ABSTRACT
Although populist ideas have been an important part of American political culture from the beginning, institutions of direct democracy were not put into place in any state until 1898. This chapter reviews the growth of new forms of participatory democracy and experiments in direct democracy. Discussion and plebiscitary democracy are the two basic kinds of direct democracy differing importantly in the nature of citizen involvement required. Sometimes the term deliberative democracy is used in the direct democratic context as a synonym for discussion democracy. The changes in presidential politics were part of a more thoroughgoing trend toward participatory democracy in American politics that culminated in the early 1970s. One of the ways to make or influence policy at the state level in this new environment is by the use of initiatives and referenda. Perhaps the most conspicuous form of participatory democracy in American politics is the standard random-sample public opinion poll.
