DAVID ALTMAN SEMINARIO ICP / 7 junio 2013 Título: Status Quo, Authorities, or Instigators: Who Wins in the Context of Direct Democracy? Abstract: Common knowledge suggests that people are risk averse and tend to support the status quo whenever possible. Simultaneously, some scholars argue that mechanisms of direct democracy systematically favor executives. This is so because executives can use many resources at their disposal to win. As Lijphart says, “when governments control the referendum, they will tend to use it only when they expect to win” (Lijphart 1984: 203). The literature also suggests that by using instruments of direct democracy citizens are able to shift policy to favor their objectives. This chapter examines these propositions empirically. Do mechanisms of direct democracy give way to a status quo bias? Do governments systematically benefit from these bluntly majoritarian institutions? Do organizers (instigators) benefit through MDDs? To answer these questions, I use a novel database that includes all the mechanisms of direct democracy (referendums, popular initiatives, and plebiscites) used at the national level around the world since 1980. I find that MDDs are neither as status quoist as depicted by the literature, nor do they always play in favor of authorities, nor do organizers benefit directly from their results.
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