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A Survey Experiment on Citizens' Preferences for 'Vote-Centric' vs. 'Talk–Centric' Democratic Innovations with Advisory vs. Binding Outcomes
[journal article]
Abstract Previous research on public support for participatory decision-making fails to distinguish between vote-centric (referendums and initiatives) and talk-centric (deliberative-style meetings) instruments, despite a deliberative turn in democratic theory suggesting that political discussion among ordina... view more
Previous research on public support for participatory decision-making fails to distinguish between vote-centric (referendums and initiatives) and talk-centric (deliberative-style meetings) instruments, despite a deliberative turn in democratic theory suggesting that political discussion among ordinary citizens improves decision-making. In an online factorial survey experiment conducted among a sample of 960 Americans recruited on Amazon's Mechanical Turk, we compared support for the use of referendums and public meetings, arguing that attitudes towards these instruments depend on whether they are used to inform legislators or take binding decisions. Public meetings were rated considerably lower than referendums and initiatives, especially when the outcomes were binding. Contrary to expectations, we did not find a preference for binding (over advisory) referendums and individuals from referendum and initiative states, where these instruments are legally binding, expressed less support for binding participatory reforms than individuals from non-direct democratic states. Despite the many critiques of direct democracy, public debate in the US has not considered whether advisory outcomes might appease some of these concerns. The results also demonstrated that individuals expressing concerns about the inability of ordinary citizens to understand politics and about the welfare of minority groups were not as negative about participatory decision-making when legislators had the final say.... view less
Keywords
direct democracy; political system; democratization; political participation; decision making; survey; experiment
Classification
Political Process, Elections, Political Sociology, Political Culture
Free Keywords
deliberative democracy; democratic innovations; direct democracy; factorial survey experiments; participatory decision-making; public opinion; referendums; vignette experiment
Document language
English
Publication Year
2019
Page/Pages
p. 213-226
Journal
Politics and Governance, 7 (2019) 2
Issue topic
The Politics, Promise and Peril of Direct Democracy
ISSN
2183-2463
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed