ABSTRACT
This chapter measures direct democracy in a multidimensional way. For centuries, the phenomenon of direct democracy has exerted a peculiar attraction to theorists and practitioners of politics alike. Used by the government vis-à-vis the opposition, the governmental type of direct democracy conforms with majoritarian democracy. In contrast, the oppositional type of direct democracy goes along with consensus democracy, as it forces the government to share its power with oppositional players. The tradition of direct democracy reaches back to the beginning of democracy itself. This traditional view of direct democracy proved untenable in the 1970s, when governments across Europe began to lose their grip on the initiation and outcome of referendums. The empirical analysis has shown that referendums can be analysed through Lijphart's model. The chapter tries to accomplish this task, based on an extensive study of all referendums that have taken place in 21 European Union (EU) member states between 1990 and 2016.
