Referendums and citizens’ assemblies vs. populism

Surveys show that in many democratic countries citizens want more direct participation (via referendums and popular initiatives) in political decisions. However, scepticism towards direct democracy is widespread among political and academic elites. It has further increased in recent years due to the spread of populism: It is feared that direct democracy opens the door to populism.

The aim of this lecture is to show that this scepticism is based on shaky foundations: Direct democracy does not necessarily have to be populist and can even act as a brake on populism. The crucial question is how it is designed. For example, Switzerland already has several guard rails in place that are more or less effective in curbing populist derailments. Yet further reforms and innovations are desirable, such as the introduction of “deliberative mini-publics” – i.e. citizens’ assemblies whose members are ordinary citizens selected via sortition. Such mini-publics have already been used in various polities (Oregon, Finland, Swiss cantons) to accompany referendums by providing citizens with new tools to participate in the democratic processes and to effectively address the challenge of populism