the introduction of the initiative, referendum and recall in America broadly supports the theory, which also explains two … creating these institutions. I build a model of direct democracy that explains why a representative might benefit from tying … that some politicians benefit from the introduction of direct democracy, since they are more likely to survive …

We analyze the factors that influence the support for environmental policy proposals. Swiss referendum data show that … referendum. Also, there are more pro-environmental votes in cantons with higher population density. On the other hand, yes …

subjects may exit. In a simple model, both kinds of competition are substitutes. Internal competition (democracy) benefits … democracy, and rulers are less eager to oppose it, when external competition is high. In a panel of countries, there are fewer … changes towards democracy when states have low GDP relative to their neighbours. …

jurisdictions with referendum decisions on policy centralization. Citizens choose centralization of public spending and revenue in … representative democracy, centralization is inefficiently high because representatives can extract political rents by policy … cantons from 1980 to 1998 supports the hypothesis that centralization is less likely under referendum decision-making. …

liberalization. Second, democracy has a negative effect on growth during the contraction, whereas its effect appears insignificant … apparently go beyond deteriorating economic performance. The level of democracy, in contrast, increases the support for the …