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Palgrave Macmillan

Referendums and Democratic Government

Normative Theory and the Analysis of Institutions

  • Book
  • © 1999

Overview

Authors:
  1. Maija Setälä

    1. Department of Political Science, University of Turku, Finland

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Table of contents (6 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xii
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  2. 1 Introduction

    1. Introduction

      • Maija Setälä
      Pages 1-8

  3. Referendum Theories

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 9-9
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    2. Referendums and the Will of the Majority

      • Maija Setälä
      Pages 11-32

    3. Referendums and Theories of Democracy

      • Maija Setälä
      Pages 33-65

  4. Analysis of Institutions

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 67-67
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    2. Referendums and Representative Government

      • Maija Setälä
      Pages 69-107

    3. Referendums in Three Countries

      • Maija Setälä
      Pages 108-156

    4. Conclusions

      • Maija Setälä
      Pages 157-169

  5. Back Matter

    Pages 170-200
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Keywords

About this book

Referendums and Democratic Government is the most systematic analysis of the referendum so far. The referendum phenomenon is approached from different perspectives: social choice theory, theories of democracy, a comparative study on 22 democracies, and in-depth case studies of Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland. The referendum is not a unitary phenomenon but it serves various functions and different normative goals in the political systems studied. This variation may largely be explained by the differences in the initiating and agenda-setting procedures.

Reviews

Maija Setälä has given us a valuable integration of democratic theory and the empirical study of referendums. It is especially useful in showing the wide variety of ways in which referendums are used in different political systems. Referendums have been called increasingly by governments in the past half-century, and this book provides a sophisticated analysis of the contexts in which they can contribute to democratic decision-making and also the contexts in which they can detract from it.' - Brian Barry, Professor of Political Science, Columbia University

'Around the world new forms of democratic participation are being examined and introduced. Some think that regular referendums can supply answers to some of the paradoxes of representation. Setälä's timely book analytically examines the role referendums may play, demonstrating their strengths and limitations. It is an important addition to the literature on democratic government.' - Keith Dowding, London School of Economics

'...an interesting mix of the normative and the empirical.' - Shari Garber Bax, Perspectives on Political Science

Authors and Affiliations

  • Department of Political Science, University of Turku, Finland

    Maija Setälä

About the author

MAIJA SETÄLÄ is a Researcher at the Department of Political Science at the University of Turku, Finland. She has previously taught at the London School of Economics where she received her doctorate.

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