Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.21857/y54jofpv1m
Institutions of Direct Democracy in the Network of Political, Legal and Populistic Constitutionalism
Arsen Bačić
; Pravni fakultet Sveučilišta u Splitu, Split, Hrvatska
Abstract
This text is about the place, role and relation of the representative system and direct democracy within the triad of political, legal and populistic constitutionalism. Also, it is directed at constitutional-theoretical and political apology of constitution and constitutionalism. This is in particular at the role of constitutional judiciary within the context of the reasons and limits of using institutions of direct democracy within the constitutional democratic organisation of contemporary government powers. It, in particular, sets out the reasons for which, according to the author, constitutional democratic understanding of the text of the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia does not register low frequencies of warning calls of recent referendum initiatives. Concretely, they are those which aim at change to art. 72 of the Constitution – number of representatives in Croatian parliament and amendments to Constitution art. 72a - on taking away the voting rights for national minority representatives to vote on confidence to the government and budget. It is the author’s conclusion that it is about attempts to constitutionalise reductionistic anti-egalitarian ideas of actual populistic Sturm und Drang. In this and similar contexts, the Constitutional Court acquires the imperative task of defending constitutional values from excessive activism and from both various demagogically-conservative groups and bureaucratic and indifferent party formations of Croatian representative democracy.
Keywords
representative system; direct democracy; referendum; populism; Constitutional Court
Hrčak ID:
238635
URI
Publication date:
15.1.2020.
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