Crisis of the Representative Model and Proposals to Promote Direct Democracy

Abstract

Representative democracy experiences a serious crisis of legitimacy. The economic recession and the surge of indignation resulting from the State’s inability to deal with it have casted doubts on the representative model. This, in turn, has reopened the debate on the incorporation of new forms of citizen participation in collective decisions, on their usefulness and on their compatibility with representative democracy. In this context, forms of direct participation have recovered their leading role since they —with the appropriate guarantees— may contribute to complete election democracy with more involvement and intervention of citizens in the formation of the general will. The regulation of these forms of participation in Spain is highly restrictive, and its practical balance very limited. The situation is quite different in other occidental democracies, where citizens’ initiatives —particularly referenda— are normalized instruments for political participation functioning as a complement and counterbalance to representative democracy. The regulation and practice of direct democracy in these countries — which this work analyzes together with the deficiencies of the Spanish case— may serve as a model for a more incisive and generous regulation of these forms of political participation in a future and necessary reform of the Spanish Constitution.