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Preferences for direct democracy: intrinsic or instrumental? Evidence from a survey experiment

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  • Philipp Harms

    (Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Germany)

  • Claudia Landwehr

    (Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Germany)

Abstract

The call for more direct democracy is often and loudly heard and met with support from large numbers of citizens in many countries. This paper explores the motives for supporting direct democracy, and more specifically, referenda: Do citizens support them for intrinsic reasons, because referenda allow them exercise their democratic rights more directly? Or are preferences for referenda based on the assumption that they are likely to produce desired policy-outcomes, and thus instrumentally motivated? Our survey experiment explores how substantial policy preferences affect the preference for referenda over alternative decisionmaking procedures. Controlling for abstract support for referenda, we can show that congruence between a respondent’s own opinion and the expected majority opinion is associated with support for a referendum on a given matter. Moreover, we find evidence for systematic misperceptions of the majority opinion leading to support for a referendum. We thus arrive at the conclusion that calls for direct democracy should be reassessed in light of instrumental, but misinformed preferences.

Suggested Citation

  • Philipp Harms & Claudia Landwehr, 2017. "Preferences for direct democracy: intrinsic or instrumental? Evidence from a survey experiment," Working Papers 1719, Gutenberg School of Management and Economics, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.
    • Handle: RePEc:jgu:wpaper:1719
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    File URL: https://download.uni-mainz.de/RePEc/pdf/Discussion_Paper_1719.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Philipp Harms & Claudi Landwehr, 2018. "Money is where the fun ends: material interests and individuals preference for direct democracy," Working Papers 1815, Gutenberg School of Management and Economics, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.

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    Keywords

    democratic innovations; process preferences; direct democracy;
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