The Centre for Democracy Research, in partnership with the Swiss Embassy, is delighted to host Professor Daniel Kübler for a public lecture: “Let the People Decide? Hope, Fear, and the Realities of Direct Democracy”. Please register your interest here: (opens in a new window)https://forms.gle/iY9xaag9HMTS67pH6

You can find more information about the talk and Professor Kübler below: 

Abstract

Few democratic institutions inspire as much hope—and provoke as much fear—as the referendum. Advocates see it as the purest form of citizen empowerment, while critics warn of manipulation, populism, or ill-informed decision-making. This talk takes a closer look at these competing narratives through global evidence and the Swiss experience. Drawing on the latest data from the Referendum Database (RDB) based at the Centre for Democracy Studies at the University of Zurich, the talk first looks at how direct democracy has spread and evolved worldwide. Nearly two thirds of all countries have held at least one national-level referendum, and almost half have institutionalized this instrument in their constitutions—across democracies and autocracies alike. Yet not all referendums are equally democratic: while top-down, government-initiated votes can serve rulers’ strategic goals, bottom-up, citizen-initiated referendums empower citizens to shape policy and hold elites accountable.

The second part of the talk focuses on Switzerland, the paradigmatic case of direct democracy, which alone accounts for about one third of all referendums ever held worldwide. Findings from currently ongoing research shed light on how Swiss citizens today navigate campaigns, social media, and complex policy questions — revealing that both hopes and fears surrounding direct democracy are, upon closer inspection, overstated.

Bio note

Daniel Kübler, born in 1969, is a Professor at the Department of Political Science and directs the Centre for Democracy Studies at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. He studied political science at the University of Lausanne, where he also obtained his PhD. He has held visiting positions at the University of Constance, the University of New South Wales, Sciences Po Paris, the University of Canberra, as well as Fudan University. His research interests are direct democracy and democratic innovations, local and urban politics and governance, as well as public policy analysis and evaluation

E-Mail: (opens in a new window)Daniel.Kuebler@ipz.uzh.ch

Website of the Centre for Democracy Studies: (opens in a new window)www.zdaarau.ch