Democracy/Resources/en

This page gathers resources and documentation (in English) on the theme "Democracy".
Please note that a version of this page also exists in French and Dutch, with different links, resources, etc.

Direct democracy

See the Wikipedia page

• Direct Democracy, John G. Matsusaka, University of Southern California

  Definitions, literature and references

• Direct democracy : facts, arguments and experiences on the introduction of initiative and referendum, Jos Verhulst & Arjen Nijeboer, 2007

  This book is a must for anyone who has an interest in the current changes in society. It is available for free in eight languages.

• IRI Guidebook to Direct Democracy : in Switzerland and beyond, Bruno Kaufmann, Rolf Büchi & Nadja Braun, 2010

  It is the goal of the Initiative and Referendum Institute, Europe's first think-tank on modern direct democracy founded in 2001, to make a significant contribution to improving the knowledge of the history and practice of direct democracy – in the world in general, and especially in Europe.

  That is why the IRI "Guidebook to Direct Democracy" (published in English, French, Spanish, German, Korean, Italian, Finnish and Chinese) focuses on the place where the tools which allow citizens to take part in political decision-making are the most extensive and have been used for the longest period of time – Switzerland. Over the past 150 years, citizens' rights have been continually extended and now cover all the levels of political life (national, cantonal and local) and all areas of politics (including foreign policy).

  IRI also developed, in collaboration with Democracy International, the direct-democracy-navigator – a unique global information and collaboration platform on modern participative democracy.

Liquid Democracy

See the Wikipedia page and some Belgian pirate comments

• Definition on the Liquid democracy Organization, excerpt:

  The idea of “Liquid Democracy” has already been circulating on the web for a couple of years, however without any suggestions for a specific execution. The core of the idea is delegated voting, which removes the previous separation between representative democratic and direct democratic decisions. The principle of delegated voting is the base for all Liquid Democracy concepts, however the idea itself is not sufficient when it comes to the description of complex political processes. Since the end of 2008 people associated with the current Liquid Democracy e.V. deal with the theme of liquid democracy and try to advance it ever since. Some more comments here on our wiki.

  The term “Liquid Democracy”, LD stands for a new form of democracy in which various “rigid“ barriers are being “fluidised“.

Athenian Democracy

• Athenian Democracy in the Age of Demosthenes : Structure, Principles & Ideology, Mogens Herman Hansen, University of Oklahoma Press, 1991

  ISBN-10: 0806131438 | ISBN-13: 978-0806131436

  This book summarize 30 years of research on Athenian society and focus on the second era of Athenian democracy (403-322 BC). As the Athenian democracy is probably the most nearly perfect example of (direct) democracy, it is a very important inspiration for any person who want to understand how a democracy can work. This book is also translated in French.

Other forms of Democracy

See the Wikipedia page

• Deliberative democracy
• E-democracy

Other

• Participedia is an open global knowledge community for researchers and practitioners in the field of democratic innovation and public engagement.