The similarities between all modern forms of democracy are further reinforced bythe presence of parties in all of them. Direct policy voting and particularly initiatives
(where voting can be initiated by any group of citizens with suYcient support) are
often advocated as a way of avoiding, or even undermining, parties. In practice
however partiesWndtheir way back in—usingthesedevicestopublicizeandorganize
themselves, bargain to their own advantage, force through proposals blocked in
parliament,oravoidinternalsplitsby‘‘agreeingtodisagree’’onpotentiallydamaging
issues (Mendelsohn and Parkin 2001 ). It has been convincingly argued that parties
are just as essential for organizing the vote and informing citizens of the real issues
involved in individual policy votes as in general elections (Lupia 1994 ) 2.
If modern ‘‘representative democracy’’ and ‘‘direct democracy’’ are only diVerent
forms of ‘‘party democracy,’’ many of the contrasts traditionally drawn between
them dramatically disappear. A telling criticism of direct democracy which
increasingly appears in modern discussions is, therefore, that it dispenses with or
undermines intermediary institutions like parties, legislatures, and governments.
This certainly seems a valid criticism of the unmediated direct democracy many
radicals yearn for—a direct and undiluted expression of the popular will uncon-
taminated by wheeling-and-dealing and partyWxes. To assess the force of the
criticism we have to ask if this unmediated form is the only one direct individual/
policy voting can take? In practice parties often intervene in referendums or
sponsor initiatives for their own ideological or oYce seeking purposes. In the next
section we ask whether this is a valid expression of direct democracy or a perversion
of it, and whether therefore the criticism of unanchored majority tyranny applies
to direct democracy as such or simply to particular manifestations of it.
2 Varieties of Direct Democracy
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Many criticisms of direct policy voting are based on the idea that it dispenses with
mediating institutions such as parties and with the rules and procedures which, for
example, guide legislative debate. This removes the constraints which produce
2 Political systems which have incorporated direct democracy into their processes for a long time
have been much studied for its long-term eVects. Switzerland is the obvious case, with excellent books
by Linder 1994 and Kriesi 2005. Italy has a special chapter in most compilations, particularly Gallagher
and Uleri 1996. The US states are the subject of two thorough and excellent studies by Magleby 1984
and Cronin 1989 —the latter quoting conclusions to the eVect that there is little discernable diVerence
in policy outcomes between states with direct legislation and those without. The post-Communist
countries of Central and Eastern Europe mostly incorporate provisions for popular legislation into
their constitutions, so it is interesting to see how and how often they were used in theirWrst decade
(Auer and Bu ̈tzer 2001 ).
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