Referendums and Democratic Government

MAIJA SETÄLÄ is a Researcher at the Department of Political Science at the University of Turku, Finland. She has previously taught at the London School of Economics where she received her doctorate.

• Acknowledgements Introduction PART I: THEORIES OF REFERENDUM Referendum and the Will of the Majority Referendum and Theories of Democracy PART II: ANALYSIS OF INSTITUTIONS Referendum in Representative Government Referendum in Three Counties Conclusions Appendices Bibliography

Maija Setälä has given us a valuable integration of democratic theory and the empirical study of referendums. It is especially useful in showing the wide variety of ways in which referendums are used in different political systems. Referendums have been called increasingly by governments in the past half-century, and this book provides a sophisticated analysis of the contexts in which they can contribute to democratic decision-making and also the contexts in which they can detract from it.' - Brian Barry, Professor of Political Science, Columbia University'Around the world new forms of democratic participation are being examined and introduced. Some think that regular referendums can supply answers to some of the paradoxes of representation. Setälä's timely book analytically examines the role referendums may play, demonstrating their strengths and limitations. It is an important addition to the literature on democratic government.' - Keith Dowding, London School of Economics'...an interesting mix of the normative and the empirical.' - Shari Garber Bax, Perspectives on Political Science