number of randomly-chosen voters casts its votes....

Do minorities fare worse under direct democracy than under representative democracy? We provide new evidence by studying naturalization requests of immigrants in Switzerland that were typically decided with referendums in each municipality. Using panel data from 1,400 municipalities for the...

We study the effect of direct democracy on local taxation. Our setting is the German federal state of Bavaria, where in 1995 a state-wide referendum introduced the possibility to initiate direct democratic legislation into the local government code. Relying on a sample of all Bavarian...

Innovation, Dynamik und eine gewisse Veränderungsbereitschaft der Bürger sind unerlässliche Faktoren für die Reformfähigkeit eines Staates, der stetiges Wachstum sowie Wohlstand generiert. Doch immer häufiger kommt es vor allem bei öffentlichen Infrastrukturprojekten zum Phänomen des...

This paper exploits the introduction of the right of referenda at the local level in the German state of Bavaria in 1995 to study the fiscal effects of direct democracy. In the first part of the paper, we establish the relationship between referenda activity and fiscal performance by using a new...

We explore how the vertical structure of direct democracy in a federal context affects expenditure decisions of sub-central governments. In so doing we revisit previous research on the effect of direct democratic institution on public policies. Particularly, the effect of upper-level (state)...

David Graeber, der bedeutendste Anthropologe unserer Zeit, entfaltet eine fulminante und längst überfällige Fundamentalkritik der globalen Bürokratie! Er erforscht die Ursprünge unserer Sehnsucht nach Regularien und entlarvt ihre Bedeutung als Mittel zur Ausübung von Gewalt. Wir alle...

In this paper, we present a new way to deal with initiatives, i.e. proposals that can be submitted to voting by the citizens of a democracy. We call it “Assessment Voting”. It takes place in two rounds. Before the conclusive voting, a given number of randomly-chosen voters casts its votes....

Do minorities fare worse under direct democracy than under representative democracy? We provide new evidence by studying naturalization requests of immigrants in Switzerland that were typically decided with referendums in each municipality. Using panel data from about $1,400$ municipalities for...

Economic Equality and Direct Democracy in Ancient Athens argues against mainstream views, which tend to find an inexplicable paradox between ancient Athens' extraordinary politics, on the one hand, and its apparent economic inequality, on the other hand. In contrast, the author suggests that in...

Die grundlegende Idee dieser Abhandlung liegt in der Vorstellung begründet, dass sich Wettbewerbspolitik nicht auf den Wettkampf konzentrieren sollte. Die traditionelle Vorgehensweise analysiert Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen auf einzelnen Märkten und fordert gegebenenfalls ein...

There is an intensive dispute in political economics about the impact of institutions on income redistribution. While the main focus is on comparison between different forms of representative democracy, the influence of direct democracy on redistribution has attracted much less attention....

Diese Arbeit dokumentiert und analysiert den Anstieg der Staatsausgaben und der Defizite in den 90er Jahren. Die unmittelbaren Ursachen des Anstiegs sind bekannt: höhere Ausgaben für die Altersvorsorge und andere Bereiche der sozialen Sicherheit sowie Kostensteigerungen im Gesundheitswesen...

In this paper, the introduction of direct-democratic decision-making in all EU decisions is considered when it is feasible without prohibitively increasing decision-making costs. We start with the contractarian argument that each constitution is a contract joining the citizens of a state and...

In this paper, the introduction of direct-democratic decision-making in all EU decisions is considered when it is feasible without prohibitively increasing decision-making costs. We start with the contractarian argument that each constitution is a contract joining the citizens of a state and...

Der Band legt eine umfassende Analyse der öffentlichen Kommunikation im Kontext einer direktdemokratischen Volksabstimmung vor. Gegenstand der Fallstudie ist die heftig umstrittene Abänderung der Landesverfassung des Fürstentums Liechtenstein im Jahr 2003. Sie ging auf die Initiative des...