Review article
https://doi.org/10.1515/cirr-2017-0002
The Rise of Direct Democracy in Croatia: Balancing or Challenging Parliamentary Representation?
Hrvoje Butković
orcid.org/0000-0002-5730-3120
; Institute for Development and International Relations (Zagreb, Croatia))
Abstract
In 2010 the Croatian Constitution was changed to lower the requirements for the implementation of direct democracy at the national level, in order to save the referendum on Croatia’s EU membership from possible failure. Since then, Croatia has witnessed a sharp increase in people’s initiatives that have managed to block a number of the government’s reform proposals. Therefore, the newly discovered appeal of direct democracy in Croatia has created a new environment for the operation of its representative democracy. Starting from theoretical notions, this paper analyses the practice of direct democracy in selected transitional countries, which could be instructive for Croatia. In its central part, the paper explores the obstacle that stand in the way of the efficient implementation of direct democracy in Croatia.
Keywords
direct democracy; referendums; initiatives; transitional countries; Croatia
Hrčak ID:
178237
URI
Publication date:
20.3.2017.
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