The transformation of local democracy through the use of semi-direct democracy procedures in France and Germany

Christophe Premat (1)

1 CERVL - Pouvoir, Action publique, Territoire

Since the last decade, there has been a wave of institutionalisation of local referenda in Europe, showing both the visibility of political local systems and the growing importance of local democracy. How can we value the use of local referenda? Do they affect the structure of local representative systems? We will answer these questions by comparing two countries which had a representative conception of democracy, Germany and France. Since the 1990s, both countries have established new rules of local democracy, including the use of local referenda. Whereas France tabled new bills in local democracy as a consequence of the first Act of decentralization in 1981, Germany promoted this topic as a result of the Reunification. The local referenda are seen as an instrument to renew the participation at local level. Binding referenda create an uncertainty in local democracy; this is why local elites want to control them in order to avoid a new form of competition. Furthermore, local referenda are often associated with the devolution of powers, meaning that the political involvement could be encouraged through a conception of neighbourhood democracy. We would like to analyse the way local referenda affect the time-scale of local democracy systems in Europe. The time of local democracy implies to study the genealogy of these practices in both countries, their influence on political agenda-setting and then the frequency of local referenda.

Mots clés: local democracy; semi-direct procedures; frequency; elites

Domaines: Science politique

Christophe Premat. The transformation of local democracy through the use of semi-direct democracy procedures in France and Germany. Congrès mondial de l'IPSA 2006 : RC 05 : Comparative studies on local government and politics, IPSA, Jul 2006, Fukuoka, Japan. ⟨halshs-00156904⟩