direct democracy

For Global Democracy, These Are the Worst of Times, but Also the Best of Times

A Rising Tide of Authoritarianism Co-Exists With Advancing Forms of Participatory and Direct Democracy

For Global Democracy, These Are the Worst of Times, But Also the Best of Times | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Right now, it can feel like the worst of times for democracy. It also can feel like the best of times.

Democracy is under stress around the world from authoritarians and dictatorships—even as citizens make steady and historic progress in advancing newer forms of participatory and direct democracy, said a panel of democracy scholars and practitioners at a Zócalo/Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy event, titled “Should Global Democracy Become More Direct?”

The four panelists appeared together via live-stream from their home countries, all touching the Pacific Ocean—Chile, Mexico, Taiwan, and the …

by Joe Mathews |

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In Liechtenstein, Power to the People—And the Prince | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

In Liechtenstein, Power to the People—And the Prince

For Nearly a Century, the Small European Nation Has Fused Monarchy and Direct Democracy Into a Government That Works

by Wilfried Marxer |

Liechtenstein, the nation of 38,500 in the heart of Europe, has for nearly a century deftly governed itself by combining two seemingly contradictory elements: direct democracy and monarchy. Rather than …

Who Should Rule These Scottish Islands?

Even if All of Scotland Achieves Independence, the Archipelago of Orkney May Not Gain Sovereignty

by Bruno Kaufmann |

Ten years ago a farmer was digging in his backyard in Ness of Brodgar—a village on one of the islands that makes up the Scottish archipelago of Orkney—when he came …

Why This Column Ought To Be a Picture

Californian Voters Won’t Read Thousands of Pages About Public Policy. But They Might Look at a Drawing.

by Joe Mathews |

To be an engaged, informed citizen in California is to be hopelessly behind in your reading.

We’re told that we need to follow the big issues in California, that we need …

The Bad Dad Who Cursed California

We’re Still Paying the Price For Hiram Johnson’s Toxic Relationship With His Father

by Joe Mathews |

Why is California so hard to govern? One reason is that we’re suffering from daddy issues, and this Father’s Day is as good a time as any to confront them.

The …

Arizona, Progressivism’s Love Child

A Century Ago, the State Reflected the Direct Democracy Craze

by Jason LaBau |

One hundred years ago, Arizona was a very different place. From 1910 to 1916, Arizona was among the most broadly democratic, pro-labor, citizen-oriented, reform-embracing states in the nation. Its new …


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