Stories - Direct Democracy

A Referendum to Reclaim Citizen Power?

When people lose faith in their leaders, can they rewrite the rules that govern them themselves? Bangladesh...

France's Direct Democracy Debate: A Battle Won and Lost

A groundbreaking proposal to give citizens real power is shaking up French politics, and the battle lines...

United States of America

COLUMN: Both Sides of This Campaign Tell the Same 2 Lies

Why the Yes and No Campaigns on California's Prop 50 Both Deserve to Lose

Democracy Is Not on My Ballot

Reading ballot measures reveals an intent to confuse

COLUMN A Local Measure for a New Political Era

Local politicians risk their power to create more colleagues

COLUMN Stop the Democracy In-Fighting

We need democracy ecosystems, not democracy waves.

Local Measures Need a Counter

Two contradicatory ballot measures teach us better than one

#OurDemocracyLocal Erwin Mayer

Our new feature asks about your local democracy story.

Citizen Power in Action: A Legislative Initiative for Migrant Rights Through Direct Democracy

A current citizen initiative in Spain (Iniciativa Legislativa Popular, or ILP in its Spanish terminology) has...

California Ballot Measures from 2010 via Flickr by Josh Heller

This Poll Makes You Deliberate

A digital version of the Deliberative Poll encourages democracy, more cheaply.